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Are You Suffering from Over-Sourcing Syndrome?

Lou Adler, March 28, 2008

Topics: Assessment, Sourcing

O•ver sourc•ing syn•drome: the need to find more candidates than needed caused by inappropriately eliminating the good candidates you already have.

» Continue reading "Are You Suffering from Over-Sourcing Syndrome?"

How to Interview Top Performers

Lou Adler, March 14, 2008

Topics: Assessment, Interview Training, Interviewing

Top people cannot be interviewed the same way as everyone else. Although most recruiters and hiring managers know this, few know how to do it. It's not about selling the job, charming the person, and over-talking. It's about using the interview to get the candidate to sell you.

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10 Steps to Increase Interviewing Accuracy into the 90% Range

Lou Adler, November 30, 2007

Topics: Assessment, Interview Training, Interviewing, Networking, Recruiting

There are two huge problems when hiring is viewed as an end-to-end process. The first one involves sourcing. Most companies are terrible when it comes to advertising, recruiting, and attracting the best. Of course, as a recruiter, how I make my money is by finding top people that others can't. And, in today's Internet age, this is actually quite easy. However, this is a big waste of time if you or your hiring managers don't know how to accurately assess candidate competency.

» Continue reading "10 Steps to Increase Interviewing Accuracy into the 90% Range"

The Official Rules for Hiring Top Talent

Lou Adler, September 26, 2007

Topics: Assessment, Interviewing, Newsletter, Performance Profiles, Recruiting, Working With Hiring Managers

Every sport has rules, even pickup games. We even have rules for our kids - when they can watch TV, play video games, go to bed, etc. Business has rules for just about everything - important things like capital expenditures, accounting, SEC reporting, and product design and testing; or less important things like how to dress, when to come to work, how to earn vacation, and how to fill in expense reports. What's surprising is there aren't any rules for what's supposedly the most important thing a company needs to do - hire and retain top talent.

» Continue reading "The Official Rules for Hiring Top Talent"

Unmasking the Well-Prepared Candidate

Bryan Johanson, August 17, 2007

Topics: Assessment, Interview Training, Interviewing, Newsletter, Recruiter Training, Recruiting

It's back-to-school week here in Colorado, so my eight children are beginning yet another year of school. It's always interesting to me to gauge their reactions to their new teachers. They form their impressions very early, and some of those impressions are negative. Last night my son told me about his new sixth grade math teacher from you-know-where. "Oh dad, she is absolutely awful! She's extremely strict, she doesn't allow talking in class, and home work has to be in on time. If it's a minute late you get zero credit. She's way too serious, no fun, and she's the hardest, worst teacher in the school. Can you help me transfer out of her class?" We've all had teachers like this one, but what's interesting to me is that as you go through this process over and over with so many kids, you realize that the first day of school is very much contrived. It's a huge multi-act play. Every teacher has on his/her game face. Some try to scare the kids into submission while others try to win the students over by being open and friendly. Each has their own strategy and it's all carefully orchestrated to set the stage for the coming year. In two or three weeks once the impact of the teachers' "first day of school" speeches wear off, I'll start to get the "real" scoop. Sometimes the toughest teacher becomes my child's favorite. What I really care about is simply their ability to teach my children their subjects well.

» Continue reading "Unmasking the Well-Prepared Candidate"

How to Assess Potential and Promotability

Lou Adler, August 9, 2007

Topics: Assessment, Managing, Newsletter, Recruiting

In a recent email I paraphrased the following quote. My son had sent it to me in regards to training and evaluating officers in the military. He thought it would be useful in assessing managers, executives, and leaders. It's been attributed to a variety of different people, and I can't seem to find the originator, so I apologize for not giving the true author official credit.

Amateurs think tactics.
Professionals think logistics, planning and strategy.
Reformers think staff selection, retention and team development.

» Continue reading "How to Assess Potential and Promotability"

Hot Tip #24 - These Six Techniques Can Improve Your Productivity by 100%!

Lou Adler, August 7, 2007

Topics: Assessment, Interviewing, Recruiter Hot Tips, Recruiting, Sourcing

Most recruiters waste too much time doing unnecessary work. The solution is not reducing your req load, it's cutting your sendouts/hire in half. This will increase your productivity by 100%. In the process you'll start hiring more people who are top performers, but not great interviewers, and you'll stop hiring people who are great interviewers, but not top performers. Here's how to pull off this amazing feat:

» Continue reading "Hot Tip #24 - These Six Techniques Can Improve Your Productivity by 100%!"

Hot Tip #16 - Six Simple Ways to Increase Interviewing Accuracy

Lou Adler, June 12, 2007

Topics: Assessment, Interviewing, Recruiter Hot Tips

1. Make sure everyone who has a vote knows the job. If an interviewer isn't sure of the real job, he'll overvalue his intuition, his perception of the job, and the candidate's first impression and communication skills to make the assessment. As a result the assessment will be about 50% accurate for a yes vote, and a bit worse on the no vote side. Interviewers need to know real job needs in order to have a chance of making the right hiring decision. I won't take an assignment unless everyone on the hiring team knows what the person taking the job needs to do to be successful. Neither should you. Preparing a performance profile with the hiring team will help.

» Continue reading "Hot Tip #16 - Six Simple Ways to Increase Interviewing Accuracy"

Being a Good Interviewer is More About Recruiting than Selection

Lou Adler, June 8, 2007

Topics: Assessment, Interview Training, Interviewing, Performance Profiles, Recruiter Training, Recruiting

I learned to become a better interviewer than my clients for only one reason: to prevent good candidates from being excluded for bad reasons. Too many of my clients were assessing candidates improperly, either overvaluing first impressions or using some narrow range of skills to determine competency.

» Continue reading "Being a Good Interviewer is More About Recruiting than Selection"

The Elements of Applicant Control

Lou Adler, May 25, 2007

Topics: Assessment, Interview Training, Interviewing

On January 3, 1978, I became a contingency recruiter working for a small, highly regarded, two-person search firm (I was number three). This was a pretty odd job to take at the time, since I voluntarily left my spot as VP and GM for a 300-person automotive parts manufacturing company. Somehow, working 80 hours per week didn't seem worth it.

» Continue reading "The Elements of Applicant Control"

Speed Kills

Lou Adler, April 27, 2007

Topics: Assessment, Interviewing, Recruiting

There is no longer a hidden job market. The line between active and passive candidates is blurring. Turnover is on the rise. Workforce mobility is increasing. It's easy to look for a new job, apply, and be interviewed from your desktop. The barriers to entry and exit are falling.

» Continue reading "Speed Kills"

Anatomy of a Bad Hire

Lou Adler, January 19, 2007

Topics: Assessment

When you really think about it, there are only two major hiring mistakes that companies make on an ongoing basis.

» Continue reading "Anatomy of a Bad Hire"

Stop Making Excuses!

Lou Adler, December 1, 2006

Topics: Assessment

The entire October 30, 2006, edition of Fortune was devoted to the subject of greatness. The primary conclusion drawn from the numerous articles on the topic is that greatness is achieved through hard work in combination with continuous self-improvement. Talent or ability alone is never enough.

To measure a candidate, I use a form (the 10-Factor Candidate Assessment template) with a 1-5 scale using 10 strong predictors of on-the-job success. Surprisingly, the scale isn't much different from the one described in the Fortune articles.

The following is a quick summary of this ranking, which is a system that you can apply to measure candidate quality and determine whether you are a great recruiter.

» Continue reading "Stop Making Excuses!"

How to Hire Better Salespeople

Lou Adler, August 25, 2006

Topics: Assessment, Interviewing

Let's start this article with two BHAGs (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals). The first one: reduce turnover of all newly hired sales people by 50%. The second one: reduce the time to their achieving quota by half. These goals are in the bag if you do these three things before you hire another salesperson:

» Continue reading "How to Hire Better Salespeople"

How to Hire Better Sales People
It Only Takes Two Questions If You Know What You're Looking For

Lou Adler, August 23, 2006

Topics: Assessment, Interviewing, Newsletter

Let's start this article with two BHAGs (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals). The first one - reduce turnover of all newly hired sales people by 50%. The second one - reduce by half the time for all newly hired sales reps to achieve quota. Imagine the impact that would have on your company's performance. If you do these three things before you hire another sales person, these BHAGs are in the bag:

» Continue reading "How to Hire Better Sales People
It Only Takes Two Questions If You Know What You're Looking For"

How to Measure Candidate Quality

Lou Adler, January 13, 2006

Topics: Assessment

Measuring candidate quality is something many companies struggle with. But its importance is obvious: It's how you can assess the usefulness of your sourcing channels and of the recruiters involved; if done properly, it's also a way to assess the quality of the candidates hired compared to their subsequent on-the-job performance.

» Continue reading "How to Measure Candidate Quality"

Recruiting and John Wooden's Pyramid of Success

Lou Adler, December 2, 2005

Topics: Assessment, Recruiting

A few weeks ago, my wife of 35 years saw my eyes fill with tears as I was watching TV. Fortunately, I was watching a basketball game, so she knew it wasn't too serious. After 35 years, she knew immediately the cause, and responded, "Oh, that John Wooden fellow must be speaking again."

» Continue reading "Recruiting and John Wooden's Pyramid of Success"

The Single Most Important Trait of Success

Lou Adler, March 18, 2005

Topics: Assessment, Interviewing

Probably everyone knows this already, but it's worth a reminder. There is one competency that overrides all others combined. I call it the master competency. In fact, during an interview you only need to assess a person for this one single competency to determine if the person is a good fit for the job. To make it even easier, you only need to ask one question to determine if the candidate possesses this trait or not.

» Continue reading "The Single Most Important Trait of Success"

How to Eliminate the Three Biggest Hiring Errors

Lou Adler, January 7, 2005

Topics: Assessment, Interviewing, Performance Profiles

Consider this: Based on hundreds of observations, about two-thirds of the time hiring errors can be attributed to one of three major interviewing mistakes. They're all easy to correct. It only takes a few simple steps which anyone can learn and use.

» Continue reading "How to Eliminate the Three Biggest Hiring Errors"

Use the Two-Question Interview to Assess Executive Potential

Lou Adler, October 1, 2004

Topics: Assessment, Interviewing, Interviewing

Whether you're a corporate or external recruiter, there are four things you must be able to do in order to increase your influence with your hiring manager clients:

» Continue reading "Use the Two-Question Interview to Assess Executive Potential"

Using the One-Question Interview to Recruit Top People, Assess Potential, and More

Lou Adler, April 2, 2004

Topics: Assessment, Interviewing, Recruiting

[Note: This is a rather technical article on how to improve your interviewing and recruiting skills. This information will be important to recruiters who want to find better people, learn how to recruit and negotiate offers, and increase their influence with their hiring manager clients. Do not read this article if none of these apply. - Lou Adler]

» Continue reading "Using the One-Question Interview to Recruit Top People, Assess Potential, and More"

Why You Must Hire Top Employees, Not Top Candidates

Lou Adler, March 26, 2004

Topics: Assessment, Sourcing

If you do things better, you'll get a nice raise, a pat on the back, some recognition, maybe even a promotion. If you do better things, you'll become famous.

» Continue reading "Why You Must Hire Top Employees, Not Top Candidates"

My Favorite Interview Question

Lou Adler, August 23, 2001

Topics: Assessment, Interview Training, Interviewing, Interviewing

Let me describe the single best interview question of all time: "Can you please describe your most significant accomplishment?" It's a great way to start an interview. I spend about 10 minutes on this question, gaining insight in the results achieved, the environment, and the process used to achieve the results. I then repeat the question to gain broader insight into the trend of team and individual accomplishments and see how they relate to specific job needs.

» Continue reading "My Favorite Interview Question"