Where do you see yourself in five years? How do you measure success? If you were an animal, which kind would it be? What are your greatest strength and greatest weakness? We often hear these questions when we are looking for a new job and meet a head-hunter or an HR manager at a large company. I have also gone through this process several times, and I've been on both sides of the table. When sitting on the employer side, I could also have asked about a soup recipe, or about last summer holiday, why that destination why chosen. Because it was not the concrete answers I was curious about, but the reasons, the related resonance, and meta-communication. My wires took over the translation of the situation.
At the university, we learned which questions to ask from the candidate on an interview, and at another class, we studied how to answer questions asked by HR people or what we should never say in an interview. We learned how to dress, and some useful tips to convey a positive first impression. But in a different class, we also learned what we should pay attention to, how we can identify the different personalities. If many people studied the same, then HR offices may become a stage of professional plays during this kind of job interview. The question is whether this theatre makes any sense this way?
It is not easy to find and collect those people in a team, who fit together well / match to each other / got together well both professionally and culturally. At Integral Vision, we lay down together the general rules and practices about how we would like to work from week to week, make decisions, and improve. Those people who join the company and later on will take part in forming it must match the existing team.
In the first years, the CEO chose his partners, but as soon as the team started to grow, it turned to a mutual agreement to decide which applicant fits our team and should be hired and which does not.
We investigate two aspects: besides the expertise, we are curious about the characteristics. Professional colleagues and competence test the first requirement. The whole company considers the second aspect; we all try to spend a few hours together with the applicant, where we observe how it is to be together in the same room. There are a lot of possibilities to find this out. For example, to go out drinking beer together, or invite the candidate for lunch or to spend a day in the office.
We are usually all there, and the next day we share our experiences, our impressions and make a decision whether to start the trial. Of course, it is also an indispensable aspect of how the candidate did feel. As the aim of the interview shouldn't just be that the employer gets to know the applicant, but also reverse. In some places, this is sometimes forgotten.
We think that this is an essential process as the new associate is also not only joining us to get the salary at the end of the month but because we have something in common, he or she would like to be a part of our team and add some value to it. We aim to provide excellent work and working environment. We are not just building a business but also culture, so it should also be a pleasure working together with the newcomers. There is a big difference between making our own house together and constructing a home for someone else.
Share with your friends!
