Please think about your most significant accomplishment. Now, could you tell me all about it?
That’s a great stepping off question. And, I really like the second question, in one of the comments on Anthony’s post, by Jim Durbin
Tell me about the last big mistake you made and what you did to correct it.
Candidates, be prepared for these questions. Hiring managers and teams: consider these next two questions for your next interview. These questions are illuminating.
Louise Fletcher in What’s Your Email Address? says “Choose an address that is as bland and professional as possible.”
Well, I don’t know that I would categorize a professional email address as bland, but then, I’m a geek. But I absolutely agree with Louise about the suitability of the email address she referred to “sexyeyes…” You might be “wannabeaskibum.” Right, that will impress potential hiring managers and HR people. (Actually, if you wanna be an anything that’s not this job, why are you applying for this job??) Even an address such as “lovesdogs” isn’t sufficiently professional enough.
Hiring managers, if you see a candidate with an email address that’s not professional, it is information. But you have to be a little careful about what information it is. It does mean that the candidate didn’t take the time to acquire a professional email address. It could be that the candidate was so bowled over by your position that he or she didn’t want to waste even the five minutes it takes to obtain a free email address. Or, it could be that the candidate didn’t even think about the effect the candidate’s email name would have on you. Or, it could mean that the candidate wants to work with other people who have similar interests. You just don’t know.
Candidates, why take the chance? If you’ve gone to the trouble of creating a bang-up resume and this job looks great, why not use a professional email address? By professional, I mean an email address that doesn’t look like a hobby or a come-on (or anything else I wouldn’t even think of
Remember, your email address is part of the first impression people have of you. Make it a good one.
Mind your language — particularly in the cover letter. I tend to give more benefit of the doubt with affect/effect. But I don’t have much patience with cover letters that misspell my name or the name of the company.
Calm down. I’ve never been worried that people will tear off their clothes and jump out the window, but I have been concerned that the candidate will wear a hole in the carpet, their shoe, or will fidget his/her way out of the door.
Flattery will get you nowhere. Well said.
Don’t make up stuff. I blogged a bit about this for resumes here.
Be Sincere.
A great article from the hiring manager/company’s perspective. Thanks, Mike, for sending it to me. If any of you have other intern stories (or general candidate stories), send them on. Especially if you have great advice.
From a hiring perspective (you just knew this was coming, right?), hiring managers are in love with deliverables and narrowly defined requirements. Look at job postings these days and you’ll find a litany of mandatory experience and skills.
Innovation requires curiosity. And, it requires diversity of thought and experience. ((See Frans Johansson’s The Medici Effect for compelling explanations of why.)
I can hear you hiring managers now, “But I need someone who can be effective now!” Yes, you do. But you don’t need to focus on strictly tools and technology expertise to find just the right person now. Each person’s qualities, preferences, functional skills, and ability to learn domain expertise are more important than a laundry list of technical skills.
I’ve said before that networking is critically important to finding a job and finding candidates. A colleague of mine has just sent me an email explaining her predicament,
I am currently looking for a job and networks are important to me. I you are interested in the resume of an experienced problem solver, a generalist with a passion for organizational development, agile methods and happy people, please let me know. And don’t hesitate to contact me or tell your friends about me. I am on some kind of a timebomb, having h1b status.
I know this person fairly well. And note how she describes herself with those qualities (experienced problem solver), preferences (agile methods and happy people), and skills (passion for organizational development) that are the heart of what makes a person right or wrong for a given context.If you would like to contact my colleague, click here to send me an email, and I’ll forward your email to her.
I thank Keith Ray who forwarded this gem to me from the XP mailing list:
“Puzzles are fantastic. They’re an instant way of figuring out whether you want to work for the organisation or not.” — Adrian Howard
When I teach interviewing, people tell me they like puzzles because they think they’re watching how people will work at work, and as one developer said, “I don’t have to think of other questions this way.”Puzzles are not a good predictor of ability at work. Those behavior-description questions are.
It’s more time-consuming, but take a little time and think of great questions to ask. You won’t lose people like Adrian before you even get started.
Because the cost of a bad hire is so high, some organizations are resorting to a variety of psychometric tests to determine if it’s worth interviewing and possibly hiring a candidate. If you, like me, are suspicious of tests, take a look at The Einstein-Clavin Effect by Wendell Williams. My favorite quote:
… controlled research studies confirm the fact that people who “fake good” on self-reported tests can outscore folks who give honest responses. Burn that into memory: People who “fake good” on self-reported tests can outscore folks who give honest responses.
So, if you’re using some kind of test (tests are not auditions, which are useful), see if you can correlate any previous hiring with the results on the test. I bet you can’t.
Tests don’t predict behavior on the job. Behavior-description questions and auditions do. I’d much rather spend the time interviewing well than pay for a test that doesn’t predict work behaviors.
