**James Dooley:** Hi, today I’m joined with Mads Singers and today’s episode is on how to succeed in the interview process. You’re an employer and you’re looking to take on some new employees. How can you make the most out of that interview process to make certain you’re getting that right hire?
**Mads Singers:** Many people struggle with this. People come to me and say, “I don’t know how to hire people. I suck at it.” I ask what they mean. They say they hired two people and they were both bad, so they do not know what to do.
**Mads Singers:** Interviewing and hiring is a skill set. People should invest time and effort in learning how to do it better. There are very few things with a bigger impact on a business than hiring great people. If you hire great people, everything else becomes easier.
**Mads Singers:** AI can help here. It is easy to tell AI what candidate you want, what culture you have, and what your fears are. You can ask AI for the best interview questions and it will give you strong options.
**Mads Singers:** There are three things I personally look for, and they are pretty universal. The first is negativity. If you hire people with a negative mindset and attitude, that usually hurts the business.
**Mads Singers:** I weed this out by testing ownership. When bad things happen, do they take responsibility or do they blame everyone else? I like asking, “Who is the least good boss you’ve ever had?” Some people will only attack the boss. Others will explain what they did, what they tried, and why it did not work out.
**Mads Singers:** There’s a big difference between pushing negativity and taking ownership.
**James Dooley:** On that first step, I agree. Negativity breeds negativity across the team. But what if someone is brilliant at the role and very negative? Could attitude be taught? Could you hire them and keep them separate so they do the job but do not infect everyone else?
**Mads Singers:** I would not go down that road. You can change someone’s attitude, but it often takes years. Teaching skills is usually faster.
**Mads Singers:** I would take 80% less skill for 20% better attitude. The best people are not always the highest skilled. The best people say, “Something happened, I will figure it out.” They take ownership and find a way.
**Mads Singers:** If I have a developer who is 90 out of 100 and one who is 80 out of 100, and the 90 has a worse attitude, I will pick the 80 any day, as long as they can do the job.
**Mads Singers:** The second thing we look for is honesty. People often ask about weaknesses. Many candidates give a textbook answer like, “I’m a perfectionist.” In many cases they are not, and it also shows they are not being open.
**Mads Singers:** We looked at hundreds of employees in our outsourcing company and studied the top ten. A key commonality was they were willing to give a real answer in the interview.
**Mads Singers:** One woman said she sometimes gets angry and knows she should not respond immediately. She needs to step away, calm down, then come back. People who know themselves and admit real flaws tend to succeed more than people who perform in interviews.
**Mads Singers:** The third thing I focus on is personality. People have natural strengths. For example, I would never hire James Dooley as an accountant. James Dooley could learn it, but would not enjoy it over time.
**Mads Singers:** If you put people into roles they are naturally suited to and enjoy, you get more value and success. I use a DISC behavioural framework. It helps match personality traits to role needs.
**Mads Singers:** For accounting or development, you often need someone very detail oriented. For customer service, you need people focus and empathy. It is not only about saying the right thing. It is about saying it the right way.
**Mads Singers:** For sales, you want assertive and competitive people who can ask for the close. Non-competitive salespeople can do sales, but they tend to succeed slower and less.
**Mads Singers:** There is a tool called habramp.com where people can do a DISC test for free and understand strengths and weaknesses.
**James Dooley:** In the interview process, if someone applies for a role but you can see they are better suited elsewhere, do you ever put them into a different role? Or do you take them short term in the role they applied for, knowing you might move them later?
**Mads Singers:** It depends on the job and situation. It is very situational.
**Mads Singers:** If I have a team of accountants and none want to be managers, I might hire someone who can do the job and also has management potential, then move them into management later after they understand the business.
**Mads Singers:** But I would not put someone who is not assertive into sales. They will not be comfortable and they are likely to fail. Even good people lose confidence when they fail.
**Mads Singers:** If I believe they can do the job but they are not naturally suited, and there is an obvious other role later, it can work. I gave advice to a client with multiple factories. They needed a new factory head. I advised promoting someone one level below who knew the company and culture, then supporting them with experienced staff from other factories.
**Mads Singers:** The issue is small companies often cannot afford to keep someone in a role they do not fit while waiting for a better role later. Many companies hold on to people because they fear firing them, then burn cash they need elsewhere.
**Mads Singers:** Social media is a common dumping ground. People get shoved into social media because they were weak elsewhere. Output is hard to measure, so they can sit there producing mediocre work for a long time.
**James Dooley:** Last question. If you’re a big agency and you post a job and get 500 applicants, you cannot interview everyone. How do you segment them and narrow them down?
**Mads Singers:** We use a simple concept called “everything else being equal.” We ask what factors make someone more likely to succeed.
**Mads Singers:** For technical SEO, someone with at least three years’ experience is more likely to succeed than someone with less. That might take you from 500 to 200.
**Mads Singers:** Then we add filters like typing speed. Faster typing often correlates with higher output. We might remove the bottom 30%.
**Mads Singers:** We also use language tests and technical tests. For developers, we use a dev test. We use DISC tests too.
**Mads Singers:** If there are still too many candidates, I like bringing in someone from the team they will work with. I ask that person to do short calls with candidates, explain the role, and shortlist the best. I like giving the team ownership and input, while I make the final decision.
**Mads Singers:** In one company we have an HR person who does initial interviews across businesses. They screen for values, negativity, and baseline fit. When I get to interview stage, the basics are already filtered.
**James Dooley:** Final question. If someone watching this likes the approach but does not have time and wants to outsource recruitment, can Aristo Sourcing or Mads Singers Consultancy do the interview process for them?
**Mads Singers:** We can do worldwide recruitment and shortlist candidates. But owners should never let someone hire for them without a final interview.
**Mads Singers:** We can shortlist two, three, or five strong candidates. We can do screening, skills checks, and testing. But the owner should always interview the person before the final decision. No one knows the company and role like the owner.
**James Dooley:** Anyone watching this, share your hiring horror stories. What have you learned that works well? What tactics do you use that were not covered here? Mads Singers, it’s been a pleasure talking about how to succeed in the interview process.
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