Hiring

[waverly]

I interviewed 4 people this week.  No one stood out as amazing.  They all seemed personable and can do the job.  Their work experience and credentials are all very similar.  I tried an interview sheet to assess applicants, and they are are being rated about the same.  Any other resources for hiring the right person?

I hired someone last year that turned out to be super passive aggressive and doesn't take criticism well.  So now I am afraid that I will get someone that interviews well and then turns out to have a major flaw.  

Apparently "how do you take criticism?" should be added to my questions list. I could bring them in for another interview, but that seems like overkill for the pay/ low level job. Do you go for known quantity over unknown people? 

[k3am]

I've hired some really awesome people. (One of the guys I hired fresh out of college? He's already surpassed me in my career and is slated to take over managing an entire division at another company. I'd call that a great a hire.)

I've also hired some really shitty people. (Like my shitty analyst who couldn't understand that when I said "don't leave before 4:30pm I meant don't leave before 4:30pm.)

Honestly, I don't think you find out these things from a canned interview question. Do you have anyone you can backchannel? For my shitty analyst, I relied on a recommendation from a prior boss who had never worked directly with him. Turns out if I'd asked... oh, ANYONE WHO HAD EVER ACTUALLY WORKED WITH HIM BEFORE, I'd have heard the truth.

I'd also just go on gut. If I'd trusted my gut, I wouldn't have shired the shitty asshole.

[2chatter]

I go for intangibles more than skills in interviews. I pretty much don’t interview people without the baseline skill set.

So for me it comes down to
- could I leave them alone in a meeting with Internal clients?
- would I have any concerns about them sending emails that they should not
- did they clearly and concisely answer my questions
- did they excessively talk about themselves
- can they handle the pace?
- samples of work
- google searches

IDK if that helps but it’s how I decide. My last consultant was a train wreck so it’s not fool proof for sure.

[waverly]

I think it's also just good to hear that others have made bad hiring decisions too. My record was so good for the last 8 years until this lady, and then boom- passive aggressive employee which is one of the worst kind. Several left references, so I can call them too.

[2chatter]

waverly - so the same here! There were a few along the way but for the most part I have picked great people, some of whom left and I later rehired. So yeah, trust yourself!

[divanerd]

Sounds like each has same technical skills, speaking with references may not help(fear of negligent hiring), then you may be left with just dates of employment.

Can you have them complete a short behavioral assessment OR questions centered around interpersonal skills more behavior based questions...don't worry about the pay thing and whether it's worth to have a 2nd round.
Hang in there hiring can be tough stuff.

[ilovelucyvv]

Did you talk to references for them? I like to ask references all of the hard questions.