From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
We are three weeks into a new hire that showed all the promise of a superstar. This new hire was an impeccable interviewer. He had done research on our website, knew all about our company. He had done significant research on our industry, was familiar with specific challenges our company faces. He established immediate rapport with every person on the interview team. He looked wonderful. But here we are, three weeks later and I can already tell, this guy doesn’t have a clue. Everything in his department, which was relatively stable, has started to go haywire.

Response:
If you had interviewed me for the role, I guarantee that you would have hired me as well. Candidates are coached to do exactly what you described. I would have scoured your website, specifically your About Us page, so I would be able to identify all the players in your company by name. I would have spent an hour or two on industry websites to figure out what your challenges are. I would have concocted a couple of brilliant stories (with enough verifiable truth) to WOW an interview team.

Here’s the bad news. I have never worked in your industry, have never done what you need done, never worked with, much less managed a staff like yours. Three weeks into the role, you would notice me failing. PREDICTABLY FAILING.

Predictably failing, if you had asked the right questions. Your entire interview team was derailed from the facts of my experience. They were hi-jacked by my specific knowledge about your teammates. The only qualifications demonstrated were those of a researcher.
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