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Most good hires are a result of luck rather than skill. In fact, I would argue that very few hires are by design. 

Throughout my career, I have never met a person who views interviewing and the hiring process as anything more than a chore that they loathe. In fact, the most common reaction to the subject usually results in a huge “uuuggghhhhh” or “I hate hiring”. 

We dread the act of interviewing and hiring because it is unstructured and inconsistent and it produces mediocre results. 

Here’s the good news: There is an easy fix! When we train our people how to interview it brings purpose to each and every interview question. Giving your people a basis for decision-making that results in extraordinary hiring results.

Guest Bio:

Karima Gulick is the CEO & principal patent attorney of Innovent Law.

She dedicated her career to counseling businesses within the tech and creative communities, combining her passion for engineering and the law. Karima is a polyglot and guides her clients through legal matters in French, English, Arabic, Spanish, and some Italian as well! She is also the former co-host of the Gen Y Lawyer podcast, a show where she interviewed innovative lawyers shaking things up in the legal industry.

Karima is building a next-generation law firm and is here to share her experience.

Today We Discuss:

  • The overwhelming hurdles of hiring.
  • How to interview to bring purpose to your interview questions

Challenge today?

  • Overwhelmed & stuck in the business
    • The idea of hiring was overwhelming
    • So overwhelmed in my business, that adding one more task to my list, which is hiring to free me up seemed daunting 
    • Having had a bad experience with hiring in the past, it seemed as an even more daunting task
  • No clear strategy on how to go about
    •  interviewing 
    • selecting candidates to interview
    • Finding candidates.
      • I could write what I thought was an amazing post but it might not be read or looked at by the right person
    • Jaded on values because of corporate America
      • Values area words splattered on the wall
      • No one ever explained what the values stood for
      • Never defined what it looked like.
    • Defining what you stand for seems hokie

Why is this important to the company?

  • A burned-out and overwhelmed leader is the worst thing that can happen to a company
  • Even if you have the best team, without the right energizing and enthusiastic leadership,
  • It’s just a matter of time before you stop caring, and the rest of your team starts seeing that
  • We all have values, 
  • You have them as an employer
  • Certain things that are intangible
  • Employees have a reason to care. Buy in and bring more energy to the process
    • Employees have taken more ownership
  • When there is a change in the workforce, the chatter makes it more difficult find a fit. Buying into the negative ideas

Rick’s Nuggets

  • Values First Strategy
    • Makes evaluating people easier

How do we solve the problem? 

  • Realizing that I was stuck 
  • Knowing that I needed someone to step in and save me from myself
  • Knowing myself, I knew I needed to bring on someone to help
  • I had posted a couple of job posts but I was too exhausted to even call people
  • Then I realized I was making the same mistake as I’ve made before
    • I’m in pain doing all the work, so I pick someone who can do the work
    • But there is so much more -
    • That’s where Rick, you came in and opened my eyes on the hiring process
      • It’s more than just a post and looking for someone who can do the work
      • Values discussion - being jaded from the corporate world where values were meaningless
      • A fresh new look at values
        • Example: Caring, Competence, Trust
          • Might not mean much to others, can come off as just buzzwords, but with this process, these values came to life. 
      • Holding conversations with candidates looking to learn more about them and their pain points
      • Conducting interviews based on your values
      • Conducting assessments and work sessions to see how you’d work with these people 
  • Reaffirming that I already have great people
  • Believing that you deserve being able to grow the business
  • Allowing the entity to grow
  • Sitting down with intention
    • Mindful & intentional on what you want/ the business needs
    • Clarity on what you are hiring for & why?
  • Being Systematic
  • Bring life into the process - involve others
  • Flexible on terms/needs
  • Having a flow
    • Discovery calls
    • Having a process
    • Behavioral questions to understand if people align with what the company really stands for
    • Informed process
    • The more thorough you are, the better the chances of bringing on the right people.
  • Evolve
    • Coming up with my own set of questions based on behavior I see around me
      • Tell me about the first thing you do when you come home from a trip..

Rick’s Nuggets

  • Discovery call
  • Values
    • Not aspirational 
    • Team input
  • Working session

Key Takeaways that the Audience can plug into their business today! (Value):

  • You don't know what you don't know. Bring on help to allow the business to grow
    • If you’re serious about growing your business, you have to go through this exercise 
      • You can have the best gut feeling in the world, but having a systemized approach and one you can delegate to your team will help you scale.
  • Invest the time to get clarity on what you are looking for
  • Be open to learning new things, including skills outside of your comfort zone.

Guest Links:

Host Links:

Show Sponsor:

  • www.stridesearch.com

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