Episode 6
Getting Candid About Candidate Prep
There's nothing worse than an undercooked candidate. Get the lowdown on how to get your candidate ready for the big interview, including tips on identifying interview style, not being an oversharer, 3 categories of questions that are ok to ask, and one thing to definitely NOT bring up.
Transcript
Hi, and welcome to the talent trade.
Stephanie Maas:This is Stephanie Maas, partner with Thinking Ahead Executive Search.
Stephanie Maas:Today, we are going to talk about one of the most basic, but crucial steps in the interview slash recruiting process.
Stephanie Maas:Today, we want to talk about the candidate prep.
Stephanie Maas:The reason why I want to bring this to light, because once you've been doing this for a while, sometimes it's super easy to get in your own head and say, you know what, my candidate knows what to do and not spend a lot of time or effort in this step of the process.
Stephanie Maas:But let me caution you not.
Stephanie Maas:Taking the time to slow down and really spend some good doesn't have to be long, but some quality time with your candidates to prepare them for an upcoming interview is a huge mistake.
Stephanie Maas:Here are three reasons why this step of the recruiting process is so important.
Stephanie Maas:Number one, most of our candidates Are not professional interviewers, even if they're phenomenal at what they do, top of the class, whatever they want to call themselves or you call them.
Stephanie Maas:For most folks, they do not interview most days of the week.
Stephanie Maas:And it's not that we're prepping them to the best interviewer gets the job, but what we are preparing them for is to show themselves in a thoughtful, well thought out way.
Stephanie Maas:In a way that allows them to get nerves out of the way and really highlight the value that they can add to the role.
Stephanie Maas:That's one reason.
Stephanie Maas:Another reason is, quite frankly, there are a lot of questions that they probably still have.
Stephanie Maas:And sometimes when they do have a lot of questions, especially if you work with folks that are a little bit more analytical in an interview situation, they can get wrapped up in asking all their questions and forgetting that they also need to be quote unquote selling a little bit.
Stephanie Maas:The other thing is sometimes they have questions and they don't know how to ask them or how to phrase them.
Stephanie Maas:So they come across in the right light during an interview.
Stephanie Maas:This is an area where we can add tremendous value.
Stephanie Maas:And then lastly, this step is part of us.
Stephanie Maas:Honoring our promise to our clients.
Stephanie Maas:We here at Thinking Ahead promise our clients that we will vet candidates for three things.
Stephanie Maas:One, of course, is a skillset match.
Stephanie Maas:Two is affordability.
Stephanie Maas:And then three, sincerity of interest.
Stephanie Maas:That's probably the toughest to measure, but when you spend time with a candidate in a prep, this is a great way for us to really listen and hear how sincere those candidates are in this opportunity.
Stephanie Maas:You're not going to necessarily cancel.
Stephanie Maas:An interview, if the candidate doesn't show right, but it definitely provides data points if they continue in the process and you get other signs that they might be window shopping.
Stephanie Maas:So how do you accomplish a candidate prep?
Stephanie Maas:Couple things real quick before I dive in.
Stephanie Maas:I know some folks like to take 45 minutes to an hour to prep their candidates.
Stephanie Maas:If this works in your niche, Absolutely.
Stephanie Maas:You should keep doing that for some of us.
Stephanie Maas:This is a 15 to 20 minute call.
Stephanie Maas:What I encourage you to do is if you're not sure where your timeframe should come, really practice.
Stephanie Maas:Listening more than talking during a prep, and that'll guide you on how long these should be.
Stephanie Maas:If you find that you're doing a ton of talking, my guess is you're probably oversharing talking to hear yourself talk and you're losing the candidate along the way.
Stephanie Maas:If you find that you were able to share what you need to share and the candidate does most of the talking, you're probably right on with an effective candidate prep.
Stephanie Maas:So here's how we start.
Stephanie Maas:First and foremost, introduce the call.
Stephanie Maas:Do your typical minute or two of building rapport.
Stephanie Maas:One of my favorite questions.
Stephanie Maas:Hey, Tom, before we jump in, anything new or different on your end since we last spoke.
Stephanie Maas:Then set the tone for the call.
Stephanie Maas:Remind them why we're having this call.
Stephanie Maas:Hey Tom, in our time today, there's just a couple of things I was hoping to accomplish.
Stephanie Maas:One, I wanted to give you some insight on who you're going to be interviewing with, their style and agenda.
Stephanie Maas:I want to talk through any additional thoughts or questions you might have and how to best put those together.
Stephanie Maas:For the interview and then share just a couple general pointers that quite frankly most folks know, but certainly appreciate the refresher.
Stephanie Maas:How does that sound when you ask that?
Stephanie Maas:How does that sound?
Stephanie Maas:That gets their buy-in?
Stephanie Maas:Most of the time they go, yeah, that sounds fine.
Stephanie Maas:Then I stop and say, Hey, before I dive into my agenda, is there anything on your mind you wanna talk about before we dive in?
Stephanie Maas:And then just pause again.
Stephanie Maas:We've already asked them if anything has changed, but this is a great place that if you really practice patient listening, if there's anything going on behind the scenes, hesitancy, excitement, change in their employment status, this is a great place for them to kind of offer.
Stephanie Maas:Oftentimes they'll say, I don't have any thoughts or questions right now, but I'm sure as we get started, some might come to mind or they'll say, well, I do have a couple of questions, but I want to see what you cover first.
Stephanie Maas:That might answer them.
Stephanie Maas:And you go, okay, Hey, no problem.
Stephanie Maas:Then with your permission, let me dive in.
Stephanie Maas:Let me also encourage you.
Stephanie Maas:I have written down everything that I need to share with you today.
Stephanie Maas:If you have a thought that comes to mind or question, please don't hesitate to interrupt me.
Stephanie Maas:I'm not going to forget to share anything with you.
Stephanie Maas:It's all written down right here in front of me.
Stephanie Maas:P.
Stephanie Maas:S.
Stephanie Maas:This is why scripts are so helpful, but hey, let me encourage you to jump in and interrupt because more than anything else, what's really important is your agenda, not just mine.
Stephanie Maas:Sound good?
Stephanie Maas:Okay, great.
Stephanie Maas:Then you quickly jump into who they're going to interview with, a couple of highlights from their background.
Stephanie Maas:And then you talk about their style and their agenda.
Stephanie Maas:Their style could be, hey, they're a resume interviewer.
Stephanie Maas:They're literally going to go chronologically through your resume and ask questions.
Stephanie Maas:Their style may be, hey, tell me about a time when.
Stephanie Maas:That's called behavioral based interviewing.
Stephanie Maas:By the way, you will get this information when you do a client prep.
Stephanie Maas:That is another talent trade episode.
Stephanie Maas:So if you haven't listened to that one, please let me encourage you to do so.
Stephanie Maas:So you share with them who they're interviewing with a couple of highlights from their background that you think could be applicable.
Stephanie Maas:Then you talk about their style.
Stephanie Maas:Their agenda interviews have pretty much the same agenda every time they're trying to evaluate your skill set.
Stephanie Maas:See if you'd be a cultural fit and compare you to anybody else they're talking to.
Stephanie Maas:So even if you're not exactly sure what the agenda is.
Stephanie Maas:No, it's going to revolve around those three things.
Stephanie Maas:Also if you know any specific hot buttons for the hiring manager, likes or dislikes, make sure that you share them.
Stephanie Maas:Hey, Tom, one of the things I definitely wanted to share with you is when I went over your background with the hiring manager, one of the things that really appealed to them, it's not a requirement for the job, but they really liked your dot, dot, dot.
Stephanie Maas:So if I was you, I would make sure.
Stephanie Maas:To be prepared to talk a little bit about that, if they are going through their resume progression, make sure you explain to them, Hey, be prepared to talk about why you've made the moves you've made, where you've been, what you've learned, the impact that you've been able to have.
Stephanie Maas:And emphasize that they need to be able to do this in a clear and concise manner.
Stephanie Maas:In fact, if you've got a quote unquote talker, you're going to have to be lovingly firm with them and encourage them.
Stephanie Maas:to practice these answers with a timer.
Stephanie Maas:If they go on a monologue that lasts for two or more minutes, they will lose their audience.
Stephanie Maas:So teach them how to go through their general background.
Stephanie Maas:We all know that infamous question.
Stephanie Maas:Tell me a little bit about yourself.
Stephanie Maas:Again, most folks are professional interviewers.
Stephanie Maas:So we get to talk through with them and coach them on how to answer that in a clear and concise way.
Stephanie Maas:Make sure that they can speak to their successes.
Stephanie Maas:In each of their different roles, however, that is measured.
Stephanie Maas:And by the way, this is a definite conversation.
Stephanie Maas:As you share information, ask questions.
Stephanie Maas:How does that sound to you?
Stephanie Maas:Is this making sense?
Stephanie Maas:Any thoughts or feedback on that, et cetera.
Stephanie Maas:Then as much as this is an opportunity for them to get to know you, this is an opportunity for you to get to know them, the organization and the position a little bit.
Stephanie Maas:Let me encourage you to have.
Stephanie Maas:Five to eight questions prepared that are thoughtful to help you gain the information that you're going to need to continue to evaluate this opportunity.
Stephanie Maas:I always tell them they can ask things in one of three categories.
Stephanie Maas:Anything they want smartly in regards to the hiring manager, things like what brought you here, what keeps you here?
Stephanie Maas:What have you been able to accomplish that you're really proud of since you've been here?
Stephanie Maas:What are you hoping to accomplish specific to this role?
Stephanie Maas:What's your leadership style?
Stephanie Maas:If we were sitting here 90 days from now, what could I have accomplished that you would feel really good that you made the right hire?
Stephanie Maas:And that's a perfect transition into the job itself.
Stephanie Maas:Share with them, Hey, I took a look at the job description.
Stephanie Maas:There's a lot there.
Stephanie Maas:Can you break it down for me a little bit?
Stephanie Maas:What do you see is the three key, most important aspects of this role?
Stephanie Maas:What are the challenges of the role?
Stephanie Maas:Where have folks stumbled in the past in this role or where are the challenges and how did some of your folks meet them or accomplish them or work through them?
Stephanie Maas:How would you describe the culture of the team?
Stephanie Maas:How will the opportunity be measured?
Stephanie Maas:How will I know I'm doing a good job?
Stephanie Maas:Anything that again reflects the position and then the last area for questions.
Stephanie Maas:is the organization as a whole.
Stephanie Maas:Things like, how would you describe the culture of the organization?
Stephanie Maas:How is that different from the culture of the team?
Stephanie Maas:You give me a vision for the organization as you see it for the next three to five years.
Stephanie Maas:Things like that.
Stephanie Maas:Again, you don't actually want them asking five to eight questions for each one of those, but have them pick.
Stephanie Maas:Hey, what's two or three questions in each of those areas that will help get you the kind of information you're looking for?
Stephanie Maas:If they need to talk about remote work or hybrid work or in the office full time.
Stephanie Maas:By the way, you should already know what this situation is.
Stephanie Maas:But if it's a hybrid, hey, walk me through.
Stephanie Maas:How does that work?
Stephanie Maas:Etc.
Stephanie Maas:I do encourage them to not talk about money, but sometimes it does come up.
Stephanie Maas:They should not be bringing it up, but it might come up.
Stephanie Maas:Hey, by the way, what are you looking for in terms of compensation, Tom?
Stephanie Maas:Hey, that's a great question.
Stephanie Maas:As you know, because by the way, I share with all my hiring managers, the exact comp of my candidates.
Stephanie Maas:As you know, I'm currently at a base of 150 with a 30 percent bonus in terms of what I'm looking for.
Stephanie Maas:If this was in fact, the right fit.
Stephanie Maas:I'd be looking for something that was fair and reasonable.
Stephanie Maas:We don't want to turn this into a negotiation.
Stephanie Maas:This is not the time or the place.
Stephanie Maas:And I absolutely let my candidates know that.
Stephanie Maas:Of all the things I do at my job, negotiating on your behalf is one of the things I'm really, really, really good at and I enjoy.
Stephanie Maas:You don't want to take that away from me.
Stephanie Maas:Not because it's going to hurt my feelings, but I'm good at it.
Stephanie Maas:And if you let me do it, I'm going to make sure we get you the best possible offer.
Stephanie Maas:Then say, Hey, now that we've gotten those things accomplished, let me just share with you a couple of just general reminders that people really appreciate.
Stephanie Maas:Things that you already know about interviewing, but things that people appreciate as refreshers.
Stephanie Maas:First and foremost, please be yourself.
Stephanie Maas:This is not going to be best interviewer gets the job.
Stephanie Maas:It's going to be most qualified gets the job, but be honest and sincere with who you are, your skill set.
Stephanie Maas:And please don't be afraid if they ask you a question that you don't know the answer to, don't be afraid to own that.
Stephanie Maas:Hey, that was a really good question.
Stephanie Maas:I'm not sure that I know the answer.
Stephanie Maas:May I have an opportunity to get back to you on that?
Stephanie Maas:Then lastly, it is the candidates responsibility to close the interview.
Stephanie Maas:People naturally feel when an interview is coming to an end and you want to encourage them that they need to be the one to actually do the closing.
Stephanie Maas:And I tell them, I'm not talking about anything cheesy.
Stephanie Maas:This is a 1985.
Stephanie Maas:We don't need to go and say, well, Mr.
Stephanie Maas:Hiring Manager, now that you know me.
Stephanie Maas:What do I need to do to get the job?
Stephanie Maas:We're not talking about that.
Stephanie Maas:We're talking about, Hey, express your interest.
Stephanie Maas:Hey, hire your manager.
Stephanie Maas:I really appreciated your time this morning.
Stephanie Maas:The more I learn about the opportunity and the organization, the more interested, intrigued, whatever word they want to use.
Stephanie Maas:I am becoming.
Stephanie Maas:Is there anything else you need to know about me at this point to feel the same?
Stephanie Maas:Something super simple like that.
Stephanie Maas:Basically, I'm interested.
Stephanie Maas:Is there anything else you need?
Stephanie Maas:Now, it's been a few years for me, but just like when you're out dating, we all know that when you're out dating, if you want to be asked out again, you start dropping hints that if they did ask you out again, you would say yes.
Stephanie Maas:And usually it sounds something like, Oh my gosh, I had a really great time tonight.
Stephanie Maas:Thank you so much.
Stephanie Maas:I'd love to do this again.
Stephanie Maas:Something of that nature, right?
Stephanie Maas:So you tell the candidates to do the same thing.
Stephanie Maas:Hey, I really appreciated your time.
Stephanie Maas:I'm definitely interested in learning more.
Stephanie Maas:I'm just curious.
Stephanie Maas:What's the next step?
Stephanie Maas:Where would we go from here?
Stephanie Maas:Now, the thing you want to caution your candidates on the answer and response from the hiring manager to that question is irrelevant.
Stephanie Maas:Half the time they'll tell you the next step half the time they'll posture and say, Hey, you know, we're going to interview five other people.
Stephanie Maas:We'll get back to you in a week.
Stephanie Maas:The answer doesn't matter.
Stephanie Maas:You're going to get the real answer and your client debrief.
Stephanie Maas:Please pay attention there.
Stephanie Maas:That will be yet another episode of the talent rate.
Stephanie Maas:The point is that they're showing that they know how to close and expressing their interests.
Stephanie Maas:There is a psychology when you are in a hiring position, you tend to like people who you think want the job.
Stephanie Maas:There will be a time and a place to play hard to get.
Stephanie Maas:This is not it.
Stephanie Maas:So you encourage them to be clear with their interest level, by the way, if they're not interested.
Stephanie Maas:You, of course, don't want them to close because that's going to leave a bitter taste in the hiring manager's mouth when you go, Oh yeah, they lied.
Stephanie Maas:They're not interested.
Stephanie Maas:So instead you tell them to say, Hey, if you know for sure this is not for you, then all you have to do is, Hey, thank you for your time.
Stephanie Maas:I really appreciated the opportunity to know more.
Stephanie Maas:You've given me a lot to think about.
Stephanie Maas:That's a close when you know you don't want the job.
Stephanie Maas:If you're not sure, I always encourage folks to close to the positive.
Stephanie Maas:We can always go back and say, Hey, the more they thought about it, the commute just won't work or the timing's not right or this or that.
Stephanie Maas:But if we give a neutral to negative feedback, it's almost impossible for me to get a second round of interviews after that.
Stephanie Maas:Lastly, Make sure that they understand, and if you can get on their calendar, this is the best way to do it, that after the interview, you need them to call you.
Stephanie Maas:And again, if you can set an appointment, hey, the interview is Tuesday at 10, let's you and I talk Tuesday at 2.
Stephanie Maas:Make sure they understand the importance of why you need to connect and the sense of urgency.
Stephanie Maas:I like to say, hey, I am not going to call the hiring manager.
Stephanie Maas:And they know it until I've heard from you.
Stephanie Maas:I am representing your interest.
Stephanie Maas:So I need to know where your head's at.
Stephanie Maas:Now, I'm going to give you plenty of time to process this, but at some point within 24 hours of your interview, I need to at least connect with you.
Stephanie Maas:Get kind of your initial gut response, because the client will be waiting for me to call them, and they know I won't call until you and I have spoken.
Stephanie Maas:If we don't connect, my client will start to assume that you're not interested, because they know this is how I work with my candidates.
Stephanie Maas:That is our prep.
Stephanie Maas:Again, it can be accomplished in 10, 15, 20 minutes.
Stephanie Maas:If you're interviewing for multiple people, it might be a lot longer, but again, this is a critical step.
Stephanie Maas:You should be doing no more than 50 percent of the talking and this will set them up regardless if they're the ones that get the job, this will set them up to start understanding how and why we're different.
