Submitted by jsigned on
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In a previous thread www.manager-tools.com/forums-8688 I asked about how to deal with a poor performer that was being moved to my department. Long story short that individual was terminated and now my task is to hire his replacement.
I'm sure every director gets this moment when they are assigned to manage something they know little about. How does one go about interviewing when they have only a basic understanding of the work done by the position?
start with the job description
Off the cuff here, I would start by looking at the job description (if it exists) focusing on the desired results of the position and how those results impact the wider department, division or company. I woujld ask for examples of accomplishments that show the history of delivering resutls in these area.
I tend to follow a topgrading method outlined in 'Who' by Geoff Smart and Randy Street. I tend to blend this method with the MT behavioral interview tool.
Best of luck,
Neil
Do you have other people who know more?
In general, this happens when you are put in charge of a team of people who specialize in something different to your past specialty. If this is the case, then you can use the best of these people to also interview the candidate on their specialized knowledge of the subject matter.
You don't have to pretend to be a SME. You can restrict your questions to the general and to behavioural interview type questions.
Kind regards
Kevin