Good hiring techniques

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by a searcher from Lousiana State University
in Baton Rouge, LA, USA

1yr ago

Good hiring techniques

I recently read an interesting tweet - OP posted, to screen through thousands of applications (remote executive assistant, for example), he would make them do an online writing speed test. The hypothesis is that: 1, some large % of people will not follow the instructions (critical for an EA), and 2, people with a high word count/accuracy score are more likely to be intelligent and articulate, despite it being likely that english is a second language (remember OP is posting for remote EAs).

I'm curious what other similar hacks people have come across to quickly screen through large pools of applicants.

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reply by a searcher 1yr ago
from University of Maryland at College Park in Tysons, VA, USA

Not for EA roles but for onshore corporate roles require a cover letter, don't look at applications that don't submit the cover letter - similar idea that really cuts down on trying to extrapolate from thousands of resumes who could be a good fit. Heavy preference for personalized cover letters that tell a story about why they fit at your company, not a generic "about me" cover letter.

Use Criteria for appatitude and personality testing - the appatitude testing tracts very well to general intelligence / raw ability, the personality testing is directionally accurate typically but don't go overboard reading the tea leaves on certain results.

Read the book Who and conduct the Who screener interview on candidates whose cover letter / criteria / resume combination are potentially good fits. The Who screener is a quick 20 minute structured interview that focuses on what the applicant wants long term / strengths and weaknesses to see if there is general alignment.

This should really narrow your applicant pool down for potential 2nd round interviews.

For EA roles we will also do custom attention to detail testing / assignments similar to what you described. Having applicants take Criteria or do the attention to detail testing while being remote monitored can also be helpful as some people will try to cheat / game the system.

reply by an investor 1yr ago
from University of Pennsylvania in St. Louis, MO, USA

This is pretty interesting. I agree that some large % of applicants to a position don't necessarily read the instructions for how to apply. That's a good signal/piece of information about the candidate before you spend any time speaking with them.