How to Interview People & Identify A-Players Auren Hoffman

Best way to know if someone is an A-Player: work with them 2 nd best way: some A-Player you have worked with vouches for them 3 rd best way: a reflective interview process - Your sole goal is to determine if they are an A-Player Really bad way: rely on the resume - It’s supposed to sell you! 2 Why Interview People

Spend min preparing: 1.Actually read the resume: interesting traits, inconsistencies, red flags, thesis, more 2.Read notes in your internal HR CRM: what do other people in your company think? How did they hear about the job? Cover letter. 3.Prep specific questions for the person: craft new questions. Customize your standard questions. 3 The Pre-interview

Show up on time – End on time (or earlier – feel free to make it short) – Be respectful of their time Have an agenda (in your mind) on how the interview should go. – Watch the clock (you can generalize this to all meetings) 4 The meeting: high-level notes

Get them to teach you something – Few ppl can simply explain complex concepts Ask them insightful questions about things they should know a lot about – Their field of study or thesis or paper Ask hard questions – And make sure they are interesting Don’t always ask the same questions – Don’t be afraid to try something new Most brain-teasers are bad--be careful 5 Interview Dos Recent Rapleaf hire Grant Lee taught me how to play chess during our interview

6 Interview Don’ts Don’t ask too many questions regarding your company – Ask them similar questions about their past companies or about a fictitious company Don’t ask questions that people just solve. Get them to interact with you. Make it a conversation Don’t talk more than 25% of the time.

7 Key things to learn What you should be asking yourself: Is this person scary smart? How does this person take feedback? Are they curious? Do they ask great questions? Do they engage? More…..

8 Key things to learn Are they unsatisfied with mediocre answers? Can they communicate well? Are they nice and treat people well? Overall: Would I enjoy working with this person?

9 Key Hiring Criteria You can’t have more than 3 criteria for a candidate (otherwise the venn diagram overlap is too small) Three Rapleaf criteria: 1.Scary smart 2.Get things done 3.Nice and friendly What are you looking for?

Auren Hoffman, CEO, Rapleaf We’re hiring: 10 Thank you