Care likes to throw a wrench in an interview just to see if a
candidate can roll with the punches and mesh with his team.
“When I drop by interviews, I bring several of my signature
funny pens that I use as gag gifts during trainings. The pens
advertise fake, humorous business names such as ‘Multiple
Cat Owner’s Club: Exclusive club with owners of 10 or more
cats and no relationships. www.crazycatlady.com’ or ‘Body
Removal Services: Are you feeling trapped in your
relationship? There is help! We make people disappear.
Painless, discreet, compassionate technicians. www.likeitnev-
erhappened.com.’ I pass the pens across the table to each
candidate and gauge their reaction. If they laugh or crack a
smile, I know they have a great sense of humor and will fit in
well with the team.”
Lack of Curiosity for Your Culture or Passion
for the Job
The person you’re interviewing should truly be interested in
the job. That may seem obvious, but it’s so important to the
health of your team to find people who are truly curious
about your company and its culture as well as a passion for
what you do.
“We look for potential new hires to fit into our culture before
anything else,” says Smith. “Our interview process allows candi-
dates to meet several members of the team to gain perspective
on who we are as a company and what we care about.
Technical skills are great but if you’re not a good fit and you
don’t mesh well with the team, it’s going to be a match.”
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 56)
WHAT’S THE SKINNY
ON SOCIAL MEDIA?
With potential employees constantly uploading so much of their
personalities onto social media, it could be a great way of discov-
ering if they’re truly a great fit for your company.
According to a 2015 Society for Human Resources Management
(SHRM) study, 44 percent of HR professionals agreed that a job
candidate’s public social media profile can provide information
about work-related performance. Also, more than one-third of
surveyed organizations disqualified a job candidate in the past
year because of concerning information found on a public social
media profile or through an online search. SHRM is quick to note,
however, that there could be legal ramifications for using social
media and certain steps should be taken by your company to
prevent any discrimination claims.
So how do you go about using social media the right way?
1. Create a company-wide screening policy. This should include
who can conduct social media screenings, when during the
application process they can occur, which positions are eligible
for screening, and how the results will be presented.
2. Create a list of screening questions to be answered as the
social media screening occurs. This will keep the screen on-
track and non-discriminatory.
3. Document and keep your findings. Submit your screening to the
designated manager or HR professional for them to keep on file
to disprove any discrimination claims.
VISIT shrm.org for more information on implementing a social media screening policy.
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May 2017