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How to Interview [⭐️ Updated 22/3]
Initial Steps
When approving someone for the there first interview send out any further details and attach the a mini-version of our handbook for that person to review. It outlines our process and how we think about company building through our branding and lens.
Dive into Experience
Pre-Read
Many well-intentioned interviewers will focus on 1 set of questions. This is unlikely to lead to a good picture of whether someone will be good for a specific role.
We start every interview with a pre-read go over that person’s experiences and profile. Then go deep. This is more likely to give you a stronger indication on whether someone is a good fit for the role or not.
Give live Feedback
We are big advocate for feedback being an important part of how we grow at Hatch. At the end of every call you should layout 2-3 things you think that person would be good at in this role. Then at least 1 hesitation you may have. Try to give them time to respond to this, it’s also an important indicator of how this person responds to this value we care about.
Most importantly interviews are high stress, high anxiety environments for candidates. This acknowledges the candidates effort in the process. We want to hold ourselves higher than the normal standard when it comes to employment experience and development from the very first call.
Ask permission to get what you need
By the time you speak to the candidate you should already understand if they align on Team Values and their Working Style. So after understanding they want to join Hatch.
You should move into the, “name it”. Say to the candidate something like:
“Hey, I need to go deep on how you work to do “x” to see if it’s a good fit here, is it ok if I focus the first 15 minutes on that? Then I’ll leave the next 10 minutes for questions.
“x” is the important thing that may stand out that you didn’t get from that person’s profile. It could be how they work, or a skill they might not have (can they think from first principles).
Example for a Growth Role:
I noticed that you some great experience that could be relevant to the role, but I noticed you may be lacking in PPC advertising, is it ok if I focus the first 15 minutes on that? Then I’ll leave 10 minutes for more questions.
Initial Call - 30 mins (With CoS)
In this initial call we are looking to judge if this person will be a good fit for the role and if their have good initial cultural alignment with our values at hatch.
Hiring Manager Call - 60 mins
A conversation around your previous experience and any cross-functional skills that could relate back to the position. If it’s a technical interview we will talk a bit more about some of the projects you completed and the results of those decisions for customers and growth.
In the interview, first set expectations:
"Thank you for visiting us today. We are going to do a chronological interview and walk through each job you've had. For each job, I am going to ask you five core questions.
1. What were you hired to do?
2. What accomplishments are you most proud of?
3. What were some low points during that job?
4. Who were the people you worked with?
5. Why did you leave that job?
At the end of the interview, we will discuss your career goals and aspirations, and you can ask me questions about us.
80 percent of the process will take place in this room, but if we mutually decide to move forward, we will conduct reference calls to complete the process.
Finally, while this sounds lengthy, it will go remarkably fast. It is my job to guide the pace of the discussion. Sometimes I will ask you to go into more depth; other times, I will ask that we move on to the next topic. I'll try to make sure that we leave plenty of time to cover your most recent and, therefore, most relevant jobs.
Any questions before we begin?
The script:
For each job or group of jobs. Ask the following Questions
1. What were you hired to do?
You are trying to create a picture of their scorecard as if they had one. What were their mission and key outcomes (or Objectives and Key Results)?
2. What accomplishments are you most proud of?
Hopefully, these accomplishments will match the outcomes described in the first question.
3. What were some low points during that job?
Do not let the candidate off the hook. Reframe the question over and over again until you get honest answers.
4. Who were the people you worked with? Specifically:
i. What was your boss' name, and how do you spell that? What was it like working with him/her? What will he/she tell me were your biggest strengths and areas for improvement
Follow the script exactly. By letting the candidate know that we will be contacting these references, the candidate will become much more truthful. This is the most crucial question we ask during the Topgrading Interview, as it gives us the information needed to do the Reference Interviews. For the most recent or significant job, also ask:
ii. How would you rate the team you inherited on an A, B, and C scale? What changes did you make? Did you hire anybody? Fire anybody? How would you rate the team when you left it on an A, B, and C scale?
Does the candidate accept the hand they have been dealt, or do they make changes to get a better hand? You can also use the reference check method to get more information: "When we speak with members of your team, what will they say are your biggest strengths and weaknesses as a manager?"
5. Why did you leave that job?
Was the candidate promoted, recruited, or fired? Get very curious about why?
To conduct this interview well, you will have to:
1. Interrupt.
Do so tactfully. But do not let a candidate ramble. Doing so will only hurt their chances of success because it will chew up valuable time without conveying important information. Expect to interrupt the candidate once every 3-4 minutes.
The proper way to interrupt someone is to be positive and use reflective listening: "Wow! It sounds like that pig farm next to the corporate office smelled horrible!" The candidate says: "Yes." Then you immediately say:" You were telling me earlier about launching that email campaign. I'd love to hear what that was like? How well did it go?"
2. Three Ps.
Use the 3 Ps to clarify how valuable an accomplishment was in context.
i. How did your performance compare to the previous year's performance?
ii. How did your performance compare to the plan?
iii. How did your performance compare to that of your peers?
3. Painting a Picture.
You'll know that you understand what a candidate is saying when you can see a picture of it in your mind. Put yourself in their shoes
5. Stopping at the Stop Signs.
If you see or hear inconsistencies, the candidate may be telling an untruth. If this happens, get curious, and dig deeper. Think of yourself as a biographer (positive), not an investigative journalist (negative).
Take Home Task - 4-6 Hours
Here we will assign a take-home task that is relevant to the role. They will get the chance to email through any questions to the CoS and they will forward any answers to the hiring manager they can’t cover. We will work to create an FAQ here eventually for common questions.
Team Interviews - 45mins or 2x 30 mins
Depending on the role we will do a team interview to see if it’s a potentially right fit for the team you will be joining. This will be with someone you will directly be working with and someone on the extended hatch team. We love working cross functionally and are not a silo’d organisation so we want their to be synergy across teams that may have different working styles and strengths.
Founder Cultural Interview - 60 mins
Here we go deep into that person values and if they can see themselves growing with Hatch. We not only want to be looking for a good fit for Hatch but a good fit for the person potentially joining us on this journey.
Yes/No Offer
The CoS will then call to give the No to the candidate with any feedback throughout the interview process. If it’s a Yes offer the Hiring Manager will call the candidate to congratulate them and we will coordinate sending out the initial
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