Ask Candidates About Their Next Job, Advises Bischke on NYT

July 31, 2014 at 11:56 AM by Rob Stevenson

Once a week, The New York Times' Adam Bryant sits down with leadership from exciting companies in every Screen_Shot_2014-07-31_at_11.33.50_AMindustry to discuss growth, management, and their own leadership style. Top Execs from Microsoft, Kaiser Permanente, Bitly, and HubSpot have recently featured in the Corner Office column, and this morning, our fearless leader Jon Bischke had the honor to be included!

Jon and Adam chatted about Jon's entrepreneurial history, his tips for growing networks, and quite a bit about team building and hiring, appropriate given his success at both as well as the focus of Entelo's tools. I've pulled out some insightful tidbits below, and you can head over to NYT's site to read the interview in full.

"Instead of trying to suss out in an interview if someone is good, we just bring them in and work with them"

 

Here, Jon riffs on our strategy of bringing candidates on in a part-time or contract capacity before extending them a full offer. Sometimes, people are in the office for a full week, other times, they come in to help us with special projects on evenings or weekends. This works in favor for both the company and the talent, as we often forget that when hiring, you aren't merely assessing talent, talent is assessing you. Once you sit down and actually start working with someone, you get a real sense of their abilities and how they gel with the team. At the same time, the candidate gets to see whether your projects are something they want to work on, and if the company culture is something they're interested in being a part of. This process allows you to avoid the expensive and demoralizing issue of employee churn.

 

One of the questions I like asking in interviews is, “What do you want to do after Entelo?” 

 

Jon loves focusing on our own professional development. Over a year ago when I sat down with him to discuss my offer letter, I wasn't ready to be asked this question, but I was thoroughly refreshed that Jon recognized I wasn't going to retire an Entelope. Instead, we focused on my personal goals and how working for Entelo would help me get there. Bringing this perspective to the table with your talent lets them know they aren't simply a means to an end for your company. Instead, you can express to them how it truly is an "opportunity" to develop and get to the next level of their career.

Like what you've read? There's much more to the interview! Click here to check out the full interview.

What do you make of Jon's advice? Have you had success focusing on your talent's development?

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