One of the most stressful processes an office deals with is filling a job opening. When a job goes unfilled, the loss in productivity and an overworked team can cause friction—let alone the stress that can occur while recruiting, screening, hiring, and onboarding a candidate. That’s why the interview process is such an important aspect in ensuring the new hire will aid in alleviating the workload and help your company maintain high productivity. To know what to do, what not to do, and what to look for in an interview, take a look at these lessons from famous movie interviews.
Let the interviewee do the talking.
The best way to find out if a candidate is a good fit for your company is to ask them open-ended questions, and then, just sit back and listen. Chances are you will discover their strengths, interests, and qualities by how they answer questions and talk about themselves. In some instances, you may not need to say much before you realize the candidate would be a bad fit for your business—just like Owen Wilson’s character in “You, Me, and Dupree.”
Strange questions can lead to time-wasting tangents.
To avoid asking old-fashioned, worn-out questions, many companies ask off-the-wall questions aiming for more outside-of-the box answers. Companies like Apple and Google are famous for doing this to determine creative thinking and analytical skills. For instance, Laszlo Bock of Google has asked “How many cows are in Canada?” The purpose is simply to see how a candidate will respond and the quality of the answer. Although these questions may work for some companies, if they don’t have a purpose, then strange questions can lead to tangents, wasting your and your interviewee’s time. This is what happened when Google asked Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson’s characters a similar question in “The Interview.”
Motivation is key.
Although a large aspect of employment is a paycheck, it’s important to hire someone who is genuinely interested in the position for the work. If the only thing that is keeping an employee engaged is getting a check, then he or she most likely won’t be a large contributor to your company’s productivity or creativity. Adam Sandler’s character in “The Wedding Singer” shows us what to look out for when interviewing someone only focused on one thing and not the overall success of your team.
In the end, don’t judge a book by its cover.
As a business leader, you sometimes have to let the little things go. There are overarching qualities your company looks for when hiring for a position, and thus, some less-desirable traits may not be as big of an issue as you think. It’s important to rate these traits from most to least important in order to not get stuck on a nonissue. If the person is determined, has great soft skills, and passionate about succeeding, you may be able to look past a few interviewing faux pas, just like the hiring managers did for Will Smith’s character in “The Pursuit of Happyness.”
Hiring workers can be a stressful endeavor. That’s why many businesses use staffing companies like Express Employment Professionals to handle it for them. By screening, testing, interviewing, and placing candidates, Express takes the hassle out of hiring so you can focus on leading your team to that next milestone. To see if Express is a right fit for you, read more about workforce solutions available to you by following this link.
What is your favorite movie job interview? Have you ever experienced awkward interview moments? Let us know in the comments section below!
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