If I asked you what your hiring process is would you say: 1. Post job to Indeed/LinkedIn or other job boards, 2. Filter through applicants, 3. Schedule interviews, 4. Interview, 5. Interview again, 6. Hire. We blew up our hiring process this past year, cause we realized it just wasn’t working and it certainly did not represent us as a company. Since then, we’ve weeded out several individuals that at first glance seemed great but eventually revealed themselves to be a poor fit for our culture.
As you know, cause I talk about it nonstop, we follow EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) at 8THIRTYFOUR and it’s been incredibly beneficial and challenging. One of the mottos is “hire slow, fire fast.” Hiring slow is key. I know we are all hurting for talent, but not listening to my own advice has resulted in high turnover, hits to our culture and damage to overall employee morale. The short-term relief isn’t worth the long-term damage.
Job seekers have more choices and aren’t shy about telling potential employers so. I’ve seen a level of entitlement I haven’t seen in the 16 years I’ve owned 8THIRTYFOUR and before that as an employee myself. The stuff I hear leaves me absolutely flabbergasted.
30 Minute Meet & Greet
When a person applies, we review the resume, work samples, cover letter and then determine whether to move forward with an interview or not. We then set up a 30-minute video interview with a member of our leadership team, usually our HR & Finance Manager.
It’s 30 minutes to go through the basics on their experience, what attracted them to the job – you know all the cliche questions we all end up asking even though we say we won’t…cause it’s stuff we still need to know.
The Story Behind 8THIRTYFOUR
The second interview goes more in-depth into how 8THIRTYFOUR was founded, what makes us different, EOS, our culture and we answer any and all questions. It’s usually an hour or longer, in person with myself and another member of the team.
It’s a good opportunity to ask different types of behavioral questions to see how they would handle various types of situations.
A Look Inside Our Culture
Our team is small, which means anytime we bring in a new person it will affect our culture and dynamic. We want to ensure they are a good fit for our culture and who is a better to determine that then those working in it?
We bring everyone together for coffee or drinks and to just chat. Questions fly around, common ground or interests are discussed, experience shared, and more.
We then ask the team to provide feedback, which determines if we head to the next and final step in our process.
Let’s Grab Some Coffee/Dinner/Drinks
At this point in the process, I want to meet with the person in a more informal setting. This could be for coffee, lunch, dinner or a cocktail. Leaving the office setting will tell you a lot about a person. Everything we do at 8THIRTYFOUR ties back to relationships, which means all team members are responsible for connecting with clients, team members, the community, and more. We are a team, it is about the good of the whole.
If this goes well, a job offer is usually extended, if it doesn’t then we explain why we’re choosing to not move forward.
I’ll be the first to admit, 8THIRTYFOUR isn’t a fit for everyone; it’s why we’ve adapted the interview process to be much more thorough so we can avoid future missteps. Running a business is about learning from failure, you’re certainly not going to get it right most of the time but you keep getting back up and trying.
