Art of interviewing...

..no I am not talking about the interview tips or the killer interview process to get a plum job. Instead, I've been lately thinking about the perfect art of interviewing people for various roles..

People judgement and assessment is such an elusive skill that it should be considered more of an art than a science. The repercussions of not selecting the right person for the right role are disastrous in the long run - both for the person selected and for the company. I believe hiring people is a tremendous responsibility - the higher the role, the larger the consequences of misfit.
It is apalling how people are recruiting without being aware of such huge responsibility and sometimes with even disdain and pressure to meet the numbers!!

Imagine an inert and inept 20-year experienced person recruited to lead an enthusiastic team of 100 people - what a gross injustice? People rely on lot of fallacious, yet implicit, assumptions in recruiting people with a predetermined experience, skill-sets, and his previous firm's credibility. Assessing attitude and several soft-skills such as interpersonal, energy, enthusiasm, passion, and commitment takes back-seat. It is true that assessing such intangible skills and emotional intelligence takes huge effort and time than assessing IQ and technical skills - but the effort is worth especially for critical senior roles.

I wish I could find some resource/research on this aspect of interviewing - the only book that came close is Jack Welch's 'Winning' where he talks briefly about the importance of hiring right people. I know it is very subjective and sometimes those hiring decisions happen by gut feeling, but I truly wish there is some good comprehensive book on this elusive art!!

tata..Satish

ISB in T20

..what made me update my blog after such a prolonged hibernation :) - it definetly has to do with ISB. India's premier B-school has been listed in the FT top 20 list - a phenomenal achievement considering the fact that ISB is probably the youngest b-school to have achieved that feet. The triumph is more gratifying as alum contribution is one of the most important attributes in the FT ranking.

Like always, I am determined to update my blog regularly henceforth :) Let's see how long will it last this time! Writing is an art which improves immensely with just little effort at regular intervals and i would love to exploit the advantage. I should probably encourage my wife and more of my friends to have their own blogs as well...Sharing is caring- right?

I am lately thinking of career from a different perspective and I can't help but think of what Rajat Gupta has said during our ISB grad ceremony - " It doesn't really matter which job you take up after MBA - what really matters for a successful career is life-long learning mind-set and the ability to better yourself on a daily basis"; A B-school definetly helps you learn more in your careers. It is more common and natural to compare ourselves with others, compete with others to get what we want in life - but the more sustaining form of improving is to compete with yourself and comparing yourself with what you were yesterday. Becoming better and better with each and every passing day will what make you the most successful in career or marriage or in whatever you choose!

Aurevoir...Satish