From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
Yesterday, (Fictitious Snapshot), you objected to asking the interview question, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” I think it is a perfectly valid question. It gives me an idea how far the person can think out into the future (Time Span) and what kind of a planner they are. Both of these things are important qualities of a manager.

Response:
Important qualities, I agree. It is still a terrible question.

Any future-based question opens the interview to speculation. Given the question, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” the candidate begins to guess what the interviewer wants to hear. It might indicate the candidate’s ability to mind-read. ANY response to this question is something the candidate makes up, either contrived or on the spot. It has NO basis in fact and cannot be fact-checked. Because it is a hypothetical question, it requires the interviewer to make some interpretation on what the response means. Any response from a candidate that requires interpretation is an indicator of a poor interview question.

But how far a person thinks into the future and their ability to plan are still valid qualities for managers. What are some better questions?

• Tell me about a time when you had to put a plan together?
• What was the project?
• What was the length of the project (Time Span)?
• How did you create the plan, in a meeting, by yourself?
• Step me through the plan, what were the steps in the plan?
• Give me another example?
• Tell me about a project, the longest (Time Span) project you have worked on?

All of these questions are simply looking for facts (which can be fact-checked). These facts are evidence (I like hard evidence as opposed to speculation) of those behaviors I look for in a manager. If I get enough examples, I can see a pattern that will allow me to pinpoint the candidate’s planning ability (capability).
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“You don’t like the interview question?” Christopher asked, shifting in his chair. He had a list of questions to ask for an interview later that day. At the top of the list, “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

“Chris, every question, you ask, has to have a purpose in the interview,” I replied. “What specific piece of data are you trying to collect with that question?”

“I think it is important to find out where they are headed in life.”

“Chris, tell me again, what’s the role?”

“Project Manager.”

“How long are your typical projects?”

“Four to six weeks.”

“Chris, tell me how a fictitious, five-year-future snapshot will predict success as a Project Manager, working on projects that last four to six weeks?” The silence hung heavy. “Let’s change two things about your approach to questions. Instead of the future, ask about the past. Instead of a hypothetical, ask about a fact.” The quality of the responses to those questions will increase dramatically.
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Our next online program – Hiring Talent is scheduled to kick off August 1, 2011. If you would like to find out more about the program or pre-register, follow this link.

The personnel file was on the desk. Sandra looked despondent. “She has worked for us for two years. We thought she was ready, so we promoted her into the position. It is obvious now that it’s not going to work out. I don’t want to fire her, but if we demote her, she is going to quit. Either way I lose.”

“What’s the lesson learned,” I asked.

“To know whether a person is ready for a position before you promote them, but how do you know?” asked Sandra.

“Exactly,” I responded. “How do you know? How can you find out?”

Sandra thought, but the answer came quickly. “I know what all the responsibilities are. I could have given her bits and pieces over time to see how she did. If I had done that, I would have known that she had difficulty with three of the core elements of the position.”

“And so you could have continued to work with her, now it looks like she is on her way out. How much did this lesson cost you?”

Comment on Textbook Answers –
While actual tactile past experience is necessary to understand capability. Wouldn’t we also be looking for information on adaptability? Possibly ferreting out a task as you have mentioned might have been out of their wheel house and what they did to overcome that?

I am still learning and adapting everyday. Just like a company I believe that if I am not growing I am dying on the vine. To me, that quality is just as valuable as what a person has accomplished, depending of course on specific immediate needs, how soon you are expecting results and what you are ultimately grooming for. I like to think that I am hiring a seed, not a tree.

Response:
Don’t try to draw me into asking a future based question or a hypothetical question. You may think you are asking about learning or grooming, but, you are falling into a trap where the candidate can make up stuff and lie.

If learning is important (and most often, it is), ask specifically about something learned in the past.

• Tell me about a time when you had to learn something new, something significant, on a project.
• What was the project about?
• What did you have to learn?
• How did you learn what you needed to know?
• How did you apply what you learned?
• What was different?
• what was the result?

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This didn’t come from the mailbag, just a real conversation.

Question:
We’re glad that you’re here. We have a candidate down the hall. Our interview team has talked to him and everybody likes him. Can you spend a few minutes and see if you like him, too?

Response:
Sounds like an innocent question. But, no. Whether or not I like a candidate, makes no difference in the selection process. If you want to sit down with a role description and determine what capability, what skills, values and behaviors we need in that role, then you and I can have a conversation. Our conversation will help to craft 50-60 questions to ask the candidate.

But, in the end, I am not accountable for the performance of the selected candidate, it’s the hiring manager. I get to go home, the hiring manager is accountable for the output of the team. Part of that accountability is for the selection of team members.

Doesn’t matter if I like the candidate.
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Pre-registration is closed, but you can still sign up for our online program Hiring Talent, Hiring Talent. You can find out more information about the program, here. We released the Orientation yesterday, June 6, 2011. No one can be added to the program after this Friday.

From the Ask Tom Mailbag:

Question:
In yesterday’s post on hiring, you said, “Candidates, when they come to work for you, are most likely to repeat their behaviors from the past. Even when, in the past, those behaviors were not successful.” If some behavior (technique, approach) was not successful, wouldn’t the person learn and NOT repeat the behavior? Especially in a new role?

Response:
Alas. We are slow learners. That’s why, in an interview, I listen carefully for textbook answers and watch out for hypothetical explanations. They are useless. I am ONLY interested in actual past behavior.

We can understand and even agree with stuff beyond our capability. Just because we understand it and agree with it, does not mean we can actually do it. For example, I can clearly explain how a piston engine works, including the role of fuel, oxygen and combustion. I can explain why rings and bearings wear out. But the last thing you want me to do, is tear down and rebuild your engine. I have never actually done that.

In managerial tasks, I may understand and agree with a coaching process, a delegation process, a planning process. I may even be able to explain those things (according to the textbook), but until I have integrated those processes into my habits and practiced them day after day, I am just a candidate who tells a good story.
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We are closing registrations (last day – Friday, June 3) for our next online program, Hiring Talent. You can find out more information about the program, here. It starts next Monday, June 6, 2011.

From the Ask Tom Mailbag:

Question:
This new hire has me perplexed. In the interview, we described the exact problems this candidate would face and the response was quite good. The candidate’s prescription for solving those problems was right on point. Five weeks later, none of those problems are getting solved and we are way behind schedule. The customer just called. You get the picture.

Response:
And the candidate got your picture. Look, candidates do their homework. They visit your website. They read your trade magazines. You asked hypothetical questions and got textbook answers.

Don’t ask, “What would you do if?”

Ask, “What DID you do when?” Then go for details.

Candidates, when they come to work for you, are most likely to repeat their behaviors from the past. Even when, in the past, those behaviors were not successful.
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We are currently taking registrations for our next online program, Hiring Talent. You can find out more information about the program, here.