SQUARE-1 BLOG

How does 2016 look for you so far?  If you’re like 62% of the businesses out there you have plans to hire at some point this year.  Based on recent global studies LinkedIn’s reported that this hiring growth is expected to be an increase from 2015. 
Growth in hiring is typically a good thing.  Hiring itself is another matter altogether.
Successful hiring can make or break the performance of a company. Unsuccessful hiring on the other hand can create all sorts of fun challenges for folks like you and me.  In fact, Harvard Business Review recently published information indicating that 80% of employee turnover is due to bad hiring decisions.
What does this mean?  First, let’s look at the potential tangible repercussions.
According to Dice, one of the larger online job boards, a poor hiring decision for a candidate earning $100,000 per year could cost, on average, $250,000, and that expense comes right off the bottom line.  That’s scary stuff!  Basically, if the hiring decision you make to ends poorly you can expect that mistake to represent 2.5 x the cost of whatever the salary is of the person you are hired.
Now let’s look at the intangible costs.
Turnover has a nasty habit of sullying a company’s culture.  It also can damper the spirits of those that stick around while creating a poor company image within the eyes of the local market.
Long and short, your ability to make the right hiring decisions this year will be crucial to the success of your business, your fellow employees, your newly hired employee and your own career.
Rather than fearing the hiring process and potential consequences, let’s look at hiring as an opportunity to WIN by making the ‘process of interviewing’ say UNCLE!  Going into hiring with an open mind, a plan and clear direction will enable you to succeed more often than not.
These 15 tips can help you improve your chances of making better decisions for yourself and your company (for the full article and descriptions of each of these 15 tips click here):
1. Why Would Someone Pick You/ Your Company?  
2. Character Over Competency
3. Behavioral Based Interviewing
4. Know What You Want Before You Interview
5. Consult Others
6. Make Sure You Know And Understand Your Vision
7. Best Foot Forward
8. Tell Them Your Leadership Philosophy
9. Interview Tests
10. The Reference Trick 
11. Put Yourself In Their Shoes
12. Overqualified For The Job 
13. Know Your Non-Negotiables 
14. Challenge Your Own Mindset
15. Don’t Hire If It Isn’t What You Want
Do you have your own tips for making a successful hire?  If so, feel free to share in the comments section of this article.

‘It’ can be an exhilarating experience causing you to forget about the present time or one where you’re looking for the exit door in a panic as every minute passes by.  You may think to yourself ‘where has this person been all my life’ or ‘as soon as I can end this politely we both know we’ll never talk again.’  You’re pitting out your button up shirt, not because it’s hot, because you’re nervous and trying to make a good impression.  You’ve got butterflies in your stomach, but are those butterflies of excitement or butterflies leading to vomit?
Which experience am I describing here, a first date or a job interview?
What if I told you I was describing both, a first date AND a job interview!
We don’t often associate first dates and job interviews as one in the same however the more we look into each experience and how we act during them we come to find that both of these human interactions are eerily similar.
How does knowing this information help me with dating and interviewing?  Read on to find out…
Let’s take a look at why first dates and job interviews share so much in common.
- First Impressions:
This is the holy grail of decision making when it comes to whether or not we like someone initially.  Failure to have a good first impression will more often than not result in a second interaction never making the calendar.  Psychologists call it "thin slicing."  Within moments of meeting someone, we’re deciding and making assumptions on all sorts of things about the other person, from status, intelligence, career success and even promiscuity.  This can be as quick as 7 seconds!  What that means is that everyone is trying to put their best foot forward, which can make things tricky because often times both parties are wondering if the person they’re talking too is the ‘real’ John Doe or the in-character John Doe.
- Chemistry:
You know it when it exists.  Things just seem easy.  You laugh more, you tend to lean in closer to the other person more often and you even overlook potential red flags because your gut is already invested in the other person long before your brain has had a chance to catch up.  On the other hand, when chemistry is lacking you feel like you’re on a date with your sister.  It’s awkward and feel it from your fingers to your toes. 
- Communication:
Communication is much more than just verbal, it also includes nonverbal cues like the unspoken word and body language.  Ever been in an interview and eye contact communicated more in 4 seconds what a 10 minute conversation could accomplish?  I’ve been there and it’s a powerful experience.  When our verbal communication is locked in sync it can feel like we’ve been friends for years.  When communication struggles it feels like pulling teeth to have an average conversation.  Both people may be speaking English but it seems as if one person is speaking Russian while the other is a Mandarin linguist.  We become bewildered and confused, not exactly a great start towards building a solid relationship.
- Commonalities:
“Wow, went to USC as well.  Fight On!”  “You’re from Handsome Eddy, New York also?  What a small world.” Finding common ground during a first date or a job interview can immediately disarm both parties allowing more casual conversation to occur.  Bonding takes place over the things we find out we have in common such as our love for golf, knitting that fabulous turtle neck sweater for the holidays or volunteering for a similar cause.  It doesn’t really matter what it is so long as we have something in common.  Most of us don’t realize that when we’re in the moment what we’re looking for is something we already know and like – ourselves.  When we struggle to find something in common it has a direct negative impact to that chemistry we’re trying to build on.


- Perception vs. Reality
As the date and or job interview continues we inevitably begin to ask question to get to know the person in hopes of better understanding them and what they bring to the table.  Many times what happens during these exchanges is that we get a glimpse into a person that isn’t very real at all.  I don’t believe people do this on purpose, at least most people, however the fact of the matter is in a first date and job interview we are doing our darndest to put our best foot forward.  As a result people can often times misrepresent themselves for who they are and what they’re all about.  This is similar to the honeymoon stage where only after a period of time we’ll be able to know if the person today is the same tomorrow.
- Emotion
Love at first sight!  Let’s face it, emotion is a part of every first date and job interview, but it can also help us or hurt us in our decisions.  Help us in that if we become emotionally invested in the other person it allows us to overlook small red flags that otherwise might get in the way of us making a decision that could be good for both parties.  Emotions can also hurt us because if we experience something which causes our ego or pride to be damaged we then make decisions that aren’t in the best interest of the interview or date but in protecting ourselves.
- The Angle
“What’s he really all about?”  This is a very logical and typical thought for people to think during a job interview or first date.  It signals that we’re trying to look behind the veil and see if we can uncover anything that isn’t necessarily being presented upfront.  In the dating world ‘the angle’ often can be described as the feeling that the person is just hoping to go home with you for a nightcap to your first date.  Job interviews can have the same outcome.  Candidates are angling to get a job, sometimes presenting themselves in a light which makes them appear more qualified than they really are.  Employers also do the same by up-selling the career opportunity to entice candidates to consider the role even though the actual work might not be nearly as glamorous as how it was made out to be.
What does all of this mean?
It means that people by their very nature go about experiences, such as first dates and interviewing for jobs, in a fairly predictable way.  While the outcome might be out of our control, the way we go into the experience and how we handle ourselves during the experience greatly influences the outcome.  Knowing this information, that first dates and job interviews are similar, can help you go through each experience with a broader perspective allowing you to make better decisions for yourself and potential career or company.
Next time you find yourself on a first date or job interview remember that these human experiences are designed to see if it is worth it or not to have a second go around.  The best approach is to just be yourself, as a result you’ll find that your interactions with others are far more valuable to you and the person on the other side of the table.