2011’s top 25 oddball interview questions…

Welcome to 2012!  Before we close the door on 2011, I wanted to share my favorite oddball interview questions of 2011.  The top 25 oddball questions can be found at this link: Glassdoor.com, a free career community where anyone can find and anonymously share an inside look at jobs and companies.  In 2010, I shared some “wacky” interview questions, but this “oddball” list puts the 2010 “wacky” list to shame.

Here are some of my oddball question “favorites”.  Remember, these are actual questions asked during job interviews. Continue reading →

What are you looking for in a new employee…

The Wall Street Journal, in the October 24th edition with a section devoted to Leadership, titled an article: “Why Companies Aren’t Getting the Employees They Need”.  The premise of the article is that employers want to hire people that have all the skills and experiences required for a specific job, because the employer does not want to risk the time or the training on a new employee.  The article goes on to say that many companies believe that there are not enough trained people to fill their open positions, and that is why unemployment remains stubbornly high.

The real myth here, in my opinion, is that these companies (probably your company as well) do not need trained people, they need people that can be trained.  Since they cannot easily determine who those people are, they do not want to take the risk of training people they do not think can learn or those who will not stay with the company after being trained.  For many of you that are clients, you want the new employees to be able to complete, and fully understand, the training without washing out of the course or the company.

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Do you think about hiring, before you hire…

When is the last time you really gave some thought to the position you are about ready to hire??  I know you think about how much money that position is going to cost your company in wages, benefits, and training, but have you given any thought to how much impact that position is going to have on your company??  The Aberdeen Group is a fact-based research company that has done just that.  Here is what they say:

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How well do you (personally) onboard your new employees…

The old saying that you “don’t get a second chance to make a first impression”, couldn’t be more true when it comes to personally onboarding a new employee into your group. I’m not talking about the onboarding process for your Company where every employee has to learn your policies and procedures. I’m talking about your relationship as a manager (and coach) with your new employee.

Over my years in the corporate world, I have had many bosses. Some have been great, some, not-so-great. All my great bosses were the ones that spent time getting to know me as an individual, and letting me get a glimpse of who they are as well. This individual relationship building occurred from the first day I began working with them.

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What an unproductive employee really costs…

We have all had unproductive employees — the people working with you who “work to live”, rather than your productive employees who “live to work”.  Your unproductive employees are the ones constantly late for meetings, late with assignments, the ones that your customers would rather not work with, the ones that your employees would rather not work with.  They do not provide you with a “cause” to let them go, like substance abuse or theft.  They wear you down because you are always having to deal with them or deal with someone else who is working with them.  You can calculate what they might be costing you in dollars, but the real cost to you is TIME. Time spent with them, time spent fixing the damage they have done with your customers or your employees, time that you have to take documenting how they might not be doing their job so you can build a case to discharge them.  This time is unproductive for you.

Sometimes you “convince” yourself that you are better off retaining this unproductive employee because it would take too much time to look for a new employee, onboard them, and train them.  But deep down, you know that having productive employees is better than having unproductive employees.

Obviously, the best time to deal with an unproductive employee is to not hire them in the first place.  A lot of the behaviors and traits you need to see on the job are extremely difficult to see during the interview process, especially today when candidates are so skilled and polished.  You need to know how a person thinks and learns, how they behave, and what are their occupational interests before you hire them, not after they start working for you.

What can you do to find the productive people for your company and not hire the unproductive ones… Continue reading →