Topgrading Tips

Last week I discussed the basics of the Topgrading Interview, but there are some additional tactics which you should keep in mind to further enhance the recruiting support you provide to your company.

Tips for Topgrading Interviews:
1. It is your job to guide the interview and to make sure that you are covering the necessary topics. This means that you will have to politely interrupt a candidate each time he/she is going off course.
2. Use the Three P’s to evaluate performance
a. How did your performance this year compare to your Previous year’s performance?
b. How did your performance compare to the Plan?
c. How did your performance compare to that of your Peers?
3. Look for a candidate who was Pulled into a new job as opposed to someone who has been Pushed out of 20% or more of their jobs.
4. Make sure that you truly understand what a candidate means when they tell you something about themselves. If an answer is vague or has multiple meanings, dive further or ask for clarification.
5. If you see any red flags, ask additional questions about those areas.

After conducting a Topgrading interview, you should be able to paint a much clearer picture about a candidate’s career history, and see a strong pattern in his/her behavior. Whether the candidate’s role will be operational support or on the management teams, a pattern of success will be crucial to your firm.