Hiring a good team is one of the most critical parts of a hiring managers jobs, if not, the most important part. If you do this right and of course, set the tone for a wonderful work culture, a lot of other pieces will come. Let me take you through what I’ve learned from hundreds of interviews, it’s all really just a math equation to find the right person. Below I will take you through how to source, what not to look for, and a template for the interview process I have found effective.
Where To Source Candidates From?
- Referrals from Star Employees
- Referrals from Other Individuals You’ve Worked With
- Recruiters
- Your own sourcing
The Interview Process
If it’s your first time hiring, the best thing you can do is collect best practices from people you respect and how they have done it, implement it, and then iterate on the process and what works best for you. I wrote a blog post on dealbreakers you should read here. Remember that each part of your interview and/or questions, should be testing for something specifically in the candidate.
Below I outlined the interview process and rounds that works well for me. If you want more, such as interview questions for each round, what the right wrong answers are, what you should look for, and other invaluable tips I learned through hiring experience, you can purchase the comprehensive SWP Hiring eBook here.
- Round 1 – Phone Screen (30 Minutes):
- The goal of this call is to screen out major red flags. This is simply an elimination round to not waste time with bad candidates. Someone’s resume could look great, or the recruiter could say amazing things about them, but within the first 15 minutes of your phone screen you will know whether or not you want to meet them in person.
- If you know you want to meet them, tell them you’ve enjoyed the conversation and advance them to the next round. If you know you don’t want to advance them, feel free to cut the conversation short; don’t waste your time entertaining someone who isn’t a fit. Time is the most valuable commodity.
- Round 2 – In-Person Interview (2.5 Hours):
- Getting Settled (15 Minutes):
- Get the candidate a coffee/water, shoot the shit, establishing the vibe you want and get settled. Make sure you understand why they are interested in the job, what type of management style they work well with, what their priorities are, and re-aligning the opportunity you are hiring for with their priorities. Here you are setting the vibe mostly, but testing to make sure the story they gave you via phone is consistent.
- Get the candidate a coffee/water, shoot the shit, establishing the vibe you want and get settled. Make sure you understand why they are interested in the job, what type of management style they work well with, what their priorities are, and re-aligning the opportunity you are hiring for with their priorities. Here you are setting the vibe mostly, but testing to make sure the story they gave you via phone is consistent.
- Interview w/ Star Team Member (30 Minutes):
- Encourage them to ask the individual questions about your management style and to get an honest assessment of the pros and cons to the opportunity. Here you want to get an honest second opinion from someone who has done well in the role, but you also want the candidate to have the opportunity to ask real questions from someone who isn’t the hiring manager.
- Remember this is an opportunity to help grow your star performer’s interview chops, and get them ready for management in the future.
- Pitch (30 Minutes):
- Here you are testing for their presentation skills, discovery questions, how they identify a problem and address it, how they handle objections, and how they close a meeting. They must ask for next steps and if they don’t, don’t hire them.
- Throw out some objections, see how they do on their toes.
- Leave 5-10 minutes at the end for some feedback and to discuss how the pitch went.
- Candidate Sits w/ Team (30 Minutes):
- You are testing for culture fit/add here. Once you sit the candidate down with team, leave the room. When you come back, you want your team to want to work with this person.
- You are testing for culture fit/add here. Once you sit the candidate down with team, leave the room. When you come back, you want your team to want to work with this person.
- Closing Questions (15-30 Minutes):
- Sit back down with the candidate one on one and close out the interview. You are testing for if they want the job, and what next steps are. Remember, if you are selling THEM on the opportunity also. Discuss the things they like about the opportunity and ask about any concerns or open-ended questions they have and handle their objections. Then walk them out.
- Sit back down with the candidate one on one and close out the interview. You are testing for if they want the job, and what next steps are. Remember, if you are selling THEM on the opportunity also. Discuss the things they like about the opportunity and ask about any concerns or open-ended questions they have and handle their objections. Then walk them out.
- Getting Settled (15 Minutes):
- Round 3 – Interview w/ Your Boss (30 Minutes):
- Only pass them to your boss if you want the candidate, you don’t want to waste your bosses time with mediocre candidates, it will make you look bad. You want to show them what a kick-ass job you did in the recruiting process and impress your boss.
- It is important to get buy-in from your boss because if the candidate does not work out, it isn’t just your neck on the line, your boss signed off on what you saw in them also. This is critical when candidates do not work out, so it won’t be perceived as your management style.
- Round 4 – (Optional) Interview w/ HR (30 Minutes):
- It’s always helpful to have someone look at the candidate from a different angle. Historically, HR always been able to pull out some red flags for me that I didn’t see the same way. Schedule the time with them if you can.
- It’s always helpful to have someone look at the candidate from a different angle. Historically, HR always been able to pull out some red flags for me that I didn’t see the same way. Schedule the time with them if you can.
- References:
- Get 3 references from the candidate. Schedule 2-3 of the references for 15-20 minute call. Make sure the candidate checks out.
- Get 3 references from the candidate. Schedule 2-3 of the references for 15-20 minute call. Make sure the candidate checks out.
Again, check out my short blog post on dealbreakers here. It is a 3 minute read. You’ll want to understand and keep this binary list. For instance, if you have a bad gut feeling even though all the other pieces add up, I explain briefly why that’s so important, or why bringing copies of their resume says something about how they will work for you.
Overall, hiring is extremely time consuming and the most important thing you can do as a sales manager. Use the template above, ask other sales managers in their industry best practices, and come up with the best version of what information you’ve collected.
Again, If you want more detail on what questions to ask, interview templates, and other big things I’ve learned over years and years of hiring, you can purchase the SWP Hiring eBook here. If you want more personal coaching on specific situations, feel free to email me at [email protected] for your first 30 minute session free.