2 Words that Mean Interview Success—’Drill Deeper’
From: BLR HR Daily Advisor December 23, 2008

Any job candidate with an ounce of sense has prepared answers for the obvious questions about job qualifications. You still have to ask those questions, but after you get the prepared answer, try to drill deeper to get at the truth.

Here’s an example of a master driller (YOU) at work with a candidate for a project manager job:

YOU: Tell me about a recent successful program you managed.
CANDIDATE: My team installed a $5 million computerized management system for the organization. I was “Project Manager.”
YOU: Wow. (Sounds impressive, but should you accept that as evidence of project management ability? NO! Drill down deeper.)
YOU: How many people worked with you on this project?
CANDIDATE: 12 professionals and 6 support staff for 6 months. (That’s quite a staff. Stop questioning? NO. Drill deeper.)
YOU: How did you select the team?
CANDIDATE: Well, the consultant selected them. (Hmmmmm. Better drill deeper.)
YOU: How did you go about planning the implementation?
CANDIDATE: Oh, the consultant handled that—she’s the expert. (Whoops!)
YOU: How much time did you spend on the project?
CANDIDATE: Well, let’s see, it took about an hour a week to check in with the consultant, make sure she didn’t need anything.

What did drilling deeper reveal? This candidate was just a “gofer” —a go-between with no management responsibilities and an inflated title—not an experienced project manager, for sure.

Other Drilling Techniques
Silence. Often if you simply sit silently after a candidate answers a question, the candidate will fill the silence with more information.

Reflecting. Another way to probe for more information is to simply repeat or reflect what the candidate says:
CANDIDATE: I ran big projects.
YOU: You say you ran big projects?

Inflating. Another technique is to take a position beyond or broader than the candidate’s. For example:
CANDIDATE: I ran a big project.
YOU: Would you say that project was your biggest contribution? Would it be fair to say that you are an experienced project manager?

Parting Thoughts
Effective interviewing isn’t something that is easily acquired, being an effective interviewer takes time and practice.

However, preparation is key to effective interviewing. One of the key elements to effective interviewing preparation is having a good job description. If you have a good job description you have an outline to what kind (talents, abilities) of person will be successful.

After you have that good job description you can write (yes, write in advance) questions that will reveal if the person being interviewed has what you are looking for.
We hope you are using your assigned HR Advisor to his or her fullest potential. We encourage you to set a time to meet with your HR Advisor for the purpose of designing effective job descriptions and writing probing behavior based interview questions (questions that require a thoughtful answer).

When the economy is a bit rocky a business can ill afford to hire the wrong individual, now, more than ever, effective interviewing is important.

Let us help you prepare to ask the right questions that should lead to the right hire. Once you’re prepared in this area you have one less thing to worry about and then you can get back to business.

Randall Barker is the VP of Human Resources for A Plus Benefits, Inc.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 at 11:59 am and is filed under Hiring, Human Resources. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.