Get the Whole Interviewing Story, Not Just the Magic Dust

Job candidates are great at painting a very rosy picture of their accomplishments and their cultural fit for the open position…but only behavior based interviewing training can help you get at the whole story behind the façade.

Certainly from the resume and quick fact checking, you can find out your candidate’s job history…where they worked and for how long and with what job title. You can also learn the basics of their education. But, beyond those details, how much can you really know about their attitude, their personality, their work ethic, their values, and their ability to get along with others? These factors are what you need to uncover. You need to probe for cultural fit. With a solid background in behavior based interviewing, you and your team can dig beneath the surface to learn what you really need to know…the whole story.

Here are some research-backed areas to explore for cultural fit based upon behavior based interviewing training best practices:

1. Eagerness to learn and improve.
   When you have an employee who is eager to learn and improve, you have an employee who has a better chance to be engaged, committed, and ambitious. Certainly these are traits that every company can benefit from. Dig into the candidate’s passion and level of curiosity for the new and unknown.
2. Acceptance of risk.
   An employee who is willing to take a certain amount of risk is one who can deal with mistakes and learn from them. Someone who manages only the familiar and comfortable will not be a worker who stretches and innovates. Ask about what they are most and least proud of. Then probe for when they stumbled and how they handled the situation.
3. Willingness to collaborate.
   Especially if you are a team- or matrix-based company as so many are these days, make sure your new hires know how to work well with others. Are they out for themselves or do they recognize and support the strength of a good team pulling in the same direction and helping each other toward the common goal? Ask for examples of when they cooperated with others to reach a goal…and then ask if the persons they referenced would see the situation in the same way. This gives you a check on the veracity of their story.

Assess Your Behavior-Based Interviewing Practices Now