My new employee has lied through his teeth about his experience.

Dear Aunty B,

I have just had to let another staff member go for poor performance. This guy gave a killer interview, but as soon as he started things went bad. He just couldn’t do all the things he claimed to do. While he presents really well and seems like a great bloke, I think he has lied through his teeth about his experience.

I rang a manager from his former firm for a reference check and the guy confirmed he could do the stuff. So how was I to know he couldn’t? This is the third time this has happened to me!

What am I doing wrong?
Fed up

Dear Fed up,

I notice that you are an IT company and assume you are hiring IT guys. What you have to do is test them. You can’t just rely on people from other firms. They might have totally different standards to you.

I always test people for lots of things. First I test them about their attitude to life. They need to be positive and upbeat. How do you test that? Ask them about difficult situations in a workplace and how they responded. If they whinge, there is your answer. I also test to see they have ambition and are hard working. I often ask them about their first job; when was it and what did they do? I want them to have started work very early and taken a bad job. I also love people from the country! They often grow up working form a young age and at lots of things.

I also look for maturity. I like them to get on with their family. I know! But I do. It is easy to ask stuff like that without being intrusive. Had a nice Mother’s Day? That would do the trick. People who say they never talk to their parents or siblings set off a little alarm bell for me.

Then I like to set tests. If we are hiring a sub editor they need to sub for us and show they have skills in the technology. If they are a journalist of course we can check their stories. If they are a salesperson we get them to present our wares to an imaginary client. Always give them a mini project. Not only do you get to test them but you also can pick up some useful ideas. Sometimes the attributes they display in a test might not be suitable for that job but for something else. Always do several reference checks – not just one. And drill down into questions about their skills. What training did they do? Was it at a reputable college? Did they actually finish the course? And so on. Always have them in for a second interview and get in-line managers to interview them as well. There’s nothing wrong with a third interview if you are not 100% sure.

Be smart,
Your Aunty B

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