17. Looking for people who will make a difference in your organization? Try these 3 interview techniques

Are you looking to hire people with initiative, people with new ideas and energy and mindset to make them happen?

You need to do three things:

• Identify them
• Attract them
• Keep them

In today’s hiring world, the second and third points are essential, and not obvious. We will deal with them in the upcoming newsletters.

This article is about the first point – how to recognize the right profiles. This is tricky, because traditional techniques for interviewing and evaluating job candidates will not be effective. You need new approaches.

Here are three uncommon technique I suggest, based on testimonials from people who deal with hiring in their organizations.

1 – Consider mindset and adaptability as much as or even more than their experience and expertise.

How? Pay attention to the questions the job candidate asks during your interviews.

• Are the questions challenging? Do they make suggestions? Or are they mainly asking about your business model and how you work?

2 – Engage with the job candidate in such a way that you can see how they interact with others.

How? Invite the person to participate in a real half or full day workshop where there will be a lot of discussion.

• Are they comfortable offering alternative opinions? Questioning assumptions?
• Do they have a sense of when to listen and when to talk?
• Are they comfortable engaging in debate, which is not easy when you’re with a group of people you do now know. But it is a sign of a person who is confident in their ideas and ready to share them.

3 – Consider the extent of the person’s professional network and whether they seek out interactions with others.

How? Find out if they work in a “connected” mindset.

• Ask them if they participate in external professional networks and what kinds? Are they connected to peers in other organizations?
• Ask what they have experienced as positive/negative from their interactions in these networks.
• Do they recommend that people in general be active in professional social media platforms?

That’s it for the Identify stage. Attract and Keep will come next!

The three Identify techniques above will extend the evaluation process beyond the CV and traditional interview.

They will get you a little closer to the essence of the person and hopefully avoid awkward surprises later, for both of you.

I suggest you get the people in your organization who handle hiring to read this short article. Then discuss together to see how these technique can add value to your hiring process.

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What are your takeaways? What have you experienced that you can share with us?

Please share via Twitter @netjmc or my website at https://netjmc.com/contact/

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Check out my book, The Gig Mindset Advantage, a Bold New Breed, available in hardback or digital format from major booksellers worldwide. This article is based on the chapter “Going beyond the CV” in the section “Investing in the Movers”.

You can also request an invitation to join a community of gig mindsetters who share stories, frustrations, accomplishments and new project ideas in a private space.