Hiring
Recruiting active vs. passive candidates
When I started looking for a job last year, it was the first time I’d done so in more than five years, and I was overwhelmed. Thinking about new routines, new commute, new people, new coffee machine, new set of work passwords. It was daunting. I’m what we at PI call a Controller pattern, a key…
Can you be too smart for a job?
All jobs require some level of cognitive ability, and research has demonstrated time and time again that cognitive ability relates to higher job performance in all roles (although the relationship is stronger in more complex job roles). But is there an upper limit? Can you be too smart for a job?
When their cognitive score doesn’t match their behavior
What do you do when you have a candidate with the “perfect” behavioral needs and drives for a position—you know they can handle the work, culturally it’s a match, they are driven and determines—but their overall cognitive score, their capacity to learn, adapt, and grasp new concepts in the workplace, is falling short. I have had…
When to fire an employee: We hire for skills, but fire for something else
Think about this: When you interview a candidate for a position, a primary input in the decision-making process (the resume) is provided by the candidate. While the resume certainly gives you an overview of experience, education, and skills, it’s still information that’s curated by the candidate. This is equivalent to a used car salesperson handing…
Let’s get smart about hiring
For too long hiring managers have relied on gut feel to assess candidates for a job. They’ve relied on what they believe to be tried and true methods for predicting a candidate’s success only to be met with mixed results. A resume is great but it only tells part of the story. Relying on factors…
Why narcissists excel in job interviews
There’s an old consumer-protection saying that “if a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is.” For hiring managers I’d amend that adage slightly and say, “If a candidate seems too charming to be true, he probably is.” Don’t get me wrong—there’s nothing wrong with charm in business. But there’s also data suggesting…
What are validity studies?
Have you ever witnessed someone trying to tell a spooky ghost story, only to be silenced by someone matter-of-factly stating that they don’t believe in ghosts? This situation has always been a somewhat annoying one to me because, while I’m personally very skeptical of the existence of ghosts, I like to hear a good ghost…
How to build more compelling job descriptions
If you’ve ever searched for a job, you know that not all job descriptions are well written. And if you’ve ever had to build a job description—well, let’s just say many of us would prefer to watch paint dry. But crafting a job listing doesn’t have to be a horrible experience. Here are 14 tips to…
9 tools to help you build bulletproof job descriptions
You are staring at a cursor on a blank screen. Or, if you’re lucky, you have a template of some kind to work with. If you’re unlucky, you might be looking at a mess of a job description someone else tried to create—that you need to turn into a magic document that will not only…
When a valuable employee leaves, how do you fill the void?
After an all-star employee suddenly left the Florida State Fair Authority, the organization looked to The Predictive Index to pick up the pieces.
How to pass a personality test and common questions on faking assessments for employment
Thinking about gaming the system? What you need to know before faking a personality test. You just applied for a job and you’ve been asked to take a personality test or other pre-employment assessment. Questions immediately start rushing through your head. Is this going to be hard? What if the results are not truly me?…
