Spotting Talent

August 13, 2010 By 2 Comments

Great interviewers say  they know in the first 10 minutes whether a candidate is fit for a role. I can attest to this, having interviewed hundreds of people for different jobs over the course of the last 15 years. Similarly, great candidates know immediately if they have found a connection with the person interviewing them; chemistry can be clear instantaneously.

Well, so, I consider myself a great interviewer but I also know I’ve been deadly wrong many times. While I have a good batting average, I’m no Ted Williams for sure. I’ve been too hasty at times and too excited at times. I’ve been beguiled by smooth talkers who can’t execute worth a shit. And so on.

I’d love to know what RA readers consider the top qualities in people they recruit (or in their peers) and how you detect these qualities quickly. And how do you deal with it when you know you’ve been duped?

Let us know.

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About Romi Mahajan

Romi Mahajan is Chief Marketing Officer of sentiment analysis firm Metavana. A well-known speaker on the technology and media circuit, Mahajan serves on a variety of Advisory Boards and speaks at over a dozen industry events per year.

  • Michael Hollon

    Romi,
    Thanks for bringing this up. I have to admit to not being especially good at judging character while in the job interview setting. I have plenty of examples of a person being very different in a job interview setting than they turn out to be are after having worked with them for a period of time. And this goes the same no matter which side of the interview you are on – hiring or trying to get hired. And while I’m familiar with a few different interviewing strategies (behavior interviews, etc.) I’m still hoping to learn more good tips on how to get learning from a job interview.

  • http://researchaccess.com/romi Romi Mahajan

    @Michael- Thanks for your perspective. One thing i look for is consistency in answers (yeah sounds basic, but you’d be surprised.) Another important thing is a person’s ability to defend a point. Of course, the usual: IQ, adept with the language, passion, etc.