Lets talk about Text!!!!

 What a week it has been and its only Tuesday!!! We just finished on-boarding our newest hire a baby-boomer who was a joy. But what about the Gen X and Gen Z applicants. I remember the days when it was submit an application (By Paper) and if you managed to get a phone call you cleaned yourself up and went in to talk about the job. It todays HR marketplace we have way more than the "Traditional" interview setting we just mentioned. Two of the interview types don't even require the applicant to put on a nice pair of pants. The telephone interview as direct as it sounds is my least favorite type. When you are on the phone you really have no idea what's going on at the other end of the line. (Mind wanders in imagination) The Safety guy in me thinks dangerously of course. Now I understand these could be fact finding interview just to determine applicant worthiness but really if the resume doesn't give you the data what's a phone call going to really answer. Next on the docket is the video interview. Like a Video killed the radio star the video killed the interview star thanks to Covid and Zoom. This interview is acceptable for long distance but given the opportunity I sure hope my applicants will make the trip into the office for a traditional interview. When I first started dating I remember some good advice. Take a look at how your girlfriend treats her family. Her siblings, her parents. See how she talks about them when they are not around. That is exactly how they are going to talk about you. the concept of Meal interviews intrigues me. Now that everyone has an expense account, it seems like everything is a write-off. The concepts are great to see how the applicant reacts outside their work environment and in a comfort zone. However this can be a pricey endeavor if you have 5 applicants its not like you can invite them all to dinner and sit at different tables.. Or maybe you can like something out of a movie.. No I don't like that idea at all. Wait what about a group interview we can bring multiple applicants in throw them in a cage and hire the last one standing. I know that's not really how it works but its how it makes me feel. You wont get a genuine interview if you ask me. Have you ever watched a political debate well that's exactly what I expect out of a group interview. The feast to outduel the other opponent will feed you responses that don't actually reflect how they feel its just the opposition of the other. The other interview style I'm not a fan of is the non-directive interview. If an employer cant be scripted enough to ask questions that will best gauges and applicants fit, like open questions used to asses ones skills and abilities to problem solve, or develop and implement policies we are doomed to just waste our time.  With all of these interview styles seemingly working against each other there is one combination I do like. In a traditional setting the Panel interview works the best if you were to ask me. You can pick a panel of individuals that know the positions needs as well as the management structure. After formulating questions and expected answers that panel will also be set apart an odd numbered panel is my recommendation to ensure a unanimous vote without a deadlock. In addition the panel interview will allow for a third non-bias party to get involved to help streamline the process and remove any potential hiring biases from the HR team. 

There is a lot of different styles and approaches to hiring individuals and for varying situations they all might work well. But when the dust settles if we are looking to hire the best employees we better put some effort into the hiring process. We need to develop and stick to an interview structure. Stick to our script of answers and apply the same grading processes across the board. 

Thanks for taking the time to read. 

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