In the complicated world of finding great talent that fits your culture, things are very different than they used to be. In a world where we have eight billion people on the planet, leaders are still telling me that they cannot find people with the skills they need and that are a culture fit. Candidates are still ‘ghosting’ for interviews and ghosting when awarded the job. Now prospective employees are turning the tables even more on employers by interviewing the interviewers.
In recent conversations with other leaders, I am hearing that it is standard that candidates for a role are asking about salary, flexible benefits, flexible schedules, shortened work weeks, policies around working from home, education allowances, and the list goes on.
Here is a list of questions that I have heard candidates are asking during an interview…
What I am hearing from leaders, is that the entire process is unpredictable and they find themselves spending a lot of time in the interview ‘selling’ the role and the organization to the candidate versus digging in to uncover if the person is actually going to be a culture fit.
Now, do not get me wrong, it is important that candidates are able to ask questions about a role they are applying for. The danger here is that, as leaders, we forget that hiring is one of the most important things we do – it has always been important, and it still is.
I recommend that you prepare for an interview the same way that candidates are (hopefully) preparing for an interview. Develop a package or ready responses for the questions that candidates will be interviewing you and the team on. If you don’t have a policy on the questions you will be asked, be honest about it and say “this is how we work around here…”.
Remember though as a leader in your company, you have a responsibility to hire the very best fit for the organization. That means that whoever you are interviewing, you need to dig to discover if they are going to be a values and culture fit (job related skills can be taught).
How do you do that? Here are my recommendations:
Bottom line… You will be interviewed by candidates. Prepare for it. However, do not for a second lose sight of what your number job is… to hire the very best fit for the company.
