Sunday 19 August 2012

YOUR NEXT JOB INTERVIEW – HOW TO EXCEL

The important thing to do with any job interview is to research the organisation thoroughly, after all, this is where you are going to be committing 8 out of 16 hours a day of your waking life, for 5 out of seven days a week for the next 1 or more years. Most importantly, try and understand what they do and also understand what you will be required to do when you are accepted for the job. I have seen many candidates who don’t do any research or who wait until the day of the interview before they start asking questions. If this is your attitude to interviews then I would like to most politely say, that you already have a 90% chance of failure at the interview and if you have already been failing at interviews, you probably have just discovered one of the reasons why. For starters, there are some very very basic things you should note, that can increase your chances of success:

·         Always dress smartly – a suit, a shirt or other suitable clothing make you look welcoming on the eyes.
·         Always try to arrive 15 minutes early (there is no such thing as African time).
·         Always remember to turn your phone off as soon as you arrive at the interview venue. Don’t forget this.
·         Always obtain a job specification or job description or go through the vacancy thoroughly.
·         Always make time to read on the organisation’s website especially anything about them in the news.
·         Always research and remember 5 key aspects of the organisation that makes them stand out.
·         Always prepare 3 questions to ask at the end of the interview (e.g. what are your expectations of me in the first month I am employed; what is it like working for this organisation; what is the next big direction for this organisation)
·         Always wait to be offered a seat before you seat down.
·         Always smile and give eye contact with everybody present on the panel not just the one asking the question
·         Always sit up straight and be enthusiastic with your answers and questions; don’t speak undertone
·         Remember! The energy you show, will reflect in their enthusiasm to hire you; nobody wants a “kill-joy”

People say to me that the culture of nepotism (the “who-you-know” factor) in play during recruitments in most African countries is very high – I don’t deny it exists. But I also believe very genuinely (because I have also experienced it) that if you do your homework well, and perform exceptionally well, in fact so well that your potential employer knows that you have proven yourself beyond a doubt as the best and most suited candidate for the role – believe me, it will be very very hard to exercise nepotism on their part. Even if they did, at least their sleep wouldn’t be so sweet where you are concerned and you can at least hold your head very high.

In terms of Questions at an interview, the easiest and most practical way I have found around preparing is to do this: draw a table with two columns and as many rows. In the first column list down all the most important things (businesses/activities) the organisation does and also the job requirements (i.e. the actual activities or duties that you will be required to do in this role if you are accepted (e.g. to file customer applications orderly on a daily basis, to prepare a bank reconciliation statement at the end of every month, to chase up customers for unpaid loans etc). In the other column, try and match line by line, writing down every activity, experience, skills or anything you have done before or are still doing that makes it possible for you to contribute to or perform the particular business activity or job requirement respectively on each line. Hopefully by the end of this exercise, you should also be able to know if you are (by your own assessment) suited for the role. Let me just say however, that the understanding of most of us when it comes to the word “experience” has to change a little, otherwise, you may wrongfully write yourself off as inexperienced for a lot of jobs. There is such a thing as “transferrable skills”. So although you may be applying for say a job in Banking and finance, there may be many things in the job description that you could do (without further training) as a result of a remotely similar activity you may have done in your old job in a manufacturing company or even at school, even though you have never worked in the Banking and Finance sector before.

Below however, are some things to consider in answering some of the most common interview questions you’ll come across. Enjoy it:

What Are You Bringing To This Organisation?
The easiest way to prepare for this sort of question is to research and find out where the organisation is trying to go, where they are heading, their plans for the future and what they say they need to do to get there. What new activities, business operations, new products, new systems are coming on board. Then ask yourself, what skills or knowledge do you have, that will be needed by the organisation, to reach those goals. Every employer is happy to have employees whose skills or knowledge will help the organisation move into the future. Understand that it’s not all about skill – sometimes, it is also about knowledge. If you are just graduating from university or a professional qualification, you may equally have no skill but more crucially, a certain knowledge that will be a useful ingredient in the potential employer’s future operations – this is your ace card, use it. So remember: try matching the future direction of the organisation, with the skills or knowledge you have which may be good ingredients for that direction – that is what you are bringing to the organisation; an ingredient for their present or future success.

How Did You Find Out About This Role/Job?
This is one of those questions you really can’t lie to, but my suggestion is that if it is possible, decide where you want your career to go – is it auditing, accountancy, consultancy, banking, human resource, development, training etc? Once you have determined that, start looking for jobs in the right places. Employers who want the best HR personnel are more likely to advertise excellent positions in magazines or websites or similar platforms that are subscribed to by HR enthusiasts. And the same applies to other career paths. For some employers, potential employees who read their adverts on these types of platforms appear to them as being more focused and more discerning. They appear to potential employers as people who know where to look for the right things. However, where these kinds of targeted newsletters, magazines, internet sites, platforms don’t exist in your particular country, don’t worry, this question won’t be taking too many marks from you. The other angle to it is this – if you heard about the role from a friend, colleague, family, etc –there is a high chance that you are the kind of person with good human relations and you are good with keeping and managing your contacts – this is a superior skill for any employee to have.

How Long Were You In Your Last Job For And Why Did You Leave?                         
Here again, employers want to fish out those who are unstable from those who are. If you are always leaving your jobs within or up to a year, you are likely to be considered as very unstable. You need to understand the way employers think. Most of them take employees on, use about 6 or so months to teach them about their companies and how things are done, and don’t forget they will be spending money on you all these while. So if you leave within another 6 months, they have just made a loss. Now, potential employers don’t have a way of gauging how long you will stay with them except by looking at how long you have stayed in other places. If you are just seeking a job for the first time or you have left a few places in the past within 1 year, then you’ll need to provide some assurance to the potential employer that you don’t intend to leave their employment anytime soon. But you can’t just say “I’ll be here for a while” – you have to let them see a reason why you would. Maybe you have a personal program to gain as much experience from this particular employer that you can’t find with any organisation (and don’t try to flatter them, because they always know) ; maybe the organisation itself provides an excellent personnel development programme that you want to take full advantage off; maybe you are a family person and you need some stability in your career; maybe you have gained several experiences in other places and now, you only need settling down; maybe they are the only organisation that provide the type of career you want to develop in; or maybe you have other past events in your life that you can use to prove that you are a very committed person (not your girlfriend/boyfriend type of commitment though). Whatever the case give the potential employer a reason to believe s/he won’t be making a loss employing you.

Why Do You Want To Work For This Organisation?
STOP! Don’t open your mouth if what you are about to say is very generic e.g. because you treat your staff well, because you are the leader in the industry; because you are the biggest company. STOP IT! This is the one question that shows clearly, which candidates have thoroughly researched the organisation BUT most importantly who know by themselves whether or not this is the right company for them or not. Here is what you should also know – this question is also an opportunity for you to demonstrate to your employer that you are different from everybody else, because the truth is – everybody else will be giving those generic answers. What the employer is trying to establish with this question is whether or not the organisation also satisfies any of your needs or expectations. This is based on the understanding that no two people can agree to be together and be successful in doing so except they are satisfied with each other – in other words, the organisation must be happy that you’ll satisfy its expectations and you, on the the other hand must also be satisfied that the organisation will satisfy your expectations. Most jobseekers don’t recognize the latter, but it is very true. So how do you prepare for this kind of question? Make a list of the things that would make any job, your most satisfying job (I said satisfying NOT perfect); also list down your future career plans, professional plans, development plans, personal plans that are closely related to your career. Now, find out by researching, if there are things about and within the organisation that will satisfy the needs and expectations you listed. I’m hoping you wouldn’t see this as just a step to getting a job but it should also help you determine whether this is an employment you will be happy in or not. If anything about the organisation (now or its future) conflicts in a major way with your current or future plans, think twice.

Where Do You See Yourself In 5 Years?
This is quite a straightforward question. Nobody knows your future plans like you do. The employer is only trying to see whether your future plans will at any time conflict with their plans - because if it does, you are most likely to leave the organisation. It doesn’t mean however, that you have to change your plans. If you want to increase your chances on this question do this: find out what the future plans of the organisation is and also what it is currently doing on a day to day basis; now figure out what your future plans are for the next 3 years. Now ask yourself one by one ‘if the company did “X” today or “Y” in the future, would it hinder me from achieving item “Z” on my list of plans?’ If the plans of the organisation and its activities today or in the future will affect you in any way, then you need to be thinking twice what you are getting yourself into – one way or another, it will be obvious to a smart interviewer.

The following questions are also commonly asked at interviews. The key to answering them is to think about HOW, WHY, WHEN and the OUTCOME. Try to give specific examples from where you have worked, during your education or from extra-curricular activities.

Initiative:-
Share an incidence that required you to utilise your initiative, what did you do and what was the result?

Dealing with a difficult boss/team member:-
Have you had to deal with difficult people in the past – how did you go about it and what was the result?

Team Working:-
What would you do if a team you were part of was not working well together? 

Prioritising:-
If 3 people came to you with work, all saying that their work was important, how would you prioritize?

Organisation:-
Give us an example of an incidence in which you had to demonstrate your organisational skill

Deadlines:-
Has there ever been an incidence when you didn’t meet a deadline? Why and what would you do differently?

Implementing new systems-
Have you ever implemented a new system, if so what did you do, why and what was the result?

Dealing with people:-
How would you deal with a chief executive? Would this differ from how’d deal with a junior if so why?

Flexibility:-
Give us an example of how you have demonstrated flexibility in the past?

Now, I am not guaranteeing that by reading this article, you will be on your way to becoming the best candidate for a job, no, that’s fantasy. But I am guaranteeing that by reading through this thoroughly you will firstly be more realistic about assessing which jobs you stand a better chance of finding most satisfying and doing much better at their interviews.

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Wednesday 15 August 2012

NDC & NPP : the Good, the Bad or The Ugly?

I had an experience many years ago that never left my memory; we all get that once in a while. I was sitting with a friend in an open air restaurant somewhere in Tema and close to me was a table of three, two of whom I recognized to be “big guns” of the National Democratic Party (NDC). A Toyota Landcruiser vehicle then pulled by, its automatic window on the driver side rolled down slowly and a man I know as a senior National Patriotic Party (NPP) politician stuck out his head, slowed down and yelled at the NDC men “mu di abaen sika nu paaa O” literally meaning “you guys are really enjoying the country’s money”. To my not-so-surprizing amazement, all three of them laughed out loud at the insinuation. The eldest of the two NDC men retorted back with hysteric amusement “se, saa na musu mue di bee” which literally translates “of course, just like how you guys also enjoyed it in your time”.  Right then, it dawned on me; first of all, that was my hard-earned money in the form of taxes they were insinuating at and secondly, these politicians came across to me puppet masters and the population, the puppets. If that is the case, then “WOW” what a large population of puppets they have available to play with.

The current events in the political landscape of Ghana raise many many many questions in the minds of many many people. The recent events surrounding the death of the president John E. Atta-Mills (may he R.I.P), before, during and after simply make it obvious that the leaders of the NDC consider the political image and interests of the party a higher priority than anything else including the very life of those in it. I am not saying the NDC killed the ex-president but it’s become very obvious they weren’t interested in doing anything more than “the minimum required” to support the needs and very life of a person of such high national importance. The question every Ghanaian including the so called “party-faithfuls” should be asking is this – “if they don’t care about a president that much, would they care about you the ordinary citizen?” As sad as it sounds, it took the death of the president to expose the total and immovable commitment of the NDC to LIE about everything about the president’s health, all the way to his death. I question many of its members who, after the fateful event are now parading themselves touting how they objected to the lies, how they knew something like this would happen and on and on; one question – did the president have to die before they talked? One thing lingers on my mind – if it took the death of the president for this commitment to lies to be exposed, every Ghanaian should wonder what other evils have transpired of which we may never know. The fact of the matter is this – if a man, or a group of them are so committed to falsehood, even if it means the death of one of their own, I assure you they would do likewise with no hesitation for one who is not their own.



Now, the NPP; Firstly, their recent aggression and blind resolve, to win the presidential elections “AT ALL COSTS” leaves a lot to be feared. It begs the concern – if all they want to do is contribute to the progress of this country, why can’t they do so without necessarily having to be a ruling party? Or is it because their current presidential candidate owes too much debt as a result of the so many failed attempts at the presidency? And if per adventure this was true, and per adventure he also won the presidential election – I wonder whose money will be used to pay those debts. I simply wonder, nothing more.  I didn’t want to, but I had to ask: if a man or a group of them aspiring to be leaders of this country, claim that they are willing to go all out and DIE in the process, in order to be elected into such honourable roles, shouldn’t we all as Ghanaians be asking if we are safe to exercise our freedoms under the leadership of such men? Honestly speaking, it appears if I voted against them, I would also have to taste death. Secondly and just out of curiosity, does every Ashanti bear total allegiance to the Ashanti King? If that is so, would the current presidential flag bearer of the NPP possess the complete independence needed to act properly in the office of president or could he be influenced or be seen to be influenced? I am just asking.

I don’t deny the fact that there are a “few good men and women” left in both the NDC and NPP. For these few, it is their personal choice to remain bonded to a party and people with corrupt natures?” Permit me to borrow the biblical illustration, “what has light got in common with darkness?” I guess it begs the question whether the followers of Ghana’s political parties are being loyal to the virtues and ideologies or to the leaders of such parties. By and large, the basic underlying principles of making life better for all Ghanaians that the NDC and NPP subscribe to have all been eroded by their proven exemplary records to date. In financial auditing, we say a person must not only be independent, but they must be both “independent and seen to be independent”. In other words the two must go together for the principle of independence to be established. In the same manner, Ghana’s two major political parties must “care about this country Ghana, and be seen by Ghanaians to care for this country”. Unfortunately however, Ghanaians have had a taste of both, and none of them is “SEEN” as caring enough about this beloved country. In fact, the experience has been like eating Quinine in the morning and Alafia bitters in the evening.



Ghanaians cannot be fooled, and even if they could, you couldn’t fool them all the time. They know that the essence of party politics is to offer them a greater variety of good, clean and progressive leadership; they know that party politics is not to be used for the current injustices it is being used for – the injustice of knowing that I cannot get what I rightfully deserve, or earn my due wages from my genuine abilities or get equal access to all opportunities, simply because of my political or non-political affiliations. But then again, we are realists: we know corruption and all manner of greed and political wickedness exists in every nation, but then again some nations progress more than others. Why do we have to be reduced to what this nation has been reduced to in spite of all our Oil, our Gold, our timber, our quality human resources, our rich farming land, our bauxite etc. Why?

Our political leaders have a huge hurdle ahead; if they feel the need to restore the trust and confidence we once gave them freely, they need to honour their duties to the citizenry and to demonstrate that they can and are committed to taking this nation forward with no prejudice to ethnicity or political affiliations. They need to show that their overall allegiance is to the good of this country’s future and that no single person or political entity has greater importance than the lives and destinies of all Ghanaians. Or perhaps, to put it as bluntly as a very good friend of mine recently put it – Ghana just needs fresh blood. A fresh breed of posterity and people-centred ideas; Ghana needs fresh blood. A fresh breed of politicians who do not score their points by how much then can embezzle or how many people they can insult; but rather, how many Ghanaian lives they can affect positively for the greater good and what progressive legacies they can leave to posterity.

Ghanaians have a very consistent record of ridding themselves of what does not work for the good of their beloved nation. Many years ago nobody else believed we had a right to sovereign independence – we earned it; then we were told we didn’t have what it took to establish a flourishing democracy – we did; then many, including our very own, thought that as a people, we couldn’t sustain our economic stability and yet in spite of the cancerous corruption and plunder – the hardworking spirit of the Ghanaian people triumphs. So, to some politicians who “think” they and they alone have the rights to satisfy their greedy bellies with the wealth and good of this country, hear this – the people of Ghana are not blind, neither deaf nor incapacitated. Remember, by the people’s own will they opened their arms to embrace you, but with that same will and in that very embrace you could be squeezed to choke – to those with corrupt intentions, remember this.

Monday 13 August 2012

LEARNING IS OVERRATED. TRY UNLEARNING FIRST

If you had to build a more modern house on a piece of land where a hut currently stands, then common sense says, you need to pull down the hut to build your new mansion. Interestingly, that is a whole lot easier in construction terms than it is mentally. Here is the tough truth:

You are NOT where you want to be because you don’t have the information necessary to get you where you want to be. And as if that isn’t enough, here is another tough truth: you need to “unlearn” what is not working for you in order to learn what will move you forward.

Growing over the years, we have picked up along the way, ideologies, concepts, philosophies, traditions, dogmas, beliefs, principles etc. But with the world changing SO FAST, it is becoming clear you cannot use old techniques to solve modern problems. Or for those who are overly spiritual – you can pour old wine in new wineskins. If you are going to succeed now and in the future, your thinking has got to change; more essentially, you need to UNLEARN the old to embrace the new and here are a few things to unlearn and learn:

EXPERIENCE IS THE BEST TEACHER:

I have often been told I am very blunt; well, here is another me then – Experience is the teacher of fools. Yes, in the past it was difficult accessing experience about anything unless you went through it yourself, but in today’s world there is a lot of other people’s similar experiences available in books, videos, seminars, etc. Almost everything you are about to do these days has already been done and written about by somebody (or even captured on video or some other learning tool). Why then do you have to go through it, make the same mistakes, delay your success as a result, etc.? hey! I am just asking.  I am not saying some experiences are not essential; personal experiences are very important are but what I am saying is that you can enjoy your own experience by drastically reducing the errors you’ll make, the pitfalls you’ll encounter and the time you’ll waste if you choose to learn from other people’s experiences and the solutions and preventions of the likely mistakes you’ll make. You may have also heard several times that you cannot achieve certain levels in your career if you don’t have certain experiences. In the modern world, it is NOT the people who have the experience who are making it big in different fields – it’s the people who can think outside the box and be innovative. Experience is overrated.

FINISH SCHOOL, GET A JOB AND BE SUCCESSFUL

Most of us Africans grew up being taught the stereotype approach to being successful – Go to school, learn hard, get good grades, work for a reputable organisation and then, you’ll be successful. Truth is everything is good up to the end – in the modern world you don’t necessarily need to work for someone to be successful. In the modern world, it is very possible to get people to work for you in order to be successful. Today, entrepreneurs rule the world. People who can sit down, and think solutions to problems - they win. In fact the world is so full of opportunities right now that you only need to look in your own neighbourhood and become a winner. Why do I say that? – Well, the problems springing up in the world are more than the solutions available. As a result, anybody who can sit down, think and CREATE solutions to some of these problems is a winner. So you went to school, studied hard, stayed up late nights to get good grades – and are you going to now hand over your brains to someone else to use to make their money? I can understand that in most of our schooling systems, we have not been taught to be entrepreneurial or to be on the lookout for solutions to problems, but it’s still very easy to train yourself. The next time you receive a service or buy a product that you are very unhappy with, start asking yourself how you could have made it better – it’s called, “scratching your own itch”. Let me sound this warning though. A job is absolutely necessary for some people – people who on their own, cannot be disciplined enough to wake up at 6.00 am if they are not employed. If you can be disciplined by yourself to the same degree that you are disciplined when you had a job, chances are that you will do well being an entrepreneur.

IN THE REAL WORLD, THIS AND THAT IS THAT AND THIS

Listen, next time you hear people say, “in the real world this, in the real world that”, you have to be very careful not to let it get into your head. Have you ever wondered what this “real world” really is? In my own experience and indeed if you have read or heard the stories of most of the world’s successful people, you will notice that when people say “you can’t do this because it won’t work in the real world or its never done this way in the real world”, blah, blah, blah, etc. Most of the time, all they mean to say is that “I don’t understand what you are saying but I can’t let you go ahead with it because I haven’t done it myself yet”. Here is a worrying truth – if you ask most of the people who tell you an idea you have won’t work in the real world whether they have tried it before, I can assure you 90% of them will say “NO.. but”. In fact, the term “in the real world” is simply an excuse for people who simply do not understand what you are doing; and if they don’t, they have no business telling you it won’t work in the real world. Next time it happens ask them “What exactly is the real world?” You’ll be sad to know, “the real world” does exist – it is the world where otherwise brilliant ideas are KILLED. Can you imagine what Mr. Kofi Annan’s friends may have told him, when he said to them he was going to become a UN secretary General someday? Or imagine Steve Job’s telling his friends (may he rest in peace) when he was still a nobody, that he was going to build a billion dollar IT business brand called “APPLE” from a garage. Or imagine one of Africa’s own billionaires, Mike Adenuga telling his childhood friends, “I have started selling sugar to the market women so that I can become a billionaire”. The “Real World” is not a world – it is an excuse for those who can’t do what you want to do.

 “THERE’S NO TIME” IS THE SAME AS “I AM VERY LAZY”

Many of the most successful people in the world started building their business in the evenings after their 9am-5pm jobs. Let’s face it there are only 24 hours in the day for everybody in the world. So the real issue is not that some people magically conjured 79 hours in their days and others still had 24 hours, no – the real issue is what you do in the 24 hours that everybody has. You can’t sleep 6-9 hours in a day and expect to be on the same level as everybody else. “Time” is a very liquid commodity. It must always flow and continue to flow. It never stops flowing. If you don’t spend it on something, it will still be spent on something else and that’s just how it is – it must be spent. Here is the thing, until you start something you wouldn’t know whether there is time available to spend on what you’ve started or not. Before I wrote my first book, I used to think I could never make time to write it – until I started. Then after I started, I realised I could squeeze ten minutes here, another thirty minutes there, and another forty here to get my book written; then I realized it was possible. I didn’t suddenly get 40 hours in each day – No, I made time. I created more time, from the 24 hours I always had. Because you haven’t started anything of your own, you think you still have enough time to watch that favourite TV show for 1 hour, or to talk to that friend of yours for 2 hours or to just check your messages on facebook for 30 minutes, which ends up becoming 3 hours. I talked to a friend of mine recently who had returned back to Africa from England. He said to me, “Charles, you remember that business I said I would start when I return?” “Oh yes yes yes” I responded eagerly, only to be hit back “its been almost 9 months now and I haven’t been able to make time to get it off the ground”. I paused and contemplated how best to say what I really wanted to say without offending him. The rest of the conversation went like this: “how many jobs do you have now Mike?” he answered “one” I paused and then followed up “and how many jobs did you do when you were in the UK?” it was his turn to pause but be braved an answer “two, sometimes three”. I wanted to be sure so I asked “two or three jobs in a day?” he got the drift “Yes” he replied, rather reluctantly. At this point, I didn’t have to say anything further – Time is a finite commodity, but it is the only commodity that gives us the widest range of options we choose to apply it to. So, it is not the hours in a day that make it a scarce commodity, it’s what we use it for that define its sufficiency.

HARDWORK WILL ALWAYS PAY OFF

Yes, hardwork will always pay you off by breaking your back. How about working smarter rather than harder to achieve the same results? The working hard is not the same as being very committed. And working smart is also not the same as producing substandard results in shorter time. Working smart is about being innovative and inventive. It is about always asking the question “can this be done in a better way? Being the last to leave the office and the first to come in doesn’t make you the best – in fact it only makes you very tired and full of unnecessary mistakes. Working hard is generally an excuse not to think out new and better ways of doing things; it’s an excuse not to embrace progressive change. Working smart is the new working hard.

Saturday 11 August 2012

7 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS TO GET BEST CANDIDATES

I like asking questions. It’s one of only three things I am very good at, so believe me when I say there are some questions that make people think twice before they tell the truth and thrice before they lie. Asking questions got me into the audit profession, then the forensic accounting profession. It led me into philosophy and better still; it is what gives me a 90% success rate in the calibre of people I recruit. Here, I share 7 very simple questions which impact on how you conduct interviews. In fact, you may have come across all the questions before, but understanding how the answer to them affects a decision about a candidate is what makes all the difference.
You do need to remember that recruitment can be a very expensive exercise and so an effort needs to be made to make it as successful as possible. Although there are new fancy approaches to recruitment such as aptitude tests, behavioural and cognitive based interviews etc., I still maintain that a one-on-one interview still gives a lot about a candidate you are looking to recruit. Remember, the recruitment is for the organisation, not for you. There are times I’ve had to recruit people who personally didn’t come across to me as likeable, yet they were perfect for the organisation and where it was heading.

The two important things to always look out for in any interview are Culture and Expectation congruency. Every organisation has its own culture and its own expectations – and so does every potential candidate that you interview. The whole objective of an interview process is to try and answer the two basic questions (a) does the organisation’s culture and that of the candidate make a good fit? (b) Do the organisation and candidate’s expectations conflict or align? Anything more than this – you are not running an interview.

What Are You Bringing To This Organisation?

This is the one question that will make a lot of candidates feel deflated or defeated. Interestingly however, it is the one question that will enable you as interviewer see the candidate’s confidence and their ability to demonstrate a clear understanding of who you are looking for in the the role. When you start hearing generic answers like “I am hardworking” or “I am a team player” etc., then recognize the candidate either doesn’t know what it is you are looking for or hasn’t carefully assessed what s/he is capable of offering in the role, should they get it. It is a question that will also test the candidate’s ability to demonstrate that their past experiences are usable in the organisation’s current state, or if s/he is dynamic and understands trends in business, they may further highlight their skills, experiences etc. which may not be useful now but soon will be in the future. Finally, it tells you point-blank if the candidate can sell convincingly. Being able to sell is entirely different from being a sales person. If they can sell themselves, they can sell anything. It also shows persuasion skills.

How Did You Find Out About This Role/Job?

This question is quite deceptive. To the candidate, it is a straightforward question and nothing to lie about (no sense in doing so), but to the interviewer it provides tremendous insight. Depending also on where you advertised, a candidate who learnt about the job by word of mouth or in social circles or through colleagues are likely to have strong relationship building skills; learning from a niche publication such as an industry specific magazine rather than a widely public newspaper may indicate that s/he is very discerning or focused; on the other hand any indication that it was referred to them by someone in the organisation is likely to mean that they have already been investigating the organisation or at least have been talking to someone about it.

How Long Were You In Your Last Job For And Why Did You Leave?     

We all know this question. But I must warn you not to make a decision based on one of the two. Always make a decision based on both. If the candidate has left all their previous jobs under say two years and mostly because of conflict with someone, then surely you need to ask more questions because all those people can’t be so impossible to work with. It is also a question you must be sure to request specific answers to and not the general well-known answers such as; “I was looking for better opportunities” – well then, what opportunities were they looking for that their former employer didn’t provide? Chances are that your organisation may also not provide it.

What Is It About This Organisation That Attracted You?

This question will help you pick up a few things; firstly whether the candidate by themselves has assessed the culture of the organisation as matching their personal culture and for which reason they want to be there. It will also tell you whether they have at all done any work trying to understand your organisation or that they are just looking for somewhere to work for now; you will also be able to find out by asking this question what are the areas and parameters on which the candidates feel connected to the organisation – and if any of those parameters happen to be your organisation’s top cultures or values or principles, then you can be sure, with some degree of certainty, the candidate will feel more at home there.

 Where Do You See Yourself In 5 Years?

This question should really answer two concerns for any employer – (a) is the candidate likely to stick around in employment long enough for me to recoup my initial investments in them? (b) is our organisation in the picture of his/her future, and if not, what shall we do? As an employer, you have the unique advantage of knowing what the organisation’s plan for the future are, where you are heading, how you want to get there etc.; the candidate doesn’t. For this reason, it is easier for you to take whatever the candidate says and assess whether his/her plans for the next 5 years fall close or at least parallel to those of the organisation. What you shouldn’t attempt to do is to employ a candidate and then get him/her (by whatever means) to readjust their future plans to fit the direction of the organisation simply because s/he has passed on all the other interview questions except this one; or merely because you have taken to liking him/her. Don’t do it.

 What Has Been Your Most Recent Achievement And When Was It?

Achievers (if they ever become achievers) live literally on achievements no matter how small or big. That’s how you tell the difference between those who merely claim to be achievers and those who are actual achievers – the latter always have something to back it. There’s another angle to it – whether small or big, achievers still recognize what an achievement is. Non-achievers on the other hand, even when they do achieve, don’t recognize it as such. Every organisation sets out to be successful; to accumulate achievements. If such an organisation is intent on continuing in its success, it will do the wise thing of making successes or achievements part of its culture. What you want in a candidate is someone, who also has a well-developed or even budding personal culture of achievements and successes, no matter how small. Following on, if you recruit a candidate who cannot identify his own personal achievements (even though they may have a few) – you can be sure they may find it hard identifying with team or organisational successes.

What Was The Last Thing You Failed In And How Did You Take It?

Fact about business is that things don’t always go as planned – not always. Unfortunately however, not everybody can deal with failure. And for people like that, it not only takes a long while to shake off the failure and move on to the next stage (mind you, business doesn’t sit and wait for you to recover), it is also contagious. With this question, you can attempt to peek into the candidate’s tendency towards failure – do they learn their lesson from the failure, dust themselves and face the next music or do they lie there in the mud of failure, throw a tantrum and pull everybody else with them into the mud? It will also give you some insight into the candidate’s attitude to risk. Is s/he a risk taker at all? S/he doesn’t need to be the type who is happy taking all the risk in the world (that in itself is very dangerous) but they must be at least appear to be willing to take some risk – if not, you can be sure s/he is not the kind of candidate you should expect to help the organisation find, explore or try new opportunities – remember, opportunities in business have to be sought for and it takes some minimum risk of wanting to get out of one’s comfort zone in search of new ways of doing things.

Conclusion

It will be hypocrisy on my part to claim that these questions are full-prof to land the best and most excellent candidates 100% every time. None such exists. But I am certain that helping you understand why you should ask such questions helps get the best out of an interview process. All the best with your next interview.

Thursday 9 August 2012

THERE'S A "LOT-JOHN" BLOOD ON OUR HANDS

I am not a murderer with intent but somehow, I had to look within myself and repent before having the sanity to write this article. I trust by the end of this article that some, if not many, will have reason to ask God’s forgiveness also.

That the death of our honourable ex-president, Professor John Evans Atta-Mills weighs heavy on the heart of many Ghanaians, is at this point undeniable, and understated. But did he have to die to receive this level of national support and even in some cases, political acceptance from the population? I genuinely wish I didn’t have to be this blunt but, the truth is, it really shows how “HYPOCRITICAL” most of us are. The earlier we accept this individually and seek our personal repentance, the better.

There are questions to be asked concerning the ex-president’s death. Some of it have been asked already and many will be asked for many days, weeks and years to come. The questions will never stop. Paradoxically however, so too are the distortions of the truth. Just like the unending questions, there are even a larger number of different shades of truth about how the ex-president died. They will come from his colleagues, the rumour mongers, even the itchy rumour ears, his handlers, his political opponents and on and on and on. By the time we are done listing all the sources of different truths, half-truths and wrong-truths about his death, every Ghanaian would have been counted. Yes, every one of us would have been counted. Unfortunately, the existence of all these types of truths alongside the real truth makes even the real truth VERY tainted.

For me, nothing more is as painfully close to the president’s death as having to live with this understanding – THE PURE UNADULTERATED TRUTH WILL NEVER BE KNOWN.

Inasmuch as this is the case, you can be sure, that after the president’s burial, Ghana’s population will be falling into three distinct groupings – firstly are the majority who will feel remorse and sadness at the loss of a father figure in spite of the leadership dissatisfaction or discontent they may have felt towards him when he was alive; then secondly would be those who may have played a role in the the ex-president’s death by their direct and/or indirect actions or inactions and who as a result will remain haunted and heavy with guilt for their lifetime; and finally – the vultures, who neither have conscience nor morality, who will see his death as an opportunity to satisfy their selfish desires and make economic profits through fair or foul means.

Finally, hear me, I beg you. In the Old testament of the bible, sin, which was punishable, could only be atoned for by the high priest laying the sins of all Israel on a ram or sheep. (Leviticus 1:4) This he did by laying his hand upon the head of the ram, signifying that the ram now carried the sins of the whole nation. When Christ came to save mankind, our sins were also laid on him in like manner (Isaiah 53:6). In fact the burden of sin was so heavy on him that in the garden of gethsemane, his sweat turned to blood. The heavy sins of the world was finally portrayed physically in the form of the cross he had to carry to Golgotha. The fascinating mystery about all of this is that in the cases of the ram of atonement and Jesus, neither of them knew, saw or even met 99.99% of the people’s sins and burdens they were carrying.

I hope you digested that little biblical analogy very well – because whether you knew professor John Evans Atta-Mills personally or not, whether you met him or not; whether you insulted him silently; whether you detested him spitefully in your heart; whether you sought evil and wickedness towards him; whether you openly spoke wrongly about him or merely hated his looks; whether your little inefficiency contributed to the inefficiency of the country’s economy and which became his headache; whether you were discontent without cause or merely dissatisfied with his leadership; whether you abused your office and which as a result painted him as corrupt; whether you never prayed for him, which is your rightful duty before God; whether you knew what the answer to helping his success as a leader was and yet failed to show him how; whether you sat back and did nothing when in fact your inactions have cost the nation more…………….. and on, and on, and on…..

Whatever it is we all did in our individual capacities, big or small, directly or indirectly, intentionally and unintentionally, close by or remotely – it all added up, a heavy burden on his shoulders. It all added up, the sweat on his brow. It all added up, his death, that we now mourn. Aren’t we all now seated by his tombstone, his blood on our hands?