Narrowing Down the Field

Let’s say you have done all your Ziggeo pre-screening and have narrowed down the list of candidates to two equally qualified excellent choices. How do you choose? Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Who is more excited about the job?
2. Who is more motivated in his or her career? (One indication is having taken outside classes in the field.)
3. Who has more skills that aren’t just good for the future, but can help you right away?
4. Who has more skills that may not be able to help you right away, but are good for the future? (Maybe the person speaks Japanese, and your company might consider a Japan connection. Maybe the candidate knows a certain computer language that could be useful.)
5. Who has the better connections? (Remember the old line: “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”)
6. Who is a better personality fit not just for the job and the organization, but for the particular boss under which he or she would be working?
7. Who learns better from mistakes? This is one indicator of a successful employee. (You can try to glean the answer by asking candidates to describe a failure and what was learned from it.)

In addition to asking yourself these questions, listen carefully to how enthusiastically the candidate’s former employers recommend the person. (One red flag is a reference that begins: “Although I’ve never actually met the candidate in person….”) When all else fails, consider asking the interviewees if they are willing to do a small project for you to test their skills – perhaps a short writing assignment or financial analysis. If they decline, at least you have an answer to Question Number 1 on your list.