Yesterday’s Advisor covered two deadly sins of interviewers. Today, we’ll talk about a third sin—failing to drill down to the unvarnished truth—and a tip about a product specially designed for the small HR department.
Any job candidate with an ounce of sense has prepared answers for the obvious questions about job qualifications. You still have to ask those questions, but after you get the prepared answer, try to drill deeper to get at the truth.
Here’s an example of a master driller (YOU) at work with a candidate for a project manager job:
YOU: Tell me about a recent successful program you managed.
CANDIDATE: My team installed a $5 million computerized management system for the organization. I was “Project Manager.”
YOU: Wow.
(Sounds impressive, but should you accept that as evidence of project management ability? NO! Drill down deeper.)
YOU: How many people worked with you on this project?
CANDIDATE: 12 professionals and 6 support staff for 6 months.
(That’s quite a staff. Stop questioning? NO. Drill deeper.)
YOU: How did you select the team?
CANDIDATE: Well, the consultant selected them.
(Hmmmmm. Better drill deeper.)
YOU: How did you go about planning the implementation?
CANDIDATE: Oh, the consultant handled that—she’s the expert.
(Whoops!)
YOU: How much time did you spend on the project?
CANDIDATE: Well, let’s see, it took about an hour a week to check in with the consultant, make sure she didn’t need anything.
What did drilling deeper reveal? This candidate was just a “gofer” —a go-between with no management responsibilities and an inflated title—not an experienced project manager, for sure.
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Other Drilling Techniques
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Silence. Often if you simply sit silently after a candidate answers a question, the candidate will fill the silence with more information.
Reflecting. Another way to probe for more information is to simply repeat or reflect what the candidate says:
CANDIDATE: I ran big projects.
YOU: You say you ran big projects?
Inflating. Another technique is to take a position beyond or broader than the candidate’s. For example:
CANDIDATE: I ran a big project.
YOU: Would you say that project was your biggest contribution? Would it be fair to say that you are an experienced project manager?
Dealing with recruiting and interviewing is never easy. In fact, let’s face it—hardly anything in HR is easy. And it’s especially difficult in a small department, where one or two people have to do it all, from recruiting to succession planning to investigations to training to recordkeeping to intermittent leave.
We asked our editors if there was any special help directed right at the smaller—or even one-person—HR office. They say Managing an HR Department of One is unique in addressing the special pressures small HR departments face. Here are some of the features included:
—Tutorial on how HR supports organizational goals. This section explains how to probe for what your top management really wants, and how to build credibility in your ability to deliver it.
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—Overview of compliance responsibilities, through a really useful 2-page chart of 21 separate laws that HR needs to comply with. These range from the well-known Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to lesser known, but equally critical rules such as Executive Order 11246. Also included are federal and state posting requirements. (Proper postings are among the first things a visiting inspector looks for … especially now that the minimum wage has been changing repeatedly.)
—Training guidelines. No matter what your company size, expect to do training. Some of it is required by law. Some of it is just good business sense. Managing an HR Department of One walks you through how to train efficiently and effectively, for the least time and money.
—Prewritten forms, policies, and checklists. These are enormous work-savers! Managing an HR Department of One has 46 such forms, from job apps and background check sheets to performance appraisals and leave requests, in both paper and on CD. The CD lets you easily customize any form with your company’s name and specifics.
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