Scientific Hiring:  Day 5

Welcome to day five of Scientific Hiring.

Ready to hire top talent?

Yesterday, you learned how to conduct a values phone screen.

Did you create your phone script?

Today, I’ll walk you through the framework I’ve developed over the past 20 years that has greatly improved my ability to hire top talent, achieving a success rate well above the industry average.

This interview strategy is used by the best companies with the lowest turnover in the industry. 

Once you master it, you'll gain a strong advantage over your competition.

To achieve similar results, you must first develop a structured process. 

Without one, confirmation bias can creep in, causing you to subconsciously ask easier questions to candidates you favor and tougher ones to those you don’t.

It’s okay, you’re normal—it’s just how most of us are wired.

But your bias doesn't help you make informed hiring decisions—creating and following a process does.

Your process should include structured questions that elicit meaningful answers and predict a candidate's success, rather than relying on your gut feelings or initial impressions.

I’ll level with you.

Creating a process is hard and time consuming, which is why many businesses don’t do it and they pay the price for it with bad hires.

However, it's much easier to create a process when you create the framework first.

To get you started, I’ll share my framework and then touch on how I create my process.

Sound good?

The interview framework I’ve found to work the best is this:

Now that you have a solid framework in hand, all that’s left is to fill in the details and tailor it to your specific needs.

I’ll create at least four scripted interviews that consist of 15-20 questions per interview for a specific role.  

This allows for a consistent and repeatable process to ensure a thorough evaluation of each candidate so I possess all the information I need to make a well-informed decision.

It might seem like a lot, but trust me, skipping even one step can lead straight to a bad hire.

Let's expand this framework into an efficient process so you can see why it’s effective.

Start with a warm-up to relax the candidate

Outline the interview structure to set expectations by saying:

“Over the next hour, we’ll begin with your questions, then I’d like to learn more about your background and what you’d like to be doing. Do you have any time constraints?”

Assuming a no, move on.

This puts the candidate at ease because they know what’s coming and it builds rapport.

Focus on the candidate

“What can I tell you about the position?”

and then answer their questions first.

Shift to their background

“Can you tell me about your background?”

Listen for relevant experience, achievements, and career goals that align with your company.

Education

Discuss education for 10 – 12 minutes by asking about their college years, likes, dislikes, grades, and major.

Work history

Begin by saying,

“Your background is impressive.  Do you mind if I ask you questions about your career history?”

Insider secret: This is Scientific Hiring in action—we just complimented them and asked for permission—this subtlety builds rapport and shows professionalism.

Move on and ask,

“What was your biggest accomplishment in your last role?”

Then dig deeper with follow-ups like,

“What was the impact of this accomplishment on your team or company?”

Explore problem-solving

“Can you describe a time when you faced a major challenge at work? How did you handle it?”

Follow-up with:

“What did you learn from that experience?”

Find out their likes and dislikes by asking,

“What did you like most and least about your last job?”

hint:  if the role includes more ant 10-15% of what they didn't like in their last role, they won't last long if you hire them.

Find out why they left their last job

Instead of asking:

“Why did you leave your last job?”

ask  

“What led to your decision to leave the company?”

Because this opens the door for them to expand on the real reasons for their departure.

Temperature check

Take their temperature to gauge their interest with questions like:

“What excites you about this role?”

and

“How do you see yourself contributing to our team?”

Listen for enthusiasm in their response.

Conclude the interview

Conclude and invite them to ask their final questions. 

This reveals their priorities and interest level.

A-Players will ask about growth opportunities, team dynamics, and company goals.

C-Players are easy to spot because they’ll ask about basic benefits, time off, and job security.

Finally, explain the next steps in your process, such as follow-up interviews, reference checks, or timelines.

Complete your scorecard and discuss the findings with your team to make a data-driven decision.

Consider factors like cultural fit, risk, growth potential, and alignment with long-term goals.

Remember, throughout the interview, seek alignment and the candidate who poses the least risk to your business.

You’re not just looking for the best candidate—you want the one who poses the least risk.

You want someone who will perform well and stay and grow in the role for the next 2-3 years—that's not always the best candidate.

When you get that right, building a team of A-Players becomes easy.

All effective interviews follow this flow pattern.

All you need to do is add relevant strategic questions that are aligned with the role's scorecard, and you'll be ready to go.

I can't stress this enough...

Every question you ask should have a clear purpose and be tied to specific qualities or skills you’re assessing.

Each question must be predictive of the candidate’s potential success in the role.

For example, questions like “Why are manhole covers round?” might sound intriguing, but they offer little insight into a candidate’s actual ability to succeed in your organization.

Learn from my mistakes

Early on, I talked too much, my bias got in the way and I hired the wrong people.

I've since improved my ability to listen, got my bias under control and concluded that candidates should talk 80% of the time—otherwise you won’t learn enough about them.

Your job is to listen, show genuine interest, and sell the opportunity.

Selling a job is about transferring your excitement and vision to the candidate.

When they share your enthusiasm, they’ll feel a sense of belonging and want to join you.

Be transparent

I feel a fiduciary responsibility to both my company and the candidates to ensure a fair and effective hiring process.

This means being transparent, asking purposeful questions, and focusing on identifying the right fit.

I would never sell a candidate on a role I didn’t genuinely believe was in their best interest.

Make sense?

By the end of today, I encourage you to create your interview framework and collaborate with your team to build a solid interview process.

Yes, it’s a big task, but think about the alternative—hiring the wrong people.

And while this marks the end of the course, it's only the start of your hiring journey.

The real work begins as you put these strategies into practice, refine your process, and continue building a team that drives your business forward.

And to help you get to the next step, I’ve added three bonus lessons to cover references, auditions and offers.

It’s powerful stuff and you won’t want to miss it.

Tomorrow I’ll send the first bonus lesson.

Get ready to take your hiring process to the next level.

See you then,

Applying the 80/20 rule to this lesson:

The 80/20 rule shows that focusing on the most impactful 20% of actions delivers 80% of results. 

In this case, the key is building a structured interview process that reduces bias and accurately assesses fit. 

By crafting a clear framework and asking predictive questions, you get the most valuable insights for informed hiring decisions. 

This small effort leads to better hires and reduces the risk of mistakes.

By concentrating on these core elements, you maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of your hiring process, ensuring that you consistently select the right candidates with less effort and fewer mistakes.

In short, by focusing on a solid interview structure and key questions, you’ll achieve most of your hiring success with minimal wasted effort.

When you're ready, there's three ways I can help you:

1. The Scientific Hiring Academy: If you find this short series on Scientific Hiring helpful but want help to quickly implement everything you've learned, then try the Academy. It's designed with the power of the Socratic Interview Method and the precision of Scientific Hiring to ensure you make informed data-driven decisions and only hire A-Players. 

The Academy doesn’t just guide you—it transforms how you and your team approach hiring, whether you’re building from scratch or refining your current practices.

2. Book a 1:1 call with me to discover how you can apply scientific hiring methods to your business.

3. If you frequently hire for the same role, ask me about customized training to ensure all your hiring managers are aligned with your hiring standards and procedures.

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