📈 My 5-Step Interview Process

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I’ve interviewed hundreds of applicants and made 100+ hires. Here is the system I’ve developed:

1. Initial Screening

2. Skills Assessment

3. Behavioral Interview

4. Core Values Interview

5. Hire

Before we dive into the interview process, I source 99% of applicants from Indeed. There is a huge talent pool on Indeed, and I haven’t found it necessary to search on other platforms.

To keep things organized, I use Breezy HR. It’s an HR software that automates a lot of the recruiting process, and allows me to keep things organized.

A few benefits of using Breezy:

• Customizable recruiting funnel

• Questionnaires

• Nurture campaigns

• Email and SMS templates

• Integrations

If you recruit more than 10 employees per year, I recommend checking out Breezy.

Initial Screening

My recruiting process starts with the initial screening. In this step, I create a questionnaire for the applicant to submit.

Here are the questions I’m currently asking for the Content Marketing Specialist I’m recruiting:

1. In no more than three sentences, why do you want to be a Content Marketing Specialist for Greenbox Storage?

2. Pay for this role is $____USD / month. Please confirm you willing to work for this wage.

3. Use vocaroo.com and submit a voice recording where you describe your content marketing experience. Please keep your submission under 60 seconds.

4. How many years of experience do you have in content marketing?

5. Which aspect of content marketing is your greatest strength?

6. Which aspect of content marketing is your greatest weakness?

7. How reliable is your wifi?

I’d like to bring your attention to number 3. I require voice recordings because you can:

1. Get a feel for the applicant’s English-speaking ability (especially for offshore hires).

2. Add friction to the application process (to weed out non-serious candidates).

3. Listen to the applicant’s communication skills.

4. See if the applicant follows directions (under 60 second voice-recording length).

5. Get an answer to the question you’re asking.

Skills Assessment

If you receive an applicant you like, I urge you to create some type of assessment that measures how well they can complete tasks they will be required to do.

For example, if you’re hiring a Customer Support Specialist, create a series of questions to see how they answer. If you’re hiring a Manager, create a series of situations to see how they would handle them. This should give you a feeling for if they will be a good fit and will save you time.

Behavioral Interview

Next up is the 1st round interview. This is where you get to know the applicant and their background. Here are some questions you can ask:

1. What research did you do about our company?

2. Please give me an overview of their last three positions.

3. Why did you apply for this position?

4. Tell me about your best and worst boss, and what made them that. 

5. Sell me on why we should hire you.

6. What are your compensation expectations?

If you like what you see in the Behavioral Interview, invite them back for the second and final interview.

Core Values Interview

The goal of this interview is to determine if the applicant’s values align with yours.

In this interview, we ask the applicant to prepare a 5-minute presentation on how they embody our Core Values. We have the following Core Values at my company:

1. Accountable

2. Reliable

3. Communicative

4. Results-Driven

5. Gritty

After the presentation, we dive into a Q&A to ask some final questions.

Hire

If they have a solid presentation and you like what you see, they might be your newest employee!

Feel free to steal my method. It works!

Things get a little more complicated when you’re hiring offshore vs. domestic.

So if you’re considering hiring offshore, send me an email at: [email protected] and I’d love to help you.

Happy hunting!

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. The Startup Toolkit: This comprehensive course provides you step-by-step directions for how to launch and grow your startup. Through trial and error, I’ve developed these methods to grow my startup to $1M+ revenue.

2. 1-on-1 Startup Consulting: Serious about launching / growing your startup? Get the personalized help you need. 30-minute and 60-minute session available.

3. Promote your business to 1,400+ subscribers by sponsoring my newsletter.

Cheers,

Collin Rutherford

PS. I’d get that checked out.