Hiring Traps

Just because a candidate doesn’t express himself or herself well on paper shouldn’t be the sole reason for eliminating them from the competition. Not every good salesperson has a great grasp of the written word or can spell well but they may be able to sell up a storm.

A lot of well-written resumes are not the work of the candidate but is often the result of a resume preparation service and don’t give you a true insight into the person’s ability to write. If writing letters isn’t a major criterion for the job, don’t worry that the resume isn’t a work of art. Takes the time to at least interview the person over the telephone. If they sound good, carry on with the hiring process and see if they can make the grade against your other hiring criterion.

While it’s nice to have both, the ability to sell far outweighs the ability to properly express oneself in writing.

If a candidate's writing skills are an important part of the job qualifications, don’t count on their resume or covering letter as being any indication of their writing abilities.

In this day and age, many people are getting professional assistance in putting together their resumes and what you see is most likely the creative writings from one of these services and not that of the candidate.

If the candidate will be expected to write letters or respond to emails as part of his job responsibilities, have him write one for you as part of your hiring process. Give the candidate a scenario such as the customer is expecting delivery of his order by the end of next week and we’ve just found out that delivery will be delayed by six weeks. Ask the candidate to compose a letter or email to a prospect explaining the situation.

You’ll be surprised how many people have no idea how to even set up a letter let alone handle the situation effectively. You may even find that they are atrocious spellers and have no ability to use spell checkers. If there’s a problem, it’s better that you find out before, not after, you hire them.

There are a ton of books out there for job seekers to help them prepare for the moment of truth, the hiring interview.

A lot of these people will not only know what questions you are likely to ask but what answers they should be giving if they are to impress you enough to get the job. Your job is to prepare a set of questions that will get the candidate to reveal his real self, not just the image he wants you to see.

One way to prepare is to read the same books the job hunters are reading. That way you’ll have a better sense of whether you’re getting a stock answer out of some book or if you’re getting close to the truth.

Another method is to have a set of standard questions that are appropriate to you, your company, and what the candidates are expected to sell and use those questions at every interview. After a period of time, you’ll know what answers to expect and a red flag will go up whenever you come across someone who is trying to bury you in BS (a technical term!).

To paraphrase the old saying, "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there," when you're asking interview questions, "If you don't know what answer to expect, any answer will do."

Your challenge is to be even better prepared for the interview than the candidate. Your bottom line may depend upon that preparation.

For some obscure reason many people feel that there isn’t much to selling and anybody or everybody should be able to do it. If this is the case, why is it that so many people don’t last in the profession?

This phenomenon probably explains why so many family businesses fail or falter when the original founder’s children join the company in the sales role. Apparently they are supposed to use their innate sales abilities to carry on the business traditions. Sometime it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. Not everyone has the drive, desire, ability, or temperament to do the job successfully.

If it’s simply a matter of no ability, we can train the individual. We might even be able to plant the seeds of desire for the job, but the drive has to come from way inside the individual.

Then there is the matter of temperament. How temperamentally suited is the person to sales. Having the proper temperament doesn’t assure success in sales but it gives the person a running chance at success because selling will come more naturally to them.

On the other hand, having the wrong temperament doesn’t mean the person will fail at selling but he better have a great deal of drive, desire, and discipline or he isn’t going to make it.

It’s important to match the person’s temperament to the job if you want a better chance of getting the best performance from a new hire.

Did you ever meet someone who you took an instant like to? That’s because the person you’ve just met subconsciously reminds you of someone you know and it’s called the “halo effect.” Whatever qualities you attribute to the person you know are transferred to the person you’ve just met.

This is an all-too-common and dangerous phenomenon that often occurs during the interview portion of the hiring process. We take an instant like to the candidate and end up short-circuiting the interview process and not digging for the information we need to make an informed hiring decision.

The best way to deal with this situation is to mentally note that you have this warm and fuzzy feeling about the candidate and try to identify who it is she reminds you of. Having done that, pause a moment to remind yourself that this person is NOT the same person and you need to look for the differences.

Another phenomenon to be aware of is the “reverse halo effect.” This is where you take an instant dislike to a candidate. This is because the individual reminds you of someone you dislike or someone who has caused you grief in the past and you’ve transferred the other person’s transgressions onto the new person.

Use the same techniques as for the halo effect to get your mind back on track again.