At Satiated Artists, our number one priority when it comes to hiring is culture fit. We have a clear vision and set of values, and we can hear whether someone “speaks our language” pretty quickly as they begin to talk about themselves and what they’re looking for on interviews.
However, there are more grey items to pay attention to during the hiring process that companies often ignore. Below is a myriad of some of the questions Satiated Artists thinks about with regards to each new applicant.
Following and absorbing directions: Did your candidate address each and every question posed in their application? Did your candidate arrive to their interview on time (ideally, early) ready to go? Did they ask questions during the interview that they have already been briefed on, or could have easily researched for themselves?
Attitude and ownership: Did your candidate express lack of empathy or unhealthy boundaries? Did they speak negatively about a supervisor past and then use them as a reference? Did they ask any forceful or overly confrontational questions on their interview? If they were late to an interview or had typos in their application, how did they respond to those hiccups?
Smart questions and resourcefulness: Did your candidate ask you unique, meaningful questions on their interview? Was it obvious that they did their research on your company ahead of time? Did your candidate take initiative to independently prep themselves or did they reach out and ask you to walk them through the interview’s video conferencing platform for example?
Follow up and benefit of the doubt: Did your candidate send a thank you email after their interview? Are they following up post-interview excessively or not enough? When following up, do they express assumptions or ask questions? Do they compose emails with assertion or caution?
Ego and perspective: Did your candidate spend more time on why the job appeals to them or on what they bring to the table? At any point did they mention genuine desire to help others? Are they verbose or curt? Do they expect trust or attempt to earn it?
If you’re in doubt about a candidate, gut feelings shouldn’t be ignored. Here are some follow up items to try with candidates you might be stuck on:
- Give the candidate transparent constructive feedback and see how they respond.
- Ask hypothetical questions to assess how they’d handle the position’s responsibilities.
- Determine how they handle conflict and whether they take risks.
-Mikala