Sometimes even an employee with good job skills and experience can create problems with fellow employees that drain enthusiasm and impact productivity. That’s why it’s important to consider a job candidate’s personality and track record before making a hiring decision.
So how do you identify a possible problem employee, especially when job candidates are always on their best behavior during an interview? By asking the right questions and listening carefully to the answers, you can identify traits that do not bode well for your workplace. Here are a few examples:
- When you question the candidate about why he or she left their last job, or why they’ve had several short-term jobs, watch for signs that they see themselves as victims. Do they take any responsibility? Or do they blame those they worked for and with? Most of us have had a bad work experience, but look for a pattern of “It was their fault but I got blamed.”
- A typical interview question is to ask the potential new hire to discuss a situation in which they experienced failure. This could be failing a test in school or having a bad outcome on the job. Most people will admit that they didn’t study hard enough for the test, or they made an error in judgement on the job but learned from the mistake. However, if the individual claims all failures were the fault of someone or something else, there may be a problem: “The exam was unfair because it covered things we weren’t taught,” or “They don’t have very good machine tools.”
- Going hand-in-hand with the inability to take responsibility is a false sense of superiority. These people believe that they know more than their co-workers and managers. This is a particularly worrisome trait, as they are likely to poison the well for the other employees. When you ask questions about previous employment, beware of comments about how the people they worked with and for were “useless,” “clueless,” “in over their heads” and other derisive characterizations. Another tell is a tendency to take all of the credit for any successes. “I was the only one who really understood the process,” or “I got the orders out despite the lack of help” raise concerns about the person’s ability to work well with others.
People who see themselves as victims, those who blame their failures on others and employees who think they are smarter and better than everyone else can cause serious workplace problems. These traits are all good reasons not to hire them.