Detective: Finding out who is truly in the interview chair

I have hired some truly amazing people in my career. I have also hired some people who made me seriously question what I missed during the interview. When I hired someone that was a bad hire I put a lot of thought into what I missed during the interview. After 15 years of conducting interviews, I feel I have a very good process now, and I have been very pleased with every candidate I have hired over the last several years!

I never hire someone without reviewing references. You must review references preferably, before the interview, so you can build some interview questions around the feedback. Red flags I look for in references:

•   References are all peers and no managers.

•   Short length of stays at previous jobs.

•   Large gaps in employment with no great explanation.

•   Most important: Many managers do not want to give a terrible reference, but if the applicant is good, they will give a great one. I always consider a middle-of-the-line reference, a bad one.

I always plan for my interviews to take an hour. I fully believe that hiring the right person is one of the most important things we can do for our teams as leaders. You will spend way more than an hour dealing with issues if you hire the wrong person I promise!

I start by introducing myself and I always tell the person to relax. I state that I have a very laid-back interview and I want the real person, not the stressed out one, and try to make it a light and funny moment. I then go over all the questions I think the applicant may have such as who we are, what we do, the makeup of staff in our area, the duties of the job, hours, orientation, dress code, chain of command, etc. I have found applicants like this at the beginning of the interview so they can learn about the job and the area, and it gives them time to settle in. I then talk about great accomplishments we have had or are working on, and what makes our area great. Just in case, the candidate gets other offers! Then I ask if they have any questions yet and tell them they can also ask at the end.

Now for my top detective questions, outside of the typical interview questions, things you do well, could improve on, how much work you have missed, etc.

   1. When you go to the grocery store, do you use self-checkout, the conveyor belt style, or click list?

            1. Do you have a daily planner?

            2. Is it color-coordinated?

            3. Do you have a to-do list? Do you ever complete a task that wasn’t on your list and then add it so you can cross it off?

I have many people ask me, why I ask these questions. These questions tell me HOW detail-orientated they are, and if they can adjust on the fly. It has amazed me to find most Critical Care nurses have a very specific order for scanning and bagging items. Most ED and rural health nurses do not! Why do you think that is?

2.  Tell me about your favorite co-worker

3. Tell me about your least favorite co-worker.

I get a lot from these questions. They tell me a lot about the types of relationships they can form and develop with people.

4.  What is the name of your current supervisor or a recent supervisor I can call for a reference? Write the name down and then say when I call “Sue” what will she tell me you do well? What about 1-2 things you could do better?

When you write down the name of the supervisor, you can see the applicant become more serious, because they know you may reach out to them. I have gotten some honest answers by doing this. As a bonus, you learn what they do well with and their areas for improvement.

5.  None of us are perfect, myself included for sure. Tell me about a time you made a mistake at work.

 I have had some very interesting answers to this question. Some have made me laugh, some have made me empathize with the person, and some have really scared me. The red flags I look for are when they take no responsibility for the mistake and blame others. They should state “I” somewhere in their answer. Another red flag is when they cannot explain what they have done differently or learned, to stop the mistake from happening again.

Other interview detective tips: Do not give the answer to the question, when you ask the question! I see this happen a lot. “Here we want a great work atmosphere with people that are driven, kind, great communicators, and self-sufficient.” What can you bring to our team? What do you think the candidate will say if they are smart? You gave them the test answers for the rest of the interview!

Sealing the deal: If you really like the candidate, now is the time to sell sell sell. Today’s market can be tough and I want the BEST on my teams. If you want the best, you have to recruit the candidate you want. Take them around and introduce them to the team, list your accomplishments and plans, show them where they will work, and if your location allows make an offer on the spot. If not give them your cell number, and card, and follow up with a call, text, or even a personalized card signed by the whole team.