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Hello MT,

I have a list of questions that I do while doing interviews. In each question I have some space to write down my comments after each question.

What I think I'm not doing well is the way I communicate this info to my manager.
I'd like to summarize in a template or document the skills of the chosen candidate. Basically I need to justify why I hired that candidate.
Although he usually trusted judgement I like to explaining why this candidate was the best of the 50 I interviewed.

Any recommendation or uselful source that I could use to present him this information in a profesional way?

Thank yoU!

Mark's picture
Admin Role Badge

You do know we have a cast on this very thing?

The Quick and Dirty Interview cast specifically addresses how to communicate your opinions...

Mark

chapu's picture

Hi Mark,

I'm listening the podcast of the interviews this week but I didn't listen that one yet. I listened this morning while I came to the office, interview the introduction. Now that you said me that quick interview post covers what I asked I'm going to copy right now and I'll listen while I go home.

Thanks for the tip.

lmoorhead's picture
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Here's how my organization handles this. We do a debrief with all interviewers after each round. Sometimes HR attends, but not always. The hiring manager is the facilitator.

We post each area for evaluation (communication skills, technical skills, team fit - similar to what's outlined in the Q&D Interview podcast) on a whiteboard, with the name of each interviewer across the top. Each person goes through and rates 1-5; if someone doesn't feel qualified to make an assessment they simply pass. Each interviewer also gives an overall rating. The most senior person in the room goes last so as not to influence others' opinions. Folks add commentary or behavior examples as they go along. Once we're done we'll have a more detailed discussion.

Sounds like you're coming at this from the perspective of interviewer as opposed to hiring manager, so some of this may not apply, but what I look for in this process is:
1. Inconsistency. If there are huge discrepancies in ratings between different interviewers I want to discuss that further.
2. Overall fit with the job role and team skills. Do this candidate's areas of strength or weakness overlap or complement strengths and weaknesses of the team?
3. General strength of the recommendations. If someone gets a lukewarm response across the board I'm likely to pass. If the overwhelming sentiment is "why did you even let them leave the building???!" I may consider extending an offer right away. If it's something in the middle, we might do another interview round, in person or on the phone as needed.

tcomeau's picture
Training Badge

[quote="mahorstman"]
The Quick and Dirty Interview cast specifically addresses how to communicate your opinions...
[/quote]

I use exactly the format in the podcast when I interview for other managers, and they love it. They like having the consistent form and content, and they never have to ask "So, would you hire him?" because they can figure it out from my comments.

tc>

ashdenver's picture

Seriously - you're interviewing 50 candidates?

I don't think I've ever interviewed more than 5 or 7 people for a single position - usually only 3 or 4. Granted I've worked for smaller organizations but each hiring decision I made for those employers resulted in the new hire staying there longer than I did & doing darn well in the role.

I can't [i]imagine [/i]being able to sift through that much data. It boggles my mind. I would get lost in the minutae of each person, they would blur together, I would get bored and anxious to be over with the process already.

Pare it down through quick resume selection. Make a dozen or so phone screening calls. Call in a few and really push them all hard. Sit back & be open to the intangibles (fit for the group, personality, style, etc.). Make a decision.

[size=9]If you go to a restaurant that has a menu that's seven pages long and offers all manner of cuisine & food choices (Italian, Mexican, Greek, burgers, steak, seafood, etc.), would you consider yourself to be at a high-end, exclusive restaurant? If you go to a restaurant that prints a fresh, one-page menu daily, are you more likely to be at an exclusive establishment? In which restaurant is decision-making easiest? KISS - keep it simple, silly![/size]

*two cents*

tcomeau's picture
Training Badge

[quote="ashdenver"]
Pare it down through quick resume selection. Make a dozen or so phone screening calls. Call in a few and really push them all hard. Sit back & be open to the intangibles (fit for the group, personality, style, etc.). Make a decision.
[/quote]

I don't recall hearing a podcast on phone interviews. (But I'd like to!)

I've done phone interviews for other manager, too, particularly to probe on technical skills to screen out people. (We don't want to waste their time, or ours.) I use the same "report format" for those.

For the last position I helped with, my peer and I went through dozens of resumes, I personally did 14 phone interviews (she did a couple more), and participated in four interviews, to find one right guy. (He starts a week from Monday.)

tc>