Recruiting TOP Performers using the Precision Questioning Technique Bryan Starbuck, CEO Semantic Search that Sources Job Boards, Internet Sources, and ATSs – Ranking the best Matched Candidates

Find Top Performers 2 Goal: Use precision questioning interview techniques in your phone interviews to find the Tiger Woods of your Open Position your open positions More Specifically: In phone screens that detect candidates most likely to turn into TOP 10% Performers

Hiring Stages 3 Step #1: Getting a Stack of People Looking Great on Paper Step #2: Screening People on the Phone Step #3: Interviewing and Job Offers Recruiter

Precision Questions for Recruiting Precision Questioning for Recruiting:  Precision Questioning (PQ) is used Extensively by Executives  Find Top Performers with P.Q. during phone screening  Hard to learn – but powerful Goal: Continue Shift from Transactional to Strategic 4

You Know You Have A Top Performer 5 Excellent at… Managing 5 Employees 5 Finger Rule Brand Marketing Manager:  Brand Marketing  Apparel Industry  Handbag Industry  Event Marketing for Fashion Shows  Manages 5 Employees Excellent at… Fashion Show Event Marketing Excellent at… Handbag Fashion Branding Excellent at… Apparel Industry Excellent at… Brand Marketing

Detecting TOP Performers 6 They will turn into your TOP Performers (Top 10%) Top 10% Question: Explain how you would handle the situation that...  Excel at decision making  Mastery of their discipline  Experience in their field

Step #1: Question in a Focused Area 7 Manager Says:  TOP Performers stand out in…  Strategy when doing POSITIONING  Positioning is completely different between HIGH PRICE and LOW PRICE products  HIGH Priced Products are Positioned by:  Technique A  Technique B  Technique C Start and Focus here

Step #2: How Precision Questioning Works 8 Step #1: Executive Will Ask Pointed Question: The questions will require a “Yes” vs “No” or similarly focused answer. Step #2: Recipient will Answer: The answer will be short and succinct. Mainly to allow the questioner to decide where to “scope in” to their next questions. Step #3: Exectutive will Ask the next Scoped in Question: This will repeat

Step #2: How Precision Questioning Works 9

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Step #2: How Precision Questioning Works 11

Step #3: Crux Separates TOP Performers 12  Have manager find a Hard Problem  Find a situation where a TOP Performer can analyze a situation and FIND the hard but best solution  Craft the question carefully  Increase pressure so the candidate needs to find a better solution  Make sure candidate has information (including vital fact), so they can figure out the ideal solution TOP Performers identify that this technique is best IN THIS CASE

Summary 13 Important Steps: 1.Start in Small Focused Area 2.You give facts of situation 3.Candidate has to IDENTIFY that advanced technique is appropriate 4.Candidate Applies advanced technique well We sell a HIGH COST WRIST WATCH to female consumers. Walk me through how you would create a strategy to POSITION this product in a crowded market. Focus on how this strategy would out-perform our competitors

Questions for Hiring Manager 14 Questions for Hiring Manager:  What is an example of one of the HARDEST areas within your organization, where the TOP Performers excel?  Where is the specific point where TOP Performers break away?  Help me craft that into a specific question:  The information I provide that candidate will include a VITAL FACT that TOP Performers will know that the ideal solution is not the typical solution  You need to ask the candidate “Find a way to do it cheaper” {or Faster, Higher Quality, product stands out more in a busy market, etc.} This increases pressure for the candidate to find a better solution  You Provide facts A, B, and D. The candidate needs to be able to deduce C and E.  The Hiring Manager says, “My TOP performers can answer this question, but it will be hard for others” A B D

Questions for Hiring Manager 15 Questions for Hiring Manager:  What is an example of one of the HARDEST areas within your organization, where the TOP Performers excel?  Where is the specific point where TOP Performers break away?  Help me craft that into a specific question:  The information I provide that candidate will include a VITAL FACT that TOP Performers will know that the ideal solution is not the typical solution  You need to ask the candidate “Find a way to do it cheaper” {or Faster, Higher Quality, product stands out more in a busy market, etc.} This increases pressure for the candidate to find a better solution  You Provide facts A, B, and D. The candidate needs to be able to deduce C and E.  The Hiring Manager says, “My TOP performers can answer this question, but it will be hard for others” A B C D E

Example with Mobile Programmer 16 TOP Performing Mobile Programmer:  Engineering Manager says Synchronizing an Addressbook in both Directions between a Phone and a Server was the hardest problem their team worked on  You ask, “What is the CRUX of what made it so hard?”  The Answer is that handling conflicts when the contact changed on both the phone and the server since the last synchronization.  Detecting when the Conflict happened was the problem  You ask for a very specific example within there that TOP Performers can Identify, that others struggle with  You ask the Manager to turn that into a Question  IMPORTANT: Quote every work exactly in the question  You ask the manager to show signs of success or failure in responding.

For Senior Leaders of Talent Acquisition 17  Questions to detect TOP Performers is an ASSET  Building these ASSETs is a challenge and a reward to your top recruiters  Your TOP Recruiters can empower the entire recruiting department – even those unable to create the questions Goal: Allow your Organization to scale at consistently and repeatedly finding TOP Talent

About TalentSpring 18 Presented By: Bryan Starbuck, CEO For more information: or

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Jack Welch Quotes 20 The team with the best players wins My main job was developing talent. I was a gardener providing water and other nourishment to our top 750 people. Of course, I had to pull out some weeds, too. The essence of competitiveness is liberated when we make people believe that what they think and do is important - and then get out of their way while they do it. The 1980s will seem like a walk in the park when compared to new global challenges, where annual productivity increases of 6% may not be enough. A combination of software, brains, and running harder will be needed to bring that percentage up to 8% or 9%. If you pick the right people and give them the opportunity to spread their wings and put compensation as a carrier behind it you almost don't have to manage them. If you don't have a competitive advantage, don't compete.

Step #3: Crux Separates TOP Performers 21  Have manager find a Hard Problem  Find a situation where a TOP Performer can analyze a situation and FIND the hard but best solution  Craft the question carefully  Increase pressure so the candidate needs to find a better solution  Make sure candidate has information (including vital fact), so they can figure out the ideal solution Vital FACT that TOP performers will use to Identify the Ideal Solution