There are no silver bullets for filling a job, but there is a silver lining when someone tells you “no.”
Everyone in the hiring process hires is told “no” at one point or another. Hiring managers hear candidates reject rock-solid job offers. HR and TA pros deal with managers who turn down well-qualified candidates. The silver lining in these situations is that you can ask people who say “no” a magic question that lets them talk themselves into a different perspective.
The magic question helps hiring managers see past their initial objections about a potentially good hire. This powerful query gives candidates the opportunity to consider shifting their point of view. The three words that comprise the magic question can even allow HR and talent acquisition leaders to change their mind about adjustments to the hiring process.
Those 3 words are
Under what circumstances…
If there are circumstances under which someone will change her mind, she knows what those circumstances are. By letting her do the talking, you’re giving her the chance to convince herself while also informing you of the details.
The magic within these three words is this: the person who just said “no” always believes her own point of view. She may not believe yours. Because of this, she is the most qualified person to overcome the reasons why she said “no” in the first place.
How’s the magic question work? Here are three common situations.
Candidate has unrealistic expectations
Brad fit the job but wanted $10,000 more than Ivan, the manager, could offer. Ivan asked Brad:
Under what circumstances would you take this job for $10,000 less?
He then let Brad do the talking. Turns out there was a circumstance. One that Ivan couldn’t have anticipated. Brad had a three-week family trip scheduled. He said it would be worth taking 10k less if he could take that trip as planned.
Ivan went on to use this question over and over again with success. When a candidate said “no” because of a long commute, the magic question let the candidate talk herself into a flex schedule. Then there was the highly talented individual who objected to some of the job responsibilities. Ivan’s use of the magic question allowed the candidate to talk himself into the fact that every job comes with a mix of desirable and undesirable tasks.
Hiring manager has unrealistic expectations
A hiring manager having pie in the sky expectations had sunk many candidate submissions by a financial services firm’s HR team. That is, until they used a little magic.
Now, every time a manager makes requests that cannot be fulfilled, they ask “Under what circumstances…” about that request.
Under what circumstances would you consider someone with less experience?
Under what circumstances would someone from a different college be okay?
Under what circumstances would you pay a bit more in salary?
Under what circumstances could someone without a degree do the job?
Time and time again, these managers would talk themselves into changing their own mind.
Talent acquisition team is stuck in counterproductive habits
“Behavioral interviewing has made our hiring better,” said Gilbert, the VP of HR and talent acquisition for a manufacturing company. When pressed for details, Gilbert couldn’t provide them. His department had never measured the impact of behavioral interviews. He believed in this style of interviewing. This and this alone was enough proof.
What happened next? The magic question (no surprise).
Under what circumstances would it make sense to change how your company interviews?
Gilbert responded, “Proof. I’d want to see proof there was something better.”
Proof is what he got during the next round of machinist interviews. One group of candidates went through behavioral interviews. At the same time, another group went through experiential interviews. The result? Gilbert said it best: “It was so clear and obvious who we should hire from the experiential interviews. We could see proof that the people we picked could do the job. Behavioral interviews never provided that kind of definitive evidence.”
Talk is cheap when we’re the ones doing the talking. When we allow others to convince themselves, their words are priceless. Everything they say, they believe. Next time you want a job candidate, hiring manager, talent acquisition professional, or HR exec to change their mind, let the most credible person do the talking. That’s them, not you.
