Posted on Apr 24, 2015

Practical Ways to Screen Candidates for Values

When considering potential candidates, many employers want to ensure both a cultural and brand fit. So they hire based on values.

How do they do that?

They screen candidates for qualities and behaviors that map to their Differentiating Values.

Here are three examples.

Technology Example

As Google was rapidly growing, become the search giant it is today, you can imagine the number of resumes they received every year. Tens of thousands of people wanted to work for Google (that’s a lot of resumes to sift through!).

Google wants to hire are the smartest people around. But that’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Not surprisingly, the bright minds at Google sought a better, more cost-effective way. And they found it with the help of a smart ad agency.

Advertise very difficult math problems that only really smart people can solve.

$Google-billboard-with-math-problem$

Large billboard ads were strategically placed in areas of the country that had a high concentration of smart engineers, scientists, and mathematicians. As these people drove to work each day, they couldn’t help themselves but solve the math problem (think Sheldon Cooper from the TV show Big Bang Theory).

Of course, the ad made no reference to Google. It simply posed a math problem. If you could figure out the solution, it would lead you to a unique website. [Note: all websites are actually an IP address made up of four numbers, such as 10.60.100.250] Only at this website where visitors then told it was Google, looking to hire smart people and requesting them to submit their resume.

Not surprisingly, this process filtered out a lot of individuals who would waste Google’s time, reducing the number of potential candidates from tens of thousands to a manageable group of hundreds.

Restaurant Example

A restaurant that places cleanliness as their top value has a unique way of interviewing interested candidates. They purposefully put little bits of trash in the interview area, in obvious places.

Applicants are then watched. If they don’t proactively pick up the trash, they’re not hired. It’s that simple.

For this restaurant, they want people who possess an innate need to keep their environment clean. It really doesn’t matter how much work experience someone has or where they worked before. Cleanliness is value #1.

Consulting example

After one of my presentations, a woman came up to me and told me about a quirky consulting firm and how they screen new recruits.

When interested applicants from local colleges apply for a job at this company, it’s common for them to dress up in suit and tie. They want to impress with their best. But when they show up for the interview, the company has a surprise. Applicants are asked to take off their pants – and put on a pair of khaki shorts (supplied to them). Of course, they must keep on their dress shirt, tie, and suit jacket!

In other words, these applicants are made to look goofy, and feel awkward.

Some people immediately refuse to participate, self-selecting themselves out of the job.

Others might agree to participate, but grumble through the process. They too, are likely not a good fit.

Finally, those who embrace the goofy look are carefully considered. If everything else measures up, the fact they embrace the quirky culture suggests they may be a good fit.

These are just a few examples that show how a little creativity can go a long way. Imagine the difference such screening processes could make in your company, to find potential employees that are perfectly aligned with your differentiating values.