If you have hundreds of people applying for one job, how do you sort through all of the candidates to find the best of the best?
Easy. Group interviews.
It’s the fastest and most effective way to find the best cultural fit and identify the leaders in the group.
I studied a company called Mad Science out of Montreal that had a unique group interview process. It consisted of bringing eight candidates into a boardroom for 60 to 90 minutes. The candidates are told that they’ll be participating in a group interview in advance and then briefed on the group interview process before starting. They advise the candidates that the interview is a ‘lightning round’ of sorts, and that they may be cut off once they answer.
When doing this, don’t appear disrespectful–although you want this to be a speedier process, a candidate should never be made to feel foolish. It’s a balancing act.
In a group interview of eight, you’ll usually find two to three candidates with whom you’ll want to do more in-depth interviews, and one that you’ll hire.
You can get the entire Group Interview system laid out for you from my book Double Double in the chapter on People or from my DVDs on Culture or Growth.
