Ask the Right Questions, Hire the Best People

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LET’S TALK MORE ABOUT THAT CURRENT (LAST) JOB

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CHAPTER EIGHT

LET’S TALK MORE ABOUT

THAT CURRENT (LAST) JOB

W

hether the candidate before you has been working

for 20 years or 20 days, it is human nature to focus

on the most recent job. Even if it boasted the short-

est tenure. Even if a previous job was for years and the cur-

rent one just for months. Why? Because you want to know

what the candidate can do for you—right now—and the most

current job offers the best available proof.

Q: Why are you thinking of leaving your

current job?

What do you want to hear?

Obviously, no one wants to leave a job with which they are

completely content (although some people routinely interview

to keep “in practice” or stay in touch with what is currently on

offer). But the last thing you want is a candidate who heads

right for the negative aspects of his current job, or worse, speaks

badly about his current employer. It may not be fair to the in-

terviewee, who may well be giving you just the negative “tip of

ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS HIRE THE BEST PEOPLE

148

the iceberg” of the Job From Hell, but many of you will assume

that, if hired, the candidate will soon be characterizing you and

your company in the same disparaging terms.

So a candidate should handle her discontent (if that’s what

led her here) very gingerly. The less contented she is, the more

careful she should be when talking about it. Here’s a good

answer:

“There is a great deal I enjoy about my current

job. But my potential for growth in this area is limited

at Closely Held, Inc., because of the size of the com-

pany and the fact that expansion is not a part of its

current strategic plan.”

Green Light

Unless they have been fired or laid off, viable candi-

dates should make it clear that they are sitting in front

of you only because they seek more responsibility, a

bigger challenge, better opportunities for growth…even more

money. Not because they are desperate to put some distance

between themselves and their current job situation.

A consistent emphasis on moving “up” rather than just

moving “out.”

Avoidance of any personal and/or negative comments

about coworkers, supervisors, or the current (last) company’s

policies.

Red Light

The introduction of any negative, no matter how hor-

rible the current job situation. (In fact, the more ob-

viously horrible their job, the more points candidates

should score in your eyes for creating an impression of rela-

tive contentment.)

STOP

GO

STOP

STOP

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LET’S TALK MORE ABOUT THAT CURRENT (LAST) JOB

A willingness to make a lateral move or even take a demo-

tion just to leave the current company, unless the candidate is

moving into an entirely new area or field, such a willingness to

move “out” rather than “up,” would give me pause. What’s he

or she hiding? Is this just a last-ditch effort to get out before

he’s shoved out? And what does such a willingness say about

his ability to “tough it out” until the right situation comes

along? Is your company just a calmer sea in which he can

tread water until the right freighter comes along?

A candidate who admits she lies awake nights fantasizing

about calling Joe “No Knees” Buzzano to put a contract out

on her current boss.

Variations

f What’s hindering your progress at your present firm?

f Is this the first time you’ve thought about leaving?

What made you stay before?

Q: Where does your boss think you are now?

What do you want to hear?

It’s rare to hear something like, “He thinks I’m interview-

ing with you so I can leave that hellhole behind and, by the

way, he’ll be calling you tomorrow to find a job himself.” You

should expect candidates to be seeing you during their lunch

hours, after work, or on a personal or vacation day. If the

latter, what a candidate does that day is purely his or her con-

cern, so the boss has not been lied to. I personally don’t like

to hear that a candidate has taken a sick day to talk with me.

It’s a white lie, but a lie nonetheless.