Founder coaching – getting better at interviewing
One of the biggest challenges for start-ups is #recruitment. Considering that many first-time founders are also first-time hiring managers, understanding how to get better at interviewing is essential. Interviewing is an important skill that you need to develop early on in your start-up journey. Even if you have the best founding team, you will be required to hire more people as you scale your business. Being actively involved in interviewing is also crucial, especially at the early stages of the company. The costs of a bad hire are especially higher in the case of start-ups as compared to well-established companies. Ineffective hiring decisions can negatively impact your aspirations for growth and create tensions within teams. Here are a few strategies to help you hone your interviewing skills: 1. Be prepared for the interviewFormulate an interview plan, and assess candidates for both culture and skill fitment. Develop a set of corevalues that are critical for your start-up and evaluate candidates accordingly. Be ready to answer questions that they might have regarding your vision for the company. Develop a hashtag#story to help you showcase your business to prospective candidates. 2. Follow a structured approachPrepare a questionnaire/assessment checklist that works for you. Be aware of #biases that might hamper your judgment during the process. Schedule time for the interview so that you don’t rush the process. 3. Get to know the personUse #behavioralinterview questions/scenarios to get to know the people. Provide real-life examples to help you understand how a candidate responds to different situations. 4. Involve your team in the hiring decisionsTalk to your key team about potential candidates. This will also minimize any biases. Involve them in the interview process. Build consensus before making a final decision. 5. Measure resultsMeasure the outcome of your hiring decisions. Evaluate the #qualityofhires and the efficiency of the hiring process to understand if you are achieving the desired results. 5. Review your interview process and take corrective action#Review the interview process regularly and assess your own skills as a hiring manager. Collect data, analyze, and improve the process.
