Mr. Feeney

Human Resources, Recruitment & Training

Fantasy Interviewing Camp: How to Make Candidate Selection a Major-League Process

By Paul Feeney, President, Sanford Rose Associates

Travel with us instead to Fantasy Interviewing Camp, where Major League players make the hard-to-master process of candidate attraction and selection look easy.

Note that we said "attraction" as well as "selection," because interviewing is a two-way street. It's great that you have chosen Mary as better qualified than Joe, but what if she has not chosen you?

Oh, yes: And leave your baggage behind. If your organization is like most others around the world, interviewing is a hit-or-miss process, with more misses than hits. Let's take a fresh look.

Who is the star of the show?

At Fantasy Interviewing Camp, the candidate is king. That's because only one of two things can happen: The person will be offered the job, or the person will not be offered the job. If the former, one wants the individual to say "yes." If the latter, one hopes that he or she will have a positive experience nonetheless. People typically tell 8 to 10 acquaintances about good experiences - but three times that number about a bad experience. Why annoy anyone who is in a position to recommend your organization to others?

Kingly treatment, of course, doesn't happen by accident; it requires careful planning.

Instead of instructing interviewees to get there as best they can, the host organization makes all travel arrangements - including airport pick-up (when applicable) by a designated employee, company car or commercial limo service. Out-of-town candidates are scheduled to arrive the evening before, enabling them to be fresh the next morning, while assuring the employer that travel delays will not disrupt the interview schedule.

The choice of hotel reflects both its convenient location and the acceptability of its accommodations and service. In these days of corporate belt-tightening, it is not necessary (and might send the wrong message) to select a five-star resort for an overnight business stay. On the other hand, sleep-cheap quarters will send an equally disconcerting message, so seek the middle ground.

Of course, a basket of fruit for the room has been arranged, along with a welcome card and corporate information packet - if not previously sent by the company or its search firm.

Dinner that evening, except in the case of late arrival, provides an opportunity for the hiring manager or another key executive to spend time socially with the candidate in a relaxed setting. And, to be perfectly frank, it's a great opportunity to check the candidate's table manners and poise.

With nothing left to chance, a great first impression has been created. Before crawling into bed and turning on the tube, the candidate calls spouse or significant other and says, "Honey, you won't believe how well-treated I have been this evening. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow."

Redesigning interview day

You know the standard drill: The candidate catches a cab to the company, whose receptionist has no idea he's coming. Someone from Human Resources eventually shows up, escorts him to a cubicle down the hall and produces an application.

"But I'm not applying for anything," the candidate protests. "You invited me."

"It's our policy," the HR representative explains.

Next, the candidate receives a schedule - seven inquisitors in five hours, including working lunch. Briefcase in hand, he is escorted from office to office, where he stands in doorways waiting to be recognized. The seven inquisitors ask him the same questions over and over ("What is your greatest strength ... your greatest weakness ... your most important accomplishment?"). Eventually, the HR person collects the candidate and promises that someone will contact him "in due course."

At Fantasy Camp, the day begins differently. The candidate is picked up at the hotel and driven to the company. (If dinner was impossible the night before, breakfast takes its place.) Her guide escorts her past the receptionist (who greets her by name), provides a 15 to 30-minute walkthrough of the facility and brings her to the employer's choice of (a) a pleasant conference room, or (b) a nicely furnished visiting office. Some light refreshments sit on a credenza. In an amazing reversal, those involved in the interviewing process will come to her - or him, as the case may be.

From roughly 9:30 a.m. to noon, the hiring manager and an HR professional take the candidate through a highly structured interview that can be repeated with other finalists for the job. Use of a two-person team enables one person to concentrate on asking the questions, while the other person takes notes.

The objective of the interview is to obtain a detailed understanding of what each candidate has accomplished throughout his or her career, how they accomplished it, what the scope of their responsibilities has been from job to job, and what insights they have into their own performance and their relationships with others. It is based on the theory that the more we know about a person's past performance, the better we can predict their future performance.

The last half-hour of the morning is reserved for questions from the candidate - which can provide additional insight into the individual's mental acuity, interview preparation and interest in the job.

After lunch and a short break, three or four key players are scheduled at 30-minute intervals to meet the candidate in the conference room or visiting office. (Refreshments have been restocked.) A high-level marketing candidate, for instance, might be scheduled to meet the department heads of sales, product development, manufacturing and law. Aware of the morning's in-depth interview, they know to focus on explaining their interactions with the position at hand and answering questions. While their observations will be important, they will not be asked to "approve" the candidate or take the blame for a poor hiring decision.

Unless the candidate strikes out, it's time at last to visit the office of Mr./Ms. Big - the final sign-off source. Big's digs are fancy and never fail to make a good impression. Big, of course, has been briefed by then on the candidate's suitability for the position. Smart managers never tell Big, "You will like this person" - which dares him to disagree. Rather, they say, "We really want you to sell this person on the position and the company." Given such an important mission, Big does a bang-up job.

Afterward, the candidate's host answers any remaining questions and promises a speedy decision. Then it's off to the airport by company car. By the following morning, the search firm has debriefed both client and candidate, identifying any concerns that either has about the other. By the time all three finalists have finished interviewing, concerns have been resolved and the search consultant stands ready to present an offer to the client's top choice that is almost certain to be accepted.

Paul Feeney is President of Sanford Rose Associates, an Executive Search Firm. Sanford Rose Associates was founded in 1959, is a full-service executive search organization conducting retained and contingency searches through a network of 60+ offices worldwide devotes its practice to all areas of finance, accounting, general management, operations, technology, management consulting and project management for national and international searches. Paul has over 18 years of executive search management and corporate recruiting experience while working in New York, London and Prague. Mr. Feeney can be contacted at 973-492-5424 or pffeeney@sanfordrose.com Extended Bio...

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