Hiring Best Practices

Success in interviewing means hiring the perfect candidate. So how do great interviewers prepare, create a mix of behavioral and situational questions, create a consistent interview structure, and know what red flags to look out for? During the interview, what are the small details and queues to look out for and how can you read between the lines of scripted answers?

Our last GLOW dinner featured @amandageiger who has been with FabFitFun through the company’s explosive growth from 60 to 600 employees. Amanda shared her tried and true techniques across her experience in 100+ interviews that help cut through to connect with people and determine their potential fit for the company.

“Be yourself! Your vibe attracts your tribe.”

—Amanda Geiger

On the acquisition team at FabFitFun, the interview team always has the same set of questions in order to remove unconscious bias and ensure candidates can be more easily compared and analyzed.

Amanda’s favorite questions?

• Have you ever taught yourself any program, skill, hobby etc?
  Real Talk: Are you a self-starter and scrappy?

• What are some creative trends you’ve seen in your past campaigns and have you seen differences across platforms (ex: IG, FB, Snap, etc.)?
  Real Talk: Are you a critical thinker?

• What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about your current job?
  Real Talk: What motivates you and would you be happy/excited to be here?

• What’s one thing you like about our advertising? What is one thing you would improve?
  Real Talk: Did you prepare for this interview? What can I learn from you?

• Is there anything that we didn’t touch on that you would want us to know about you?
  Real Talk: I’m giving you a chance to shine one last time, make it memorable

Best Practices

Overall, hiring best practices can be broken into the following 3 categories and should be followed consistently throughout every interview.

Preparation:
〰️ Write the job description with HR - who is the ideal candidate?

〰️ Create a challenging assignment to weed out the lazy and the unqualified

〰️ Identify key stakeholders and the role of each interviewer

〰️ Prepare a list of questions 〰️ Print resume and mark it up!

〰️ What can you do for me? What job experience do you have? What stands out (good and bad)?

Process:
〰️ BE YOURSELF! Your vibe attracts your tribe and you should exemplify your company culture

〰️ Listen and take notes

〰️ Be a good conversationalist. Ask the “how” and “why” follow-ups to dig deeper and understand how the candidate thinks

〰️ Be honest and open about the expectations for the role

Post-Interview:

〰️ Regroup as a team once everyone has interviewed the candidate to discuss the pros + cons

〰️ DO NOT SETTLE

〰️ Reply to thank you emails