PMI May 6 2016

1Evan Donaldson – Talentry, LLC

Interviewing and Hiring - From a Hiring Manager's Perspective

Why do companies hire?

How do companies hire?

Who do companies hire?

A Summary for hiring managers, people looking for a new opportunity, or those looking for advancement.


Why do companies hire?

• Why do companies hire?– Because they have a problem!

• How many kinds of problems are there?– ONE!

• What kind of problem is this?– A BUSINESS Problem!


What are these business problems?

1. Make Money2. Save Money3. Get new clients/consumers4. Keep current clients/consumers

happy (buying)


What does this look like in a specific context for the Company?

Companies • Initiating new projects (implementations, alliances,

new contracts, new markets, roll-outs, upgrades, build-outs, etc.)

• Looking for senior or specialized personnel• Growing, expanding, opening new facilities, moving• Adding new skill areas (e.g. PC to Virtual Desktop,

etc.)• Offering new products/services to clients• Looking to outsource or use Prof. Services• Looking to save money, reduce products/service,

hiring freezes (!)


What does this look like in a specific context for the Candidate?

Successful candidates will :

• Save them money• Win them customers• Decrease their time to

market• Allow other strategic

initiatives to move forward

• Achieve innovation

• Differentiate/brand

themselves• Remove annoyances• Streamline processes• Automate processes• Provide specialized skills• Optimize current clients


What do companies do when they have problems/needs?

So far, I have only been able to come up with 5 strategies that companies use to solve problems:

1. Nothing. Either they solve the problem with internal resources; or they defer because they lack the time, the money, the champion, the plan, or some combination.

2. They hire internal resources (“permanent” or “direct hire” personnel) to solve long-term problems.

3. They hire a consultant, or a contractor. An individual to solve the problem and then leave.

4. They hire a professional services company to internally develop a solution.5. They outsource the solution in return for a finished product or total solution.

Often, companies will shift and rotate among these options trying to find the “perfect solution.”


HOW do companies hire?Top Grading in Hiring: “Who” by Geoff Smart and Randy Street

How do “A” hiring managers find their stars?They ask:– What were you hired to accomplish?– How did your performance compare to the

previous year’s performance?– How did your performance compare to the plan?– How did your performance compare to that of your

peers?– What are your biggest accomplishments in this area

in your career?– What are your insights into your biggest mistakes

and lessons learned in this area?


What does the person interviewing want?

• The FIVE universal motivators:(Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs )• Physiological Needs• Safety Needs• Needs of Love, Affection and

Belongingness• Needs for Esteem• Needs for Self-ActualizationAppeals to these needs will be effective - People need to be

MOTIVATED in order to take ACTION


In a business context:

• Achievement• Social Affiliation• Power• Ego Gratification• Survival


What are they looking for?General Principles:

The best decisions regarding candidates will come from acombination of “mechanical” ratings and a “gut feeling.” This combination of sound analysis and seasoned judgment is needed.

Interview questions can be viewed as a series of prompts designed to spark applicant anecdotes relevant to the job related criteria.

Interviewing is both a duty and a privilege. Interviewers are acting as “agents of the organization” and have legal responsibilities to ensure a fair process.


Behavioral Based Interviewing The best predictor of future performance is past performance.

• Focus on actual past performance (Avoid “What if” questions)• Ask questions designed to obtain behavioral examples• Use probes to elicit enhanced information about details (who what, when,

where, why) This is why they use BEHAVIORAL-BASED Interviewing

• You want to hire candidates for what they actually did, not what they think that they can do or want to do (why?)

• It is more difficult to embellish when recalling specific examples• A good interviewer can always direct this to the point where canned or

prepared responses will be useless. • MOST managers do a poor job of this, accepting hypotheticals.


Behavior Based InterviewingMore: “Tell me about a time when….”• “Describe your most disappointing and frustrating experience in gaining the

support of others for an idea or proposal.”• “Tell me about a time when you had to work hard in order to fully

understand what another person was saying to you.”• “Describe the last time you did something at school/work that went well

beyond expectations.”• “Give me an example of a time in which you felt you were able to motivate

your co-workers in school/work.”• “Tell me about a time when you dealt effectively with conflict.”• “Describe the most significant written document, report or presentation

that you have completed.”

Beware the “here is what I would do….” or even, “here is what I do.…” answer!


Probing questions work for both interviewer and interviewee

Probing for Elaboration• Can you tell me more about….• What exactly did you do….what was your role?• I’d like to hear a few more details….

Probing for Understanding• So, it sounds like you (restate)• I am still not clear about…..• Help me understand…• Why did you do it that way?• When you say “X”, what do you mean specifically….

Probing for Examples• Can you give a detailed example?• What were the steps you took? Why?• What exactly were your own responsibilities?• What additional examples can you give….

Probing for Results• What resulted from…..• How did you measure your results?• How were your stellar outcomes different from typical work?• What accomplishment are you most proud of?• What did you learn from…..


PAR/STAR ModelAsking Behavior-Based Questions

Situation Please describe the situation in which your example takes place.

“Management decree was to move our system uptime from 96% to 99.9%.”

TaskWhat task were you working on?

“I was responsible for setting up replication.”

ActionWhat action(s) did you or others take?

“I re-provisioned storage creating a synchronous replication environment.”(Probing question opportunity: Why wasn’t there a replication environment in the first place? Why did you select synchronous vs. asynchronous replication?”)

ResultWhat was the result of the action?

“We were able to actually move our uptime to 99.99% .” (Probing question opportunity: How was this measured? Over how long?)


WHO do companies hire

People they:

1. _____________________________

2. _____________________________

3. _____________________________


How do you communicate this?

1. Resume2. Interview– Content– Attitude– Presentation

3. References


Resumes

• MUST contain MSA / PAR (or STAR) examples• MUST have proper spelling / be grammatically

correct• MUST be fairly easy to read (This doesn’t

mean short!)


Interviewing1. Plan, research, plan, and then research

and plan some more…2. Effective candidates listen!

1. Active listening = effective communication2. Consultative listening/questioning3. “= find the clues for the SO WHAT???!!!”

3. The unspoken concern/question/problem..?

4. What is the goal of an interview?5. The best question of all: ?


Interviewing

• If you get to the end of an interview and don’t ALL know whether or not it is likely a good fit for you, you probably could have done better! This indicates poor or incongruous communication!


Interviewing – Attitude and Presentation important too!

• Dress for success• Pay attention• Don’t interrupt – do write

things down so you don’t forget• Don’t go on for days – do land the plane /

summarize and ask if elaboration needed• Don’t be cocky – do be confident • Don’t be over-eager – do be eager


Interviewing success:• Make sure you do have some common

questions prepared in advance. • Do not evade questions. • Definitely have some good questions prepared

for them in advance (“Level II Questions”)• Be positive about everyone and everything• Do ask for the job (if it is a good fit!)• Do qualify answers (“from what we have

discussed so far….)


Interviewing success – both sides of the interview table:

• “Me and you vs. problem.” NOT “Me vs. you.” This is creating mutuality of purpose

• “Begin with the end in mind” – the best way to use consultative listening

• Address conflict squarely• Both need to prepare (read resume, explore

company)• Listen


Good luck!

• Questions?

PMI May 6 2016

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Transcript of PMI May 6 2016