The Wheaties Story
by John Ruh
Joe Schmoe’s wife says to him, “Pick up a box of Wheaties.” Joe goes to the store and finds a perfect looking box labeled “Wheaties,” with a great picture of Michael Jordan on it. He pays for it and brings it home.
When his wife opens the box, there’s nothing in it. Mrs. Schmoe asks, “Why on earth would you buy an empty box of Wheaties?”
Joe replies, “How was I to know?”
His wife picks up the empty box. “Couldn’t you tell by the weight?” she asks. “Didn’t you shake it to see if there was something in there? There are clues!”
Joe just shrugged.
What’s The Point?
The point is that, in interviewing, most people tend to look at what’s visible. You look at candidate’s resume, you see whether their appearance is professional, if they communicate well, etc. But just like with the Wheaties box, you’ve got to look for more clues to see what’s on the inside. It is your job as an interviewer to also get invisible information. You must determine the candidate’s vision, goals, core values, beliefs, attitudes, skills, experience, education, accomplishments, and personality traits he/she brings to the table. Why? To see if 1) they align with yours and 2) they are capable of doing the job you have. You need to see what you are really getting, not just the box it comes in.
Now here is the problem
A candidate is allowed to say anything or ask any question, but as the company interviewer, you have a whole host of laws governing what you can and cannot legally ask. Thus, it’s a game with two different sets of rules, and that creates a problem for employers. No one wants to invest time and money in a new employee and wind up with an empty box. How do you avoid this? It’s not easy.
Here is my tip
Change your interviewing model. Sharpen your interviewing technique so you learn how to identify and listen for a person’s vision, goals, values and behavioral traits, not just their qualifications.
Need more?
- 1. Find out about the 5-phase interviewing model I developed years ago (call/email for details).
- Ask Scott Urban and his team to show you how to write a powerful recruitment description (this is different than a job description). That way you can clarify exactly what you want and look to see if any candidate meets your customized ABC requirements.