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If you know what kind of company/situation you're in, you can certainly select for candidates that are more likely to thrive in that environment. As you mentio

If you know what kind of company/situation you're in, you can certainly select for candidates that are more likely to thrive in that environment. As you mentioned, people gravitate toward their strong suits. So by asking behavioral questions, you can learn how they approached situations in the past and whether their strengths/weaknesses are the right mix for your needs.

thedance 7y ago
If your company knows what situation it is in, and if that situation persists for more than a year, your company is already better than many. The company I just left had an endless parade of new missions, new "values", new career ladder descriptions, and the median tenure of managers in engineering was about 6 months. The idea that you can either rate the performance of your staff or predictively hire engineers who will succeed under these conditions is a joke.
- geoffroberts 7y ago
  That's true.... that might not be a company you want to work for. If there's not clear strategic direction and things constantly shift, it's very hard to hire anybody effectively into the org.
- tschiller 7y ago
  Yep, if your company is having leadership/strategy problems you're not going to go far. But as a hiring manager in that situation, you can select for team members who excel at dealing with ambiguity, internal locus of control, vision, etc. Additionally, you would look for people who value learning vs. psychological safety, etc. You're in a known situation, and that situation is constant change and churn
Havoc 7y ago
>If you know what kind of company/situation you're in That's my point. You don't unless you're in a very simplistic business. I really don't think you can define/bottle this easily - even with high quality interviewing. Nor do I think you should. To use a very cliched phrase the hottest hires are the ones that think outside the box AND are killing it. Without some flexibility in terms of filtering and criteria you might miss out on that

thedance 7y ago

If your company knows what situation it is in, and if that situation persists for more than a year, your company is already better than many. The company I just left had an endless parade of new missions, new "values", new career ladder descriptions, and the median tenure of managers in engineering was about 6 months. The idea that you can either rate the performance of your staff or predictively hire engineers who will succeed under these conditions is a joke.

geoffroberts 7y ago
That's true.... that might not be a company you want to work for. If there's not clear strategic direction and things constantly shift, it's very hard to hire anybody effectively into the org.
tschiller 7y ago
Yep, if your company is having leadership/strategy problems you're not going to go far. But as a hiring manager in that situation, you can select for team members who excel at dealing with ambiguity, internal locus of control, vision, etc. Additionally, you would look for people who value learning vs. psychological safety, etc. You're in a known situation, and that situation is constant change and churn

Havoc 7y ago

>If you know what kind of company/situation you're in That's my point. You don't unless you're in a very simplistic business. I really don't think you can define/bottle this easily - even with high quality interviewing. Nor do I think you should. To use a very cliched phrase the hottest hires are the ones that think outside the box AND are killing it. Without some flexibility in terms of filtering and criteria you might miss out on that