How to Interview Prospective Employees

When either starting a new business or maintaining a business, you must be able to bring in new talent and hire employees that will allow your company to thrive.

With a growing number of people to choose from, it is essential to have a firm understanding of how to hire quality people.

Attitude

The most crucial aspect of hiring is the attitude of that individual. You must hire people with an outstanding daily outlook--not false interview bravado, but true optimism. Most interviewees pretend to be someone they are not because they want the job, so you must be able to cut through the act and find the real person.

Do not simply read the applicant's resume and ask generic question about accomplishments she has or where she sees herself in five years. Be more thought-provoking to pull out something real.

Ask the applicant about what or who has been the biggest influence in his life and then find out the story why. When you ask why, just listen. This question is hard to fake an answer for. It will give you a glimpse deep inside someone to see who and what has shaped his personality.

Next, find out what the applicant feels is the greatest obstacle she has ever overcome. This can be related to prior work, but most likely it won't be. Figure out how she felt when this obstacle came into her life and how she came to the decision to overcome it. These are questions that require soul-searching; they elicit real answers from people.

The goal here is to not hire a generic person that can talk his way through an interview, but rather to hire a person who has a great outlook on life, who has human emotion, and cares deeply about the course of his life.

Desire

Desire is the second most important factor that should be looked at. If a person has a great attitude and a high level of desire to do well, that person will not lose and neither will you if she is on your team.

Desire can be determined a few ways, but asking where someone visualizes himself in a few years will rarely provide that information. Be blunt but polite. Ask the interviewee if he would like to have your job in the near future. If he says "Yes," that's actually a good thing. You don't want to hire people who are just satisfied with the status quo.

Good employees push other employees to improve themselves and they push their managers to challenge them with harder tasks and relevant actions. Ask the applicant what motivates her. Ask about the real reason.

For instance, money is not a true motivator; it is what an individual will do with that money that is the motivator. Similarly, power alone is not a motivator; it is the influence and change that can be implemented with a high-level position. If you get shallow reasons to these questions or you appear to have stumped someone, move along to the next applicant. You want good people, people with a great desire and a positive attitude.

Intelligence

Intelligence is the third item on the list. Most people have this prioritized first, but that won't yield the best results in most cases. Intelligence is simply when someone has learned some form of knowledge and they put that new knowledge into action.

This frequently happens when you hire someone with a great attitude and desire. Defining intelligence as simply performing well on a test or having a large vocabulary is misguided. Intelligence is about awareness, social consciousness, aptitude, desire for growth, and the will to continue learning all the time.

Inquire how often people read, what are they reading and why. What kind of hobbies does the interviewee have, and how often does she do it? Intelligence is also about a person understanding balance in life: family, work, and personal growth. Too much tilt into one area over another can be a strong indicator of a future problem.

Curt Fletcher aka The Likeability Guy, is a Real Estate Professional, Business Development Strategist, Published Author of the book, “How To Sell More Homes and Increase Your Income,” Sales Trainer, and Professional Speaker that focuses on improving your Likeability to increase your Opportunities for Success!

**Interview Training Announcement**

Curt Fletcher aka The Likeability Guy and Danny McElroy will be hosting an interview training event on 6/9/2009 and 6/10/2009 from 6pm – 8pm each night. This Opportunity requires an investment of $150.00 per person, and 2 hours of smartly utilized time. Each class is limited to a total of 25 people.

To register:
1) Sign up by calling 817-913-7054 or by emailing curt@thelikeabilityguy.com.
2) Select the class you will be attending.
3) Please come to the class with cash or check on hand as admittance will not be allowed without it.

**You MUST Register at least 1 week (6/1/2009) in advance to secure a definite spot.

You will receive a confirmation email. If both classes are full, we will make arrangements for additional people in the class or hold another session on another day.

We have received a large volume of interest regarding this information so we have decided to make them public events.

Location WILL be in the North Texas Area. Venue will be Finalized upon class participant confirmation and sent to all Registrants.

What you WILL learn:
1) How to connect with a company that you desire to work for. (Not what you might think)
2) How to get your foot in the door. (Networking-who do you know…who knows you?)
3) How to conduct the conversation during the interview. (Not what you have may have learned)

What will NOT be discussed:
1) Anything that you can find on GOOGLE.
2) Generic information.
3) Useless Information.
4) Fluff.

How you WILL Benefit:
1) You WILL increase your odds of landing an interview with a company you want to work for.
2) You WILL increase your odds of obtaining the job.

This is a class that you don’t want to miss. The information you will obtain is not something that you will get in a school classroom or by searching the Internet.

Curt and Danny are NOT typical classroom teachers. We are two guys that have experienced extremely high levels of success across multiple situations. We speak about Real Experiences and Factual information, not things that sound good or that work as theories.

Expect high levels of energy, Rare and Very Valuable Usable Information, and Fun.

**What to bring**
Something to write with, notepad, recording device if you choose, and most importantly your BRAIN for thinking and asking questions.