LeiLani Quiray: Tales of Disastrous Interviews & Nightmare Hires

In honor of Halloween, we are sharing interview horror stories. We all have heard campfire stories of a crazy interview or even a scary hire. Today we are going to help you identify crazy on both sides of the coin to help you avoid a tragic nightmare. 

How not to get hired or have someone accept your job offer

Today’s Quote:

"If God treats you well by teaching you a disastrous lesson, you never forget it."  - Ray Bradbury

Our guest today:  LeiLani Quiray, Founder & CEO of bethechangeHR

LeiLani has a fiery passion for both Human Resources and philanthropy. She believes people are a company’s most valuable asset and they should be cared for as such but no only on a level where the business truly cares but a quantifiable basis where we measure the effectiveness of the programs we put in place to foster a healthy work environment.  

be the change HR, Inc., a conscious company and social enterprise, provides fractional HR executive support, strategy and service to businesses in any facet of HR from pre-hire to post-term and everything else that happens in between.  

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."  - M. Ghandi 

Yup...she's doing just that! 

 

• Scary Things people do in interviews
• What scares People from your company
• Avoiding your own horror stories

Warning signs of an upcoming bad interview

• Showing up late, without a phone call
• Typos in the resume- the devil is in the details
• customer experience
• fast paste environment
• Heavy Perfume

Two Stories

1. Schwane Schwiley
   1. Rejection Letter & his response (I have one of the emails!)
2. “My Truck was Stolen (and hit by a train) - A case of a negligent hire

Rick’s Input:

Company Fails

• Lack of clarity & setting performance metrics
• Constant re-scheduling 
• Unstructured interview process
  • Arrogant interview process
• Setting the environment to maximize a person’s performance in the interview
• Group whiteboard test designed to make you crack
  • Adversarial
  • Erase work while answering questions

Two Story Conclusion

1. Schwane Schwiley
   1. Swifter involvement to protect employees (myself)
   2. Crazy is out there and you can’t control it
2. “My Truck was Stolen (and hit by a train) - A case of a negligent hire
   1. Background checks are key
   2. Overlooking criminal history = negligent hiring

 What do we need to pay attention to?

• The frame of mind (desperation, urgency) 
• Over aggressiveness 

Rick’s Nuggets

• Diligence in the phone screen
  • Uncover the truth & the crazy
  • Focus on the person, not the skills
• Skills-based hires breed horror stories
  • Pain, Desire & Impact
  • 3 behavioral-based questions designed to get under the hood
• Beware: taking credit, playing well with others & the blame game

Key Takeaways:

• Watch out for warning signs in the very beginning
• Sometimes sh!t just happens but you MUST take action quickly
• Background checks are important!