Advertisement
Getting Smart Answers to SMART Questions.
Get articles like this
in your inbox
The longest running and most trusted source of information serving talent acquisition professionals.
Advertisement
Related Articles
In a world where “Dummy’s Guides” and “It’s the Economy, Stupid!” seem to be the rule, I’m pushing for SMART. Asking SMART (Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Result-based, Time-bound) questions has always been the best way to get an accurate picture of a candidate’s past performance — which, in turn, has always been the best way to judge that candidate’s future performance. It takes time — about eight to ten minutes of digging for details on each point as the candidate lists past accomplishments. It’s a bit like peeling an onion, following up with related questions to zero in on specifics. But it pays off. How else would I have known that the man who talked about setting up a completely new and revolutionary accounting system at his last job wasn’t quite the glowing gem he seemed — unless I kept on pressing? “How long did it take to get this amazing system in place?” I asked. “Three weeks,” he replied. Three weeks? That was much too rapid for anything but a superficial “quick fix” — which it did indeed turn out to be when I asked a few more follow-up questions. The more details you can gather during the fact-finding session, the more results you can have to assess past performance. My advice is to keep asking those SMART questions until you can match the results to what you need to know before making a hiring decision. A technique that works well for me is to ask a candidate, “Give me a snapshot of your most significant past accomplishment — what the circumstances were when you began and what they were like after you finished.” Then I listen carefully to the answer, to make sure it’s as smart as the question. Here are some basic fact-finding tips: 1. For each past individual accomplishment, ask for or about:
2. If the candidate’s most significant accomplishment was part of a larger team effort, here are a few more specific points to follow-up on:
Finally, remember to be skeptical. Interviewing is a fact-finding mission, not a popularity contest. As long as you know what you’re looking for, don’t give up until you find it. The best candidates won’t mind — especially if the job you’re seeking to fill is one that will make their lives even better.