What to Ask When Recruiting
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The facts surrounding someone’s past give us an idea of where they’re coming
from. However, their feelings and thoughts about their past experiences can
offer a better insight into their make up. Some questions will be oriented
towards clarifying past experiences and decisions; others are directed towards
revealing their entrepreneurial thinking capacity. Here is a sampling of
questions for your consideration. Clearly the full list is endless and varies
with each situation. Use this list as a starting point in developing meaningful
clarifying questions.
• You’ve had a great career in the xxxxxxx industry, why would you want to
leave it? • Why wouldn’t you want to find another position in the xxxxxxxx
industry? • How important is having benefits to your spouse? • How would you
market if you couldn’t cold/warm call? • How long do you think it will take to
build this business up to the level of income you were making at your last job?
• How would you handle a policyholder who was unhappy about their new rates? •
Why do you think/feel you’ve changed jobs so often? • What would you do
differently in building that business (the prior one from their resume), if you
had it to do all over again? • What are the biggest advantages of being
employed? • What are the biggest advantages of being self-employed? • What are
the greatest drawbacks to being employed? Do you think you’ll be free from those
in this opportunity? • What are the greatest challenges in building a business
like this one?
You get the idea. Ask open-ended questions, which naturally lead to further
questions. Try to determine whether they are running from something or going to
something. In other words are they just fed up with their current or recent
employment experience, or have they been planning to find a good business
opportunity for some time? Are they becoming their own boss to show their former
boss they don’t need him, or are they really committed to being an entrepreneur?
Do their answers reflect feelings of being limited in a job environment? Do
their answers reflect good insight into themselves? Do they display anger and
frustration from their past/present situation, and do those feelings represent a
temporary condition until a new job comes along or are they really entrepreneur
material?
As you become proficient at questioning, you’ll be able to reveal a
candidate’s motivation for considering this career. You’ll make better
recruiting decisions and as a consequence have more time to devote to the
candidates that will succeed. Having more agents who are likely to succeed will
lead to better time management and faster growth.
About the Author
Written
by Michael Beck, an Executive Coach and Strategist specializing in
employee engagement, executive development, and leadership
effectiveness. Connect on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mjbeck
and visit www.michaeljbeck.com
to learn more.
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Article Published/Sorted/Amended on Scopulus 2008-12-09 12:06:19 in Employee Articles
