Seth’s blog … The end of the job interview, suggests we throw out job interviews and get the person involved in the work they’ll do if hired. Do you agree with Seth?
I’d like to add brain based business principles to show why Seth’s alternatives to the job interview would likely work:
Seth said:
1. Put the person on a team and have a brainstorming session
–My response: You can measure a person’s interpersonal and linguistic intelligence here, but only if you have a clear set of criteria to watch for – criteria the person will need for the job.
2. Design a widget –The new definition for intelligence—based on what we now know about the human brain -- is the ”ability to solve problems and create products” and so the widget would measure what interviews alone don’t.
3. Make some espressos together –That way you’d get to ask questions… laugh and watch the trainee follow directions ... or not ... in authentic situations.
4. If you want to hire a copywriter, do some copywriting. Send back some edits and see how they’re received. –To be intrapersonally intelligence a person will respond with grace and show a willingness to learn and improve. The opposite of intrapersonal intelligence is defensiveness … guilt because of errors made … or insistence on one’s own way.
5. If the person is really great, hire them. For a weekend. Pay them to spend another 20 hours pushing their way through something. –Smart no longer means what we thought it did, and so it takes time to see a person’s multiple intelligences in operation. It’s even more effective for the person here… if they have a set of criteria to attain … and then that same set is used to measure their acumen over Seth’s weekend watch. You’d know at the end!
6. Get them involved with the people they’ll actually be working with and find out how it goes. –Interpersonal intelligence is easy to detect when other players come onboard. Ask their feedback at the end and you can build interpersonally smarter consensus about this person’s skills in this area.
7. Don’t look at just the outcomes, but the process. –This will allow you to draw on the person’s logical mathematical intelligence. That includes logical ordering of tasks and conversations, time management… organization … and accuracy for figures or numeric representations.
8. Does their behavior and insight change the game for the better? –It is found that fewer people than you might think act out beliefs they articulate. When Seth hired Susan, he likely did so on her stated beliefs (linguistic intelligence). To act on beliefs requires another area of the brain … (intrapersonal intelligence) which Susan lacked. That also tells you that she was likely as surprised as everybody else was at the poor results she brought in the end.
Finally Seth said: “Yes, people change after you hire them. They always do. But do they change more after an unrealistic office interview or after you’ve actually watched them get in the cage and tame a lion?” –I sure agree with you on this one, Seth – partly because you have solid research about the human brain on your side… and partly because you bring a lovely lived experience to life in your words. You’re hired and thanks for the interview!
Did you say... "Tame a Lion"...?
Intriging to see how all the intelligences were tapped during the process of considering a candidate for a job! Just goes to show that the verbal-linguistic and logical-mathematical smarts are not enough for the best candidates!
Posted by: Robyn McMaster | September 5, 2006 7:28 AM | Permalink to Comment