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Picture this. The door to your office swings open and you have to rub your eyes to make sure the body standing in your doorway has come from a friendly galaxy. Multiple piercings decorate the face. Hair tones only an Osborne could love jut out from the scalp and the outfit's a Goths R Us clearance special.
It's not Halloween. It's your next interview: the kid from the local high school who's come in search of a coveted summer job opening. He's got purple dragons circling his bicep, but in his heart and soul, he wants to be a lifeguard at your facility this summer. What's your reaction?
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"Interview for attitudes.
—Mel Kleiman, a consulting expert
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A) Fire your receptionist for letting in the creature.
B) Re-evaluate your own future in parks and recreation.
C) Look behind the hair and metal to see if there's decent raw material inside.
Hiring the "never been employed young worker" is not for the faint of heart, but then, you already knew that. Kids live on different wavelengths and in a world (described by the U.S. Department of Labor) in which 87 percent of all hiring failures occur not because people can't do the job, but because they won't. Consequently, successful hiring boils down to whether you can sleuth out the soul of a kid who may look weird but has the right attitude.
There's a perception afoot that kids who come in the door looking like the specimen we've described above are also likely to possess some equally distasteful traits. Reporting late to work. Not showing up at all. Treating others badly. Finding every excuse possible not to touch assigned tasks. To top things off, there's a better than even chance they'll also be masters of whining and complaining.
Add to this the fact that these neophytes come to you without a single skill and you know why park and recreation supervisors age rapidly. But all the negatives notwithstanding, you can mine gold from what might first appear to be an abandoned mine. Some might even find a career in our industry. "Interview for attitudes," advises Mel Kleiman, a Houston-based consulting expert who helps businesses hire the 'right people.'
"Before any of us get to our first job, we have developed a set of attitudes that we carry around with us," he added. "You must find them."
Such beliefs are hard to fake, says Kleiman. To discover these attitudes, you need to find out whether a candidate has a natural inclination to pitch in and help, whether he or she is comfortable assuming a leadership position, if taking pride in his or her work ethic is important and whether or not the person will be inclined to go above and beyond his
responsibilities. Make the job easier by using Kleiman's recommendations for assessing hidden nuggets of character.
1. Avoid cattle calls—those ever-popular requests to "drop in on a certain day." Give every applicant a specific appointment time and pay attention to how close to the appointed hour they arrive.
2. Don't discount the benefits of interviewing a small group of people at the same time to get a good handle on individual interaction skills.
3. Hand each candidate a list of responsibilities so he or she knows exactly what you're looking for.
4. Don't be afraid to ask non-job-related questions, like "What happened the last time you disagreed with someone in your family?" or "Describe a really funny
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William J. M. Wald, CPRP
IPRA Chief Executive Officer
Successful hiring boils down to whether you can sleuth out the soul of a kid who may look weird but has the right attitude.
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8 Illinois Parks and Recreation
recent event." See the sidebar on this page for a good list of questions appropriate for first-time job seekers.
5. If you're interviewing in a group, look for candidates
with a tendency to pay attention to what others are saying. Be aware of those who try to show other candidates up. Make notes of those exhibiting natural leadership skills.
6. Invite staffers who will be working with these candidates to interact with each while you observe the chemistry.
7. Work hard to neutralize nervous Nellies so you get a true picture of their personalities. Use disarming questions so candidates can stop holding their breath!
8. Don't hide behind your desk. It looks like an inquisition to people not in the habit of interviewing for jobs. Kids are already wrestling with the issue of authority figures at home, so disarm them by removing that huge barrier.
9. Understand that while pay and benefits are important, what most concerns young job candidates is whether they'll fit in. "Will someone think I'm a dork if I ask where to find the bathroom?" many worry.
10. Teens are particularly fearful of looking stupid so assuage that worry by being respectful and looking candidates in the eye. This goes a long way to creating the impression of a safe place to work.
Dr. Alan Weiss, an East Greenwich, Rhode Island personnel expert, isolates two of the best indications of a great candidate and urges those in hiring positions to rely on them: enthusiasm and eye contact. Passion is a great sign that a person can be motivated and eye contact indicates a willingness to be open to suggestions, direction and criticism.
Weiss also recommends paying attention to signs that suggest a person isn't telling the truth, like fidgeting, crossing and uncrossing ones legs and holding a hand over the mouth. Believe it or not, yawning and blinking can also indicate that a person isn't being totally honest.
At the end of all interviews, applicants should be told how the process will evolve, because most haven't had experience with post-interview aftermath. In general, todays teens have unreasonable expectations because many have yet to cultivate rime and patience sensors. Set a date by which they can expect to hear something, then move quickly to check references—particularly those which can yield the best data—like grandmothers (who tend to be very candid), parents for whom a teen has baby-sat and school referrals.
The extra time you devote to checking out Tiffany's, Chad's and Felicity's core personality will serve you well as you launch into the summer season that relies so heavily on good, solid seasonal help.
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Questions to consider asking when you interview first-time job candidates
• What's the hardest thing you ever accomplished? (You're looking for evidence that the candidate has given some effort to a task and persevered.)
• What is your definition of being on time? How many times have you been late to school in the past six months? (You're seeking answers that determine whether the person has no value for promptness.)
• Tell me about the classes you liked best and least. (You're searching beyond course work to unearth attitudes toward school, which equals the work situation.)
• Have you ever been put into a situation in which you were asked to do something that wasn't right? What did you consider, and what did you finally do? (You're looking for a response
that indicates the individuals moral and ethical makeup)
• Have you ever had to throw a party? What was that experience like? (In this case, you are assessing the persons willingness to organize and plan.)
• If I were to call several of your teachers/friends/parents, what would they tell me about you? (Believe it or not, this type of question has been proven to dislodge more honest information from a candidate than might be forthcoming because it forces interviewees to consider whether they shouldn't hear "the truth" from them, rather than the folk providing references.)
Questions you should avoid when you inter view first-time candidates
• Anything hypothetical. This may run counter to all of the interviewing techniques you've heard about in the past, but first-time job applicants are in a class all their own. Save the hypotheticals for seasoned job seekers. First-timers will only give you back what you expect to hear.
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March/April 2003 9
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