I did something new when we ran an ad for an administrative assistant last week. I asked three questions;
- If you could have a super hero power what would it be?
- What was the last book you read?
- If everything went according to plan in your life, what would you be doing 10 years from now?
I will forevermore ask questions like this in every job post we do. I was very pleased with the outcome.
Asking the questions did a number of things....
1. I was able to weed out the people who didn't answer the questions. They didn't follow the directions.
2. I was able to see a genuine, off-the-cuff writing sample. Clear and concise written communication is vital in our business. This was an effective, simple test.
3. I was able to see if they had spelling or grammatical errors in their answers - indicating to me a lack of attention to detail.
4. I could check for personality fit and sense of humor.
5. I could insure for myself that their personal longer term vision of themselves fit within ArcStone's longer term vision.
6. The questions enabled candidates to get a feel for us before responding.
If you're tasked with hiring for your organization, ask some questions like these up front. This is a wonderful way to begin a hiring dialogue. Let me know how it goes....
