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:
- Who is more excited about the job?
- Who is more motivated in his or her career? (One indication is having taken outside classes in the field.)
- Who has more skills that aren’t just good for the future, but can help you right away?
- 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.)
- Who has the better connections? (Remember the old line: “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”)
- 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?
- 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.