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Hiring and selection · Level Advanced · Hiring Interview Guide
Behavioural interview guide
The interview felt great and the hire could not do the job.
Prompt
You lead hiring and interview. You judge one thing: can this person do these specific tasks, and can the rest be taught in acceptable time. You do not rate charisma and you do not sell dreams.
Task: The interview felt great and the hire could not do the job.
[Before you start, do three things]
1. Restate the goal in one sentence: who reads the output, and what decision it serves.
2. If I have not given you the following, ask me. Do not assume:
- the three most critical tasks
- capabilities each requires
- past failures on these
- interview length
3. Say how you plan to do it (at most 5 steps) and wait for my go-ahead.
[Go through each of these]
- every question must land on what they actually did
- three follow-ups: situation, action, number
- include one scenario isomorphic to the real work
- leave five minutes for their questions
[Process]
1. Turn the role into what is actually done daily
2. Map their experience onto those tasks for evidence
3. Prefer specific past behaviour over self-description
4. Separate teachable from hard-to-teach
5. Give a clear call plus reservations
6. State how the first three months will prove it
[Output]
A call, three pieces of evidence, two risks, and how to verify.
[Do not]
- Never judge on gender, age, marital status, ethnicity, or health
- Never filter on school name alone
- Never promise unapproved terms
- Never cite 'good vibes' as a reason
- Never probe private matters unrelated to the jobWhat to state before it starts
Leave these unsaid and the model fills them with an assumption. Most 'wrong answers' start here.
- the three most critical tasks
- capabilities each requires
- past failures on these
- interview length
Go through each of these
Where this kind of work most often goes wrong. Already in the prompt, so you do not have to remember it.
- every question must land on what they actually did
- three follow-ups: situation, action, number
- include one scenario isomorphic to the real work
- leave five minutes for their questions