Successful MS Hire Model This model shows how you create the building blocks for a strong MS hire. This gives us some VALUE to the elements we need to evaluate candidates in. This approach is the primary reason that MS is successful in retaining its employees. This interviewing approach sets the stage for long term retention by creating an employee base that can fit into other groups or other types of jobs as the company grows and evolves. Core Talents – We start with the core talents. Can not be taught. Every candidate that comes in for an interview must have these in place. The CGR’s are screening candidates for these, but everyone in the interview loop should also be looking for the presence of these talents in responses. Core Competencies - Talk about a couple of the competencies highlighted in the second level. Competencies can be enhanced with training/experience. These first two tiers speak to long term fit and retention. These are a SAMPLE of Core Compentencies for a Program Manager. Everyone has to map their major core comps for each job – 6 to 12 average for each job. So if 5 people on loop each could take 2. Technical / Functional Skills: The third level - is the area that many focus on over the comps. Although we consider the tech and functional skills to be critical at MS – without the foundation of the core talents and competencies supporting those technical skills, they are not a solid MS hire – fulfilling that long term goal we have in our hiring philosophy. This third level is considered the most trainable. Example – if they are proficient at C++, and we know they are smart, hard worker, gets the right things done, and has a drive for results, we can be confident that we could send this person to a C# class to pick up that specific technical skill.
Successful MS Hire Model This model shows how you create the building blocks for a strong MS hire. This gives us some VALUE to the elements we need to evaluate candidates in. This approach is the primary reason that MS is successful in retaining its employees. This interviewing approach sets the stage for long term retention by creating an employee base that can fit into other groups or other types of jobs as the company grows and evolves. Core Talents – We start with the core talents. Can not be taught. Every candidate that comes in for an interview must have these in place. The CGR’s are screening candidates for these, but everyone in the interview loop should also be looking for the presence of these talents in responses. Core Competencies - Talk about a couple of the competencies highlighted in the second level. Competencies can be enhanced with training/experience. These first two tiers speak to long term fit and retention. These are a SAMPLE of Core Compentencies for a Program Manager. Everyone has to map their major core comps for each job – 6 to 12 average for each job. So if 5 people on loop each could take 2. Technical / Functional Skills: The third level - is the area that many focus on over the comps. Although we consider the tech and functional skills to be critical at MS – without the foundation of the core talents and competencies supporting those technical skills, they are not a solid MS hire – fulfilling that long term goal we have in our hiring philosophy. This third level is considered the most trainable. Example – if they are proficient at C++, and we know they are smart, hard worker, gets the right things done, and has a drive for results, we can be confident that we could send this person to a C# class to pick up that specific technical skill.
Questioning Process You start with an open-ended question that sounds something like this: Give me an example…. Describe for be a time when…. Tell me about a time…. The probing piece is what makes this question process so successful. The additional probing questions allow you to get below the resume and gather specific details about their past performance. Focus on the what, why and how. Go narrow and deep – its better to understand 3-4 major accomplishments, results and successes, rather than lots of generalities. Accuracy increases when you get more details about the accomplishment or result. Start probing early – this sets up the interviewing pattern early, looking for examples minimizes exaggeration and generalization and helps nervous candidates focus It’s like peeling away the onion to obtain complete picture of the project or assignment.