1. De-mystifying Success in Hiring
Stacie Seaman
Shrinking World Solutions, Inc.

2. Employment Outlook for IT
Unemployment in IT running around 2.9%
Software is eating the World = greater demand in all technical areas
Greater demand will drive greater competition for the best employees.

3. Winning and Losing with Hires
The entire company wins with a good hire.
A bad hire leads to:
Lost productivity - understaffed
Training – lost investment
Loss of Credibility inside company
Lower Morale
Poor Community Reputation
Replacement costs for a bad hire can vary from 20% to 200% of annual salary.
Shrinking World Solutions, Inc.

4. Why We Fail to Hire the Right People
Hiring for experience and expertise over talent
Hiring in a hurry
Hiring by gut feeling alone
The “Search for Superman” syndrome
Hiring in your own image
“Politically Correct” hiring
Shrinking World Solutions, Inc.

5. Why We Fail to Hire the Right People
Underestimating the power of employee referrals
Not thinking “Outside the Box”
Hiring against type
Hiring with no proof of performance
Failing to describe the job as it really is
Overlooking the inside candidate
Confusing selling with evaluating
Not creating high enough hurdles
Shrinking World Solutions, Inc.

6. The Behavioral Interview Edge
Research shows that most hires are made based upon gut feeling and whether the interviewers like the person and feel comfortable with them.
Unfortunately most research shows that you can only trust your gut when it comes to hiring about 50% of the time.
The effectiveness of a behavioral interview depends on the skill of the interviewers but estimates range from 60% to 9x better at predicting success than traditional methods.
Shrinking World Solutions, Inc.

7. The Behavioral Interview Edge
“The interesting thing about the behavioral interview is that when you ask somebody to speak to their own experience and you drill into that, you get two kinds of information. One is you get to see how they actually interacted in a real-world situation, and the valuable "meta" information you get about the candidate is what they consider difficult.” ~ Lazlo Bock, Google’s senior vice president for people operations
Shrinking World Solutions, Inc.

8. Past Performance Predicts Future Behavior

13. Examples of Performance Skills
Initiative
Analytical Problem solving
Change adoption
Leadership
Positive Attitude
Communication Skills (verbal and written)
Teamwork
Accountability (takes ownership for performance)
Coping
Tolerance of Ambiguity
Decision Making
Assertiveness
Policy and Procedures
Alertness
Goal Setting
Commitment to Task
Organization and Planning
Creativity
Adaptability
Reading the System
Team Building

23. Past Performance Predicts Future Behavior
Key points of Behavioral Interviewing developed by Paul C. Green, PhD:
Ask open-ended questions
Gain behavioral examples
Use rapport building questions
Allow silence
Control the interview by redirecting the conversation
Seek contrary evidence
Evaluate the interview

24. Tips for Behavioral Interviewing
Before the interview begins, explain to the applicant that you will be taking notes on every question.
If you ask a question that the applicant needs to think about for a minute, allow silence. Let him/her know that it is okay to take a moment to think about the answer.

28. Consultation & Training Services
I’m offering consultation and training on hiring best practices.
Training for you and your employees on behavioral interviewing techniques
Serve as a consultant in your recruiting effort. This includes developing the Job Description, choosing essential Technical Skills and Performance Skills, choosing the interview questions, assembling the Interview Team, and conducting the interviews.
A free subscription to Hiring Guru is included. As part of this launch, we are offering Introductory Pricing.
Contact me at for more information.

29. Questions?