Feb 1, 2011

Interesting Interview Trend

Posted by Wendy Weber

We have noticed a trend that I thought was interesting.

Traditionally, the process for interviewing a candidate was:

1. A phone screen with Human Resources.
2. A phone conversation with the Hiring Manager.
3. A face to face meeting with the Hiring Manager.
4. If a hire was imminent and the position was senior enough, a face to face meeting with the CEO.

Most companies still conduct the process in this way.

However, we have seen a number of companies “cut to the chase” by having a very senior level executive interview candidates early in the process. And I just read an interview with the CEO of a digital agency (Big Spaceship), Michael Lebowitz, who said that although he used to be the last person in his company’s interview process, now he tries to be the first. His intention is to figure out early on who a candidate is, and if they will be a good fit for his corporate culture.

I like it! If the person at the top is willing to invest in the process early on, it expedites the process nicely. The client doesn’t invest several weeks scheduling interviews and moving a candidate along only to find that the CEO does not see that candidate as acceptable. The candidate doesn’t invest his or her time, and schedule several days out of the office, only to learn that the process will not result in an offer. And we, as recruiters, can expedite our process, learning early in the search what qualities the successful candidate requires and fine tune our search.

The only better alternative is to have someone in the organization lower in the pecking order than the CEO trained to interview in the same way as the CEO. That way the CEO doesn’t spend more of his or her time interviewing than necessary. But that person would have to know what the CEO is “really looking for” in order to view candidates as though through the CEO’s eyes.

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