After five weeks of covering what to look for in potential team members, this week I’ll expand on how.
Here’s the bad news: we over-rely on interviews. And while interviews can be a valuable method for evaluating potential team members, they’re far from the only method that should be used. As I touched on last week, the more converging evidence you have that a candidate is a strong candidate, the more confident you can be that that person will be a successful hire. But what are the methods that allow you to gather converging evidence?
Take a look at the model below. Before you evaluate candidates for any position, ask yourself which methods would be most effective for assessing the traits, knowledge & skills, background, and values you need.
For example, if you want to know about job-related skills then consider having the person do a job simulation. Have a welder weld. Have a potential CFO assess mock financial statements.
If you want to know about the person’s traits, then a combination of behavioral-based interviewing, assessment profiles, and reference checks might be useful.
If you need someone whose background includes an advanced degree, it would help if they could verify they in fact have that degree.
Depending on the position you’re hiring for it might be useful to have candidates give a presentation to a group, compose a document about the most influential events in their lives, or role play dealing with a difficult customer.
Converging evidence is the key. And you can only get that if you employ various methods in the selection process. That’s how to evaluate potential team members.
Your thoughts?
Michael