Never Start an Interview Unless You Know What You Are Looking For

Brad Remillard, a sought after Vistage International Speaker, and principal in IMPACT Hiring Solutions has created what he calls an 8 Point Success Matrix that he suggests we use (or that we use something like it) to objectively evaluate every candidate we interview for any type of leadership or management position. Brad proposes that we evaluate each candidate on the following 8 success factors:

  1. Work history and education
  2. High initiative and self motivation
  3. Flawless execution
  4. Leadership of teams
  5. History of similar successes
  6. Adaptability
  7. Personality and style
  8. Cultural and team fit
I like this matrix because it addresses what Eric Herrenkohn identifies in How to Hire A Players are the three questions we need to answer in any interview, namely:
  1. Can the candidate do the job (skills, experience, training, past history)
  2. Will the candidate do the job (motivation)
  3. How will the candidate do the job (cultural fit).
Remillard suggests a simple scoring matrix for each of the 8 success factors.
  1. Less than required
  2. Meets requirements
  3. Exceeds requirements
  4. Greatly exceeds requirements
While “this goes without saying” I can tell you that from my experience, it also typically is not done. Instead we walk into a series of interviews with no objective way to evaluate and compare candidates, and we proceed to make subjective comparisons, typically resulting in less than optimal hires. For more information on Remillard’s process, You’re Not the Person I Hired is definitely worth a read.
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