Take the Hassle Out of Hiring

Peter Dods

Resume

No Job Applications

Resume – 1st initiative test

How does resume look

Is the resume geared towards working at your store?

Email?

Ask Around – Music Community in our area is small….

Initial Hurdle

Email

How flexible is your schedule?

Can you work 40 hours a week?

How knowledgeable are you with gear?

What gear are you most familiar with?

Do you drive?

Do you have a criminal record?

Cut your losses short as quickly as possible!!!!!!!!

Determine Non-Negotiables ASAP

Email

Response to “Non-Negotiables”?

Professional?

Do they capitalize?

How fast do they respond to email?

Bleh?

Follow Up

Email

Diagnostic – Initiative Test #2

You don’t need to answer back to me with the answers to the questions below.  Please read the questions and indicate on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 knowing nothing and 10 knowing the answer completely) how well you know the answer to these questions.  I would recommend looking up the answers to these questions after you read them so you can give an accurate 1-10 rating. You may think you know the answer well, but after researching the answer, you may find out otherwise. Send me back the 1-10 rating of what you knew, and be honest. 

Between the resume, the non-negotiables, and the scores on the diagnostic (do they follow directions?), you should have a good idea of whether someone deserves an interview. Cut your losses short….

Interview

Interview Step 1Be ready!

Do they show up early or at least on time?

How are they dressed?

Talking to employees, playing with gear, or sitting nervously?

How do they shake your hand?

Interview

Interview Step 2Diagnostic – Initiative test #2

Did you read the directions to this request?

Really? So you looked up the answers to these questions then?

Run through questions with their responses in hand.

Are their 10s really 10s

Did their 1s become 10s?

Continue? I’ll continue with a person who had 1s and now has 10s any day of the week….Someone who had 5s and still has 5s….

Interview

Interview Step 3

Real Diagnostic

Our diagnostic covers a huge range of MI combo store questions

Setup on a computer in Google docs to output instant answer

True False

Parts of the guitar

Results? Continue? How do they stack up?

Interview

Interview Step 4

String Box Test

Attention to detail

Composure under pressure

Accuracy

Legible?

How do they stack up?

Continue?

Interview

Interview Step 5

Customer Response

Problem Solving

How do they really write?

Warmth?

Below is a sample email from a fictional Easy Music Center customer. Please respond to them.

Hello - I am looking for a beginner acoustic guitar. What should I keep in mind when looking for one?

 Mahalo ,David West

 

Interview

Interview Step 6

Play Baby Play

Skilled enough?

Skilled as they make themselves out to be? – More important

Decisive? Grabbing guitar test?

Can you tune a guitar?

If they play with a pick, do they have one on them?

Multiple player?

Can they walk the walk and fit the part

 

Interview

Interview Step 7

Sell me this ukulele

Looking for body language

Any of the 4 golden sales questions

Do they build a relationship?

Nervous?

 

Interview

Interview Step 8 – More Traditional Interview Mode Crazy Questions

Do you think Human Beings are inherently good or inherently evil? Qualify…

Master of your own fate?

Values Challenge – How did you fix it?

What is your life philosophy?

Traditional Questions

Greatest Strength/Greatest Weakness?

5 year plan?

Why do you want to work here?

 

Interview

Interview Step 9 Questions for me?

How this place works

Ideal employee

How did you get here

How did I do

Get a few more takes

Other Managers

I have two other people passively listening to interview

Other employees

 

Data

Work it, work it, work it, but…

 

Compile it and use it. It helps differentiate similar applicants

If you hire, use the data and what people saw and observed to set a chance of success percent. Evaluate later to see how well your system is working

There is no perfect system…of the people our system rejects, I’d like to think 100% of them would not have worked here. Of the people it accepts…

SHARE THE DATA WITH YOUR CREW!

What position were you looking to fill?

 

Hired

Start them on the right foot

 

Entrance Conversation

A good employee

A great employee

Non-Negotiables

Harmony

Core Values

Benefits

Role of resources

Engaged Vs. Disengaged

Go through their interview