Hiring Team Players

There is an old adage that in order to hire a team player there are three main qualities that an employer should seek.  The theory goes that ideally you want someone to have a perfect mix of these three traits:

1. Humble

2. Hungry

3. Smart

Often companies will hire people that they believe have the proper mix of the three, only to later find that they may have overestimated one (possibly more) of those areas with a candidate.

What is the best way to mitigate the risk when hiring this profile?  It usually comes down to not cutting corners in the interview process.  Many people can feel good about a hire and go on a gut feel, but each individual area should be closely observed and questioned.

Make sure that you develop specific questions that are focused on each of these areas.  Make sure that others who interview the candidates also ask questions that are driven around the same areas.  

When questioning around "smart", really explore their thought process and problem solving successes as well as problem solving scenarios as this will allow you to see their personal skills, versus when they may have been part of a team where someone else did the heavy lifting.

When questioning around "hunger", delve into scenarios where they had to deliver under difficult timelines or under forceful dynamics.  For sales people, speak to their customers as well as others to corroborate sales numbers and achievements.

When questioning "humble", the best way to do this is to take the person out for a meal or an errand and watch how they interact with people.  How do they speak to strangers? and how do they treat wait staff etc?  There is a vibe and an energy that radiates from a person that is very telling, especially when it is outside of an emotion controlled interview setting.   

DO NOT IGNORE HUNCHES

If everyone feels that the candidate looks good but there was one question which you did not like the way it was answered,  Dig Further!  Keep digging until you are satisfied.

Farewell,

Mike