The Germans' penchant for "put together" words has given us some of the most succinct descriptions ever to be adopted by the English language: wanderlust, zeitgeist,
blitzkrieg, schadenfreude. But one term in particular is especially apt in describing a phenomenon experienced by many HR and communications professionals: doppelganger.
It's a common story among hiring executives: A job candidate's resume indicates an ideal fit for a position. He/she comes in and aces the interview(s). All the references check
out. The person is hired after being unanimously liked by all team members.
Then, just a few weeks into the job, you begin to wonder if the new employee is, in fact, the evil twin of the person you interviewed. Past skeletons begin to appear behind
closet doors left slightly ajar; major personality flaws reveal themselves; work doesn't come close to the standards set by the samples sent in with the resume. Within months, you
are looking for a way to cut your losses and get them out the door as quickly as you welcomed them in.
One senior executive describes this exact situation, describing the employee as a "perfect fit" when they interviewed for the job. But, within the first month, personality
conflicts between the new hire and managers festered into full-on confrontations, leaving the executive to ask the same question every communications professional should be able
to answer: How could I have avoided this?
*Take resumes for what they are--pieces of paper. Choosing a date out of the classified section is one thing, as the investment is (in theory) relatively small: an hour of your
time and the cost of a few drinks. But using a resume--the professional version of an "in search of" ad, for all intents and purposes--as the primary basis for making a hiring
decision is a quick way to a messy end. After all, how many bigwigs, from senior executives to politicians, were found to have exaggerated their past experiences? Just last week
the Wall Street Journal outted MGM Mirage CEO J. Terrence Lanni for faking his M.B.A. credentials; former RadioShack CEO David Edmondson and Bausch & Lomb CEO Ronald
Zarrella committed similar bait-and-switch routines in years past.
While resumes are a piece of the puzzle, executives should perform due diligence in researching claims. Finding out if the candidate graduated from said university with said
degree(s) is easy enough, yet many people still feel like the "education" portion of the resume is the safest place to stretch the truth. Don't fall for it; if a single detail
doesn't check out, cross them off your list.
Also take past positions like "freelancer" and "consultant" with a grain of salt, as they are often synonyms for "unemployed." Ask for specific references of people for whom
the candidate says he/she freelanced/consulted.
*Log online. One of the first places hiring managers should turn after receiving a job application is to the Web. Google them, but don't take the search results too seriously--
you wouldn't want to discount a great candidate just because someone with the same name happened to maintain a less-than-professional blog, for example.
If the person has a LinkedIn profile, this will offer a wealth of information. Try to answer the following questions:
-
To whom are they connected?
-
How many contacts do they have from previous positions?
-
What groups are they members of? (At the very least, see if they are members of their university's group. If they aren't, put in a call to that university's admissions
office ASAP.)
-
Do they have any recommendations? If so, from whom?
Next, executives should get a little sneaky. Using whatever personal social network profile he/she maintains (Facebook, MySpace, etc.), the executive should check up on job
candidates' profiles. Do they have unsavory photos or comments? Does their profile raise any red flags? Again, this information theoretically is personal, so judging them for,
say, their hobbies isn't always fair; that said, it helps put their personality into perspective so there aren't any surprises once they come onboard.
Finally, check into their blogging habits. Another interviewed executive spoke of one past employees who, upon developing untoward feelings towards coworkers, began using
pseudonyms to blog about them. Any negative reference a job candidate has made about former bosses or coworkers is bad news. Avoid hiring them at all costs.
*Put them on the spot. Writing is a critical skill in just about any industry, yet it's one that so many managers complain that their employees lack. Requiring job candidates
to submit writing samples, be it a new client pitch, a published article or a business proposal, is a good start, but these don't offer enough insight, as they were very likely
heavily edited. An impromptu writing test during the interview helps classify a candidate's skill; just be sure to make them write something that will be relevant to the job,
should they get it. Even something as small as a press release, an executive bio or an RFP overview will indicate their raw abilities.
*Let them eat cake. Taking a job candidate out for a meal after a day of in-house interviews is common in the legal and consulting fields, so why not others as well?
Most suitable for applicants to high-level positions, this is a more accurate personality test than brief intros to executives around the office. If you are deciding between
two or three potential hires, bring each in for interviews with a handful of top executives. Then, have a couple of your more fun-loving, midlevel employees take him/her out for
dinner.
Over the course of the meal, conversation should become more laid back and natural, offering valuable insights into the candidate's ability to interact with colleagues--a skill
that directly translates to networking, winning new business, etc. But, key to this being a successful method is to only have employees who have been at the company for a long
time, and whom you trust, go on the dinner outing. Throwing an outlier into the mix could produce misleading results.
(Editor's Note: Do you have any hiring horror stories in which the person
you interviewed and the person you hired seem to be two completely different
people? Visit https://www.prnewsonline.com//prnewsblog
and join in the conversation to find new, creative ways to manage hiring challenges.)