3 Easy Steps To Decide What To Ask About In An Interview

3 Easy Steps To

Decide What To

Ask About In An

Interview

Your Team’s Success Is Your Success.

Your Team’s Success is Your Company’s Success.

3 Easy Steps To Decide What To Ask About In An Interview

Page 2 of 8 Copyright © 2017 by Mulberry Bush Consulting Ltd.

3 Easy Steps To Decide What To Ask

About In An Interview

If you want an easier life, make sure you have the right people in your team. The

best way to do this is to make sure you know what sort of people will help support

you and your business, so you can hire the right people from the start. If you have

people in your team who aren’t a good fit for your particular company, one of two

things will happen. One, they will leave. Then it will cost you time and money to

replace them. Two, they won’t leave. If they don’t leave they are very likely to be

poor performers and possibly be disruptive to the rest of the team. That scenario will

also cost you. It will cost you time to manage the situation to a conclusion that

ultimately benefits the company. Putting the time and effort in to get the right

people on board first time will pay off overall

Let’s think about Jamie. Jamie was hired 3 months ago. He was hired for his

technical expertise using specialized software. Finding people who know this

software well is not easy. Jamie demonstrated his technical skills to the manager as

the main part of the interview process. When the hiring manager saw how proficient

Jamie was using the software, he thought his luck was in. After a short chat where

the manager could see Jamie was friendly and outgoing, Jamie was hired into the

small technical support team.

The team consisted of four fairly inexperienced technical support agents, one very

experienced technical support agent and now Jamie. The experienced agent’s

time is split between coaching the less experienced members of the team, whilst

also handling the most complex customer problems.

The hiring manager thought the team would be grateful to reduce their overall

workload. He thought Jamie could help coach the less experienced members of the

team and also help handle the most difficult customer issues. After a few weeks,

however, it became clear that Jamie is not a team player and he likes to keep his

experience to himself. His customer service skills are not great either. The friendly,

outgoing way Jamie came across in the interview was not evident when Jamie talks

with clients. Now some of the long-time clients are not happy.

What went wrong? Overall Jamie was not the right fit. Jamie was a perfect fit for the

role technically. Unfortunately, the hiring manager didn’t check for additional

attributes that would be crucial for this role in this company; being able to

collaborate and work as a team player, and having excellent customer service skills.

This example shows how important it is to seek out people that are the right fit for

both your company and the team they will be working in, as well as having any

technical skills you require.

When new hires fail it is often because not all the important attributes were

considered during interview. Our example above showed what happens when you

focus on software proficiency but don’t check for customer service skills, which are

critical for a technical support agent role.



How can you get it right?

You can reduce your risk of hiring people who don’t fit well within your company by

first identifying what sort of person will fit within your company. To do this you first

need to identify the culture of your company and the values your company is run

by. This may be closely related to your personal values. Once you know something

about your values and the culture that that exists in your company you can start to

think about what sort of person will fit within that culture and help support you and

your company so that you’re all pulling in the same direction.

When we talk about ‘cultural fit’ we talk about attributes. Attributes are the skills and

behaviours that someone brings to a role in a given company. Some examples are:

proactive, accurate, adaptable, has language skills, is personable, is a team player,

is tenacious, has software proficiency, has customer service skills, or has an

understanding of relevant regulations for your industry.

You will need to identify attributes for each job role in your company. Across

different job roles you may find there are common attributes that relate to your

company culture, but there will also be some differences depending on the

requirements of the job. A salesperson will need different attributes to a technical

support agent, but both would need to fit within your company’s culture overall.

To decide what sort of person you need to hire, I’ve put together 3 easy steps you

can follow to get an objective answer. Once you know what the top 3 or 4 attributes

are that you’re looking for, you’ll know what to ask about in an interview to try and

find the right person.

1. Think of all the attributes you possible can

To start with, spend some time writing down every type of attribute you can think of.

Don’t restrict yourself to the ones that first come into your head relating to the jobs in

your company. Think outside the box and get as long a list as you can. This is a list to

hang on to and add to whenever you think of new ones. Don’t just throw your list

away after this exercise. Use the internet for ideas as well. I’ve listed a few ideas

below to get you started:

Technical:

Certifications

Academic credentials

Knowledge of software

Foreign language fluency

Regulatory knowledge

Statutory operating requirements

Cultural/Individual:



Collaborative

Fun

Process-driven

Innovative

Customer-centric

Tenacious

Results-oriented

Coachable

Flexible

Adaptable

2. Write a list of the 10 most relevant attributes for this particular job in your company

Look at your main list and identify the top 10 attributes that you think would be

relevant to this particular job (not just any job) in your particular company. Your top

10 should be a combination of Technical and Cultural/Individual attributes. Think

about what aspects of your company’s culture would need to be engrained in a

team member for them to be successful in your company. Think about what

technical skills they need. Also remember that some skills can be taught fairly easily

whilst others may really need to be engrained in an individual. You may not actually

be looking for someone who knows a particular piece of software – you may

actually want someone who can learn new software quickly.

3. Prioritize objectively to get the top 3 or 4 attributes to focus on in an interview.

Once you have the top ten attributes defined for each role, you will need to

prioritize. Decide which are the most crucial for the role versus which would be useful

but are not so critical. When you interview candidates it is unlikely you will be able to

interview in depth for all the attributes you’ve identified. Make sure you know which

are the most critical so you interview for those attributes first. Once you have your

prioritized list, you will need to develop behavioural interview questions for the most

critical three to five attributes. Using these questions will then allow you to determine

if your candidates have these attributes.

One of the most objective ways to do this is to compare all 10 attributes in pairs. This

will allow you to rank them. I’ve included a template at the end of this guide to help

you do this. The first sheet is a template for you to use, the second sheet is a filled-out

example so you can see who it works in practice.

Summary

When you next need to hire someone, remember that when new hires fail it is often

because not all the important attributes were considered during interview. If you

were looking to hire a customer support agent, don’t have the interview focus only



on software proficiency, which is typically what people perceive is the key thing to

look for in such a role. The technical support role also requires delivering great

customer service. If you don’t check for both in the interview you might not hire the

appropriate or best person for the role. Technical attributes can often (but not

always) be learned through training once someone is hired, whereas

Individual/Cultural attributes are much more difficult to learn. Finding a person with

great customer service skills but who has the capacity to quickly learn the software

to be supported might be a better long term fit than someone who knows the

software, but who has no concept of customer service.

It’s worth putting in the time before you start hiring to decide who you’re really

looking for if you want to save time and money in the long run.

If this is something you would like to talk to me about, contact me at

[email protected] .

mailto:[email protected]



Attribute prioritization

Step 1: Write your 10 attributes in the grid below in any order

A. F.

B. G.

C. H.

D. I.

E. J.

Step 2: Compare them in pairs as shown below. Write which of each pair is most important (letter)

Pair to Compare

Which is most important?

Pair to Compare


Pair to Compare


A versus B C versus D E versus F

A versus C C versus E E versus G

A versus D C versus F E versus H

A versus E C versus G E versus I

A versus F C versus H E versus J

A versus G C versus I F versus G

A versus H C versus J F versus H

A versus I D versus E F versus I

A versus J D versus F F versus J

B versus C D versus G G versus H

B versus D D versus H G versus I

B versus E D versus I G versus J

B versus F D versus J H versus I

B versus G H versus J

B versus H I versus J

B versus I

B versus J

Step 3: Count how many times each letter was written down in the ‘most important’ column

above, and write it by the letter in the grid below

A. D. G. J.

B. E. H.

C. F. I.

Step 4: Write the letters below in order so that then one that had the highest count in the above

grid is in slot ‘1’ and the one that had the lowest count in in slot 10 in the following grid.

1 4 7 10

2 5 8

3 6 9

The above grid is your attributes in order of importance where 1 is the most important.



Attribute prioritization – Worked Example

Step 1: Write your 10 attributes in the grid below in any order

A. Proactive F. Organised

B. Knowledge of Excel G. Good time management

C. Flexible H. Reliable

D. Team Work I. Accurate

E. Phone skills J. Personable

Step 2: Compare them in pairs as shown below. Write which of each pair is most important (letter)

Pair to Compare


Pair to Compare


Pair to Compare


A versus B A C versus D C E versus F F

A versus C C C versus E C E versus G G

A versus D A C versus F F E versus H H

A versus E A C versus G G E versus I I

A versus F F C versus H C E versus J J

A versus G G C versus I I F versus G G

A versus H H C versus J C F versus H F

A versus I I D versus E E F versus I I

A versus J A D versus F F F versus J F

B versus C C D versus G G G versus H G

B versus D B D versus H H G versus I I

B versus E B D versus I I G versus J G

B versus F F D versus J J H versus I I

B versus G G H versus J H

B versus H H I versus J I

B versus I I

B versus J B

Step 3: Count how many times each letter was written down in the ‘most important’ column

above, and write it by the letter in the grid below

A. 4 D. 0 G. 8 J. 2

B. 3 E. 1 H. 5

C. 6 F. 7 I. 9

Step 4: Write the letters below in order so that then one that had the highest count in the above

grid is in slot ‘1’ and the one that had the lowest count in in slot 10 in the following grid.

1st I - Accurate 4th C - Flexible 7th B - Excel 10th D – team work

2nd G - Time Mgmt 5th H - reliable 8th J - personable

3rd F - organised 6th A - Proactive 9th E – phone skills

The above grid is your attributes in order of importance where 1 is the most important.



About the Author:

Dr Nikki Faulkner has over 15 years’ experience working with managers and leaders at all

levels, primarily in the software industry and energy industry. She has a particular passion for

coaching managers who are new to managing and leading a team. Nikki has a BA from

Cambridge University in the UK, and a PhD from Stanford University in the USA.

About Mulberry Bush Consulting:

Mulberry Bush Consulting, based in Woking, Surrey, works with the leaders of small businesses

who are struggling to build their teams. We help them build a successful team so they can

take their business to the next level.

Are you in the situation where you need a team to be able to grow your business, but you’re

struggling to get your team working effectively? Do you want to get the time and energy

back, that you currently spend managing your team, to use to strategically grow your

business? You’re not alone. Mulberry Bush Consulting can help you build your effective team,

so you can focus on growing your business, trusting your team to support you.

We offer a 7-step Team Success system that takes you from being a people-management

novice to being a people manager with all the key processes in place, customised for your

company, so you can start being successful through your team today.

Mulberry Bush Consulting: Maximizing your Business Capability through your People.

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3 Easy Steps To Decide What To Ask About In An Interview