From: Stephen D. Williams (sdw@lig.net)
Date: Mon Jun 12 2000 - 11:06:10 PDT
Linda wrote:
> Colin Coller wrote:
>
> <<I wonder if there are any (serious) intelligence tests that would
> identify
> useful qualities in potential employees who don't necessarily have
> formal
> education or experience in certain areas...>>
>
> I often get well over a hundred resumes to sort through when I'm hiring
> for our
> clinic. Since I don't have time to interview more than the top 10 or
> 15%,
> over the years I've tried all different ways to screen out for those
> worth interviewing.
> What I do now is ask applicants to reply in writing with a resume, 3
> references and a brief
> hand-written letter (purposefully left open-ended). Any that don't
> submit all three
> are discarded. What's most helpful is the quality and content of the
> hand-written letters.
Good idea, although I wouldn't insist on hand-written vs. typed for a techie.
> The effort put into those letters gives me a sense of the sort of person
> I'm dealing with and
> helps to screen out for original thinkers.
Screen out or in? 'Screen out' seems to override the 'screen ... for' in my
parsing of that. ;-) Sorry to be pedantic.
Of course you may not want original thinkers who are too original while being
too inexperienced in the medical field. Certainly I am trying to screen for
original thinkers.
> I've also found checking references not a particularly productive use of
> time. During the
> interview I ask a lot of open-ended questions that probably make them
> squirm a bit,
> but their reaction is helpful because the positions I'm trying to fill
> usually involve
> some degree of stress. I find I can make my decision fairly quickly
> into the interview
> based on this.
>
> --Linda
sdw
-- Insta.com - Revolutionary E-Business Communication sdw@insta.com Stephen D. Williams Senior Consultant/Architect http://sdw.st 43392 Wayside Cir,Ashburn,VA 20147-4622 703-724-0118W 703-995-0407Fax Jan2000
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