招聘面试抓核心，三个问题试真金

    高管培训师特里•R•培根曾经历过让人痛苦的面试过程。但有时，表现一塌糊涂的反倒是面试官，而不是求职者。

    其中，有一位工程师兼项目经理，我们暂且叫他吉姆。他加入了公司的招聘委员会，平生第一次面试未来的员工。他忐忑不安，不知道该说什么，本应该由他问的问题，他也跟不上。最后，委员会对吉姆认为适合该职位的第一和第二人选都视而不见，而是选择了另外一个人，而这个人也确实胜任这份工作。

    培根认为：“吉姆失去了其他委员会成员的信任。像他这样的新晋面试官，通常只能在较浅的层面对应聘人员进行了解，而不能进行深入的考察，因此无法掌握求职者在价值观、技能、选择或学习能力等方面的信息。”培根是光辉学院（Korn/Ferry Institute）的驻校学者，并著有《影像力要素》（Elements of Influence）一书。

    随着就业市场日渐转好，招聘经理们又准备拿出他们那套老掉牙的面试技巧登台亮相了。但对于刚刚成为面试官的人来说，他们没有太多经验，专家建议，在衡量求职者时，抓住重点即可。

    乔治•布莱特是《新官上任百日行动计划》（The New Leader's 100 Day Action Plan）一书的作者。他建议：“每次面试的时候，只需要问三个问题：你能胜任这份工作吗？你会喜欢这份工作吗？你能让我们接纳你，与你共事吗？”

    换种说法，也就是：你有我们需要的技能吗？你有足够的动力吗？你是否适合这个岗位？不论是招贤纳士的面试官，还是努力推销自己的求职者，都应在面试中将这三方面视为最关键的部分。

你有我们需要的技能吗？

    关于技能或能力，求职者的简历肯定讲得非常清楚。但在面试过程中，面试官可以让求职者用自己以往的经历来证明自己能够达到面试官的要求。

    培根称：“面试官想要知道的关键是求职者过去所取得的成功。最理想的情况是，应聘者的条件恰好与公司所要求的条件完全吻合。”这通常很难，而且对应聘者来说，可能有些不公正。

    假如一位求职者曾是一名经理，但他是在不同的行业或规模更小的公司担任过这样的职务。这时，面试官可能想知道这个人的学习能力如何——他或她之前是否有过“在逆境中被迫拓展”并取得了成功的经历，。

    而作为求职者，则需要仔细倾听，确认雇主所期望的能力——除了要展示出招聘广告中所需要的能力之外，还要对应聘的职位进行调查。

    高管职业教练、《绝处逢生——找到理想的工作》（Get the Job You Want, Even When No One's Hiring）一书的作者福特•R•迈尔斯表示：“如果求职者询问雇主的需求、问题和挑战，他们通常都会如实相告。这时就要竖起耳朵仔细听：抓住那些描述能力的字眼。”

    例如，迈尔斯建议，如果面试官希望招聘一位做事井井有条或者长于分析的人，求职者就可以描述自己的经历，证明自己在这方面的能力。求职者应该提前写出这些事例，反复练习，以简洁的方式阐明自己的观点。

    他说道：“这就像是在作画一样。讲故事确实很有市场。只要你的故事合乎逻辑，而且是真实的，就不会让人觉得是在吹嘘自己。”

你是否充满成功的动力？

    或许，你曾经有过这样的同事，他的能力做某些工作绰绰有余，却缺乏追求卓越的动力，甚至在几个月之后就辞职了。对于任何招聘经理来说，这就是一场噩梦，不论面试官是新手还是老手，都会尽量避免这样的情况发生。

    在评估求职者的积极性时，面试官应该仔细分析求职者对职位和公司的理解，以及他或她提前做了哪些功课，效果如何。

    培根称：“他们是否对我们做了充分的调查？他们是否对我们感兴趣？如果你问他们是否对这份工作充满了激情，他们必然会做出肯定回答。”针对他们在应聘岗位上可能面临的挑战，对他们提出一些问题。从他们的回答中，可以观察到他们是临时做出的仓促回答，还是提前已经做到了深思熟虑。

    而对于求职者而言，要想展示自己的激情，必须提前准备，做好功课。求职者还需要说明应聘的职位与自己的职业规划的契合程度，以及喜欢这家公司的原因。

    培根建议：“对于自己当前的位置和未来希望达到的高度，要深思熟虑。”培根还建议在恰当的时候可以提及关于公司的媒体报道或新闻。“要证明自己确实真心投入。在我看来，与其他方面相比，这一点更能为求职者加分。”

    迈尔斯建议，求职者应该问一些关于上司、公司、企业文化和价值观等更加深入的、明智的问题，而不是问“我什么时候可以上班？”或者“能给我多少工资？”

你是最适合的人选吗？

    在这三个问题中，是否“适合”最难确定。这在一定程度上是因为，一千个老板就会有一千种标准。

    培根称：“这绝对是一门艺术。你心目中的那个人是否具备公司的核心价值观。他们的职业道德和工作作风能否融入公司？他们对于如何开展业务及如何与他人合作的看法，是否与你一致？”

    如果可能的话，可以将求职者介绍给公司当前的员工，观察他们如何互动，并且可以在事后听取员工的反馈。他认为：“这就像是化学反应一样。”

    求职者一定要慎重选择推荐材料，确保资料能充分说明自己就是公司最合适的人选。戴尔•卡耐基公司（Dale Carnegie & Associates）董事长兼CEO彼得•韩铎表示：“推荐材料无法表明我充满激情和动力，但它们至少可以说明我的个性和我的团队精神。”

    翻译:刘进龙/汪皓

    Executive coach Terry R. Bacon has seen his share of painful job interviews. But sometimes the wince-inducing performance comes from the interviewer, not the candidate.

    In one case, an engineer and project manager -- call him Jim -- joined a hiring committee for his first-ever experience interviewing prospective employees. He felt unsure about what to say and couldn't follow up the questions he was assigned to ask. The committee ended up bypassing Jim's first and second choices for the position and selecting a person who did succeed in the role.

    "Jim lost some credibility with other hiring committee members," says Bacon, a scholar in residence at the Korn/Ferry Institute and author of Elements of Influence. "Novice interviewers like Jim often accept the initial response without doing the kind of probing that reveals more insight about the candidate's values, skills, choices, or learning agility."

    As the job market slowly begins to pick up, hiring managers are breaking out their creaky interviewing skills. For the many people thrown into the new role of interviewer with little or no preparation, experts suggest keeping the focus narrow when weighing candidates.

    "There are only three interview questions in every job interview," says George Bradt, a consultant and author of The New Leader's 100 Day Action Plan. "Can you do the job? Will you love the job? Can we tolerate working with you?"

    In other words: Do you have the skills, motivation, and fit for this position? For both hiring managers selecting a new employee and job candidates looking to sell themselves, these are the three most important elements to demonstrate.

Do you have the skills?

    When it comes to skills or strengths, a candidate's resume will begin to tell the story. But in the interview itself, you can draw out examples of how the person's track record demonstrates the capacity to accomplish what you need in the open position.

    "The key thing you look for there is success in a past experience," says Bacon. "The ideal is when somebody has an exact match with what you're looking for." Often though, it can be a bit oblique.

    Say a candidate was a manager, but in a different industry or smaller organization. In such a case, you'll want to look for evidence that the person is an agile learner -- that he or she has been forced to stretch in the past and succeeded.

    As a job seeker, you'll need to listen carefully to identify the skills the employer wants -- in addition to lining up your strengths with those desired in the job ad and doing research on the position.

    "If you ask an employer about their needs, problems and challenges, the employer will generally tell you," says Ford R. Myers, an executive career coach and author of Get the Job You Want, Even When No One's Hiring. "Then listen carefully for the key words: strength words."

    For instance, if the interviewer wants someone very organized or highly analytical, you'll want to tell a story that demonstrates that strength. You should write out these stories in advance and practice telling them in a succinct way that makes the point clearly, Myers says.

    "You're painting a picture," he says. "Stories really sell. The stories are never bragging, they're never boasting, if they're accurate and true."

Are you motivated to succeed?

    You've probably worked with someone who had all the skills necessary for a given job but lacked motivation to excel or even quit after a few months. This is the nightmare scenario that every hiring manager, novice or pro, desperately wants to avoid.

    When evaluating a job candidate's motivation, interviewers should look at how deeply the individual understands the position and organization, and how well he or she has done homework in advance.

    "Have they done enough research on us and are they interested in us? If you ask them, are they highly motivated for this job, of course they're going to say, yes," says Bacon. Ask specific questions about the challenges the person would face in the position, and look for whether he's answering on the fly or has given some thought to the issue ahead of time.

    To demonstrate motivation a candidate must prepare in advance by doing this research. You also need to tell a compelling story of how this position fits with your career plans, and why the organization appeals to you.

    "Be thoughtful about where you are and where you're going," says Bacon, who also advises mentioning recent media coverage or news about the organization when relevant. "Show that you're really engaged. That does more for job candidates in my view than just about anything else."

    Myers advises asking deep, intelligent questions about the supervisor, company, culture, and values, not things like "When do I start?" or "What's the salary?"

Are you a good fit?

    Fit is the toughest of the three questions, in part because it's unique to each employer.

    "That requires real art in my view," Bacon says. "What you're looking for there is whether this person has the values that are really central to your organization. Do they have the kind of work ethic and work style which is going to fit? Are they compatible with your view of how business is done and how people work together?"

    If possible, introduce the candidates to existing employees and observe how they interact, as well as getting feedback from your staff afterwards. "It's about chemistry," he says.

    Job seekers should be sure to select references who will sell you as an excellent fit with the organization. "The references can't communicate that I'm motivated," says Peter Handal, chairman and CEO of Dale Carnegie & Associates, "but they certainly can communicate my personality and how I would be a team player."