John L Gray

The Boss' Interview: How to Separate the Job-seeking Pretenders from the High-quality Contenders. John L Gray

Publisher Marketing: This is a specific how-to guide in creating and delivering a conversation with a candidate that brings out their character and attitude for the sole purpose of assessing their suitability for joining your organization. For smaller organizations, an alternative approach to the hiring interview is provided where the top executive's interview with the candidate happens near the beginning of the process. This guide includes preparation, where to have this conversation, who should be present, how to construct questions, effectively using incremental verbal agreements to guide the candidate to being forthcoming, and laying the foundation to create loyalty and commitment to the organization's values. These suggestions are evolutions from strategies used in formal interviewing and negotiations. Guidance is provided to avoid the common mistakes of selecting marginal candidates. Suggested templates and checklists are provided as a means to inspire your own approach. In addition, including the new employee's spouse in a conversation with the organization's leadership team is suggested. When the boss' interview is truly a formality because the screening and selection process was previously done, suggestions are provided on how to conduct this conversation. The author draws upon decades of experience and conducting training in this area.