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Hot Tip #8 - Don't Get Snowed by Generalities

By Lou Adler, April 17, 2007

I advocate the use of a one-question performance-based interview. The essence of this is to ask candidates to describe significant projects followed-up by detailed fact-finding. If you do this type of questioning for 3-4 projects over 3-10 years you'll obtain a trend line of performance. Then compare these accomplishments to the performance profile you prepared when you took the assignment to assess job fit. The key to success here is to get details about each accomplishment, not accepting the candidate's initial responses at face value. An example best illustrates this point.

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The other day I interviewed a COO candidate for a small entrepreneurial company. The CEO told me one of the major performance objectives was to upgrade production and distribution. This required an overhaul of all management reporting systems to improve visibility into daily operations. As I asked the candidate to describe the reporting systems at his current company the responses were good, but very general. Here's one, "We made a point to be on top of everything that went on. That was our company philosophy." This is a general statement that really doesn't describe anything. As an interviewer you need more details to understand the candidate's depth of knowledge and the role the person played. In this case, I asked for a detailed description of the actual daily and weekly reports he used to stay on top of everything. He did a poor job in describing these. My assessment from this was that the person either wasn't responsible for this aspect of the company's operations or that the reporting clearly was inadequate.

As an interviewer you have the responsibility to make judgments based on detailed evidence, not general statements. Since candidates tend to talk in generalities, you need to push to get specific details and lots of examples. This sometimes can get uncomfortable. Many candidates will try to intimidate you, suggesting you really don't know the job. That's why preparing a performance profile is such an important part of the process. When you take an assignment ask the hiring manager what the person needs to accomplish and what are the big tasks required. This also forces the hiring manager to better understand the critical requirements and specific needs of the job.

You'll become a better recruiter and interviewer when you get your clients and candidates to provide specific details and facts. This is how you improve communication and understanding, and in many cases you'll be able to use these facts to defend your good candidates from superficial decisions. Forget the philosophy, get the facts instead.