How many other thoughts, agendas, lists, triggers, and emotions do you have running through your mind when you interview? How does that head noise impact your quality of hire?
If you don’t use a defined process or system to hire, you risk letting your mind and emotions fly like a race car down a mountain road with no guard rails. How clear and focused are your hiring conversations?
Your best results start with a clear set of questions to screen and interview with criteria for what a good answer should sound like. This will guide your listening, so your mind stays track and focused.
Following a basic structure to screen and interview candidates gives you more time to really LISTEN to what they are saying (not what you want to hear). Stop talking at this point, tune out the distractions in your head and REALLY LISTEN.
Get off the hamster wheel in your mind and focus on the candidate’s responses to your questions. Less focus on you, more focus on the candidate.
This doesn’t replace your spontaneous questions or creative thinking. Using a more structured approach up front allows you to save your natural free flow for later, with top finalists worth your time and energy.
Save your precious time and energy for people who are true contenders for the job. Don’t waste it on every candidate you meet.
Life is a team sport. Help your team tune out the noise and focus on LISTENING to people.