Blaker adds that speed interviews also
offer a chance at redemption for those can-didates
whose nerves may take over.
“It gives you the feeling that you real-ly
did give the best impression possible.
Honestly, it really threw the traditional
interview process out the window. Other
interviews I’ve attended involved sitting in
a room for an hour, incessantly speaking
to one person and wondering what they’re
scribbling on their notepads. The speed
interview offered me the opportunity to
speak with a number of people on the fly –
a very refreshing approach.”
innovation
“THE TIME IT TOOK TO REVIEW, PHONE SCREEN AND
THEN INTERVIEW WAS NOT EFFICIENT NOR DID IT
REFLECT OUR CULTURE. WE TOOK A STEP BACK AND
LOOKED AT WAYS WE COULD MAKE THE PROCESS
MORE EFFICIENT AND DECIDED ON A GROUP
INTERVIEW FORMAT. FROM THIS BRAINSTORMING
SESSION, THE ‘SPEED INTERVIEW’ IDEA WAS BORN.”
– ALLISON MCKAY, DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES, SEARCH ENGINE PEOPLE
explain their point, but in this format,
this is not possible. They would have run
out of time and not answered all of SEP’s
questions.
“The candidates needed to think quickly
and prioritize their answers,” she said. “We
also found that the candidates who were
really passionate and enthusiastic about
marketing were able to tell and demon-strate
this to us in a short period of time.
Additionally, the process provided the can-didates
with a better insight into the SEP
culture and what it is like to work here.”
One of those candidates was Laura
Blaker, whom SEP hired in October
2013 as an account coordinator. In her
role, Blaker supports numerous ac-count
managers, helps them meet their
project objectives, provides SEO rec-ommendations
and assists with content
development. She says she really enjoyed
the speed interview process and found the
atmosphere to be light and fun.
“It loosened everybody up,” she said.
“You forget it’s an interview when you’re
flying from seat to seat. SEP had chosen
interviewers from different departments
and positions, offering a variety of per-sonalities
to speak with. I felt that the
process offered me a clean slate, because
with each new person came a new oppor-tunity
to speak about my strengths and
accomplishments.”
Laura Blaker, Account Coordinator,
SEP, who was hired through the speed
interview process in October 2013
INTERVIEW PROCESS
WHITTLES DOWN
CANDIDATES FAST
In the speed group interview, five
candidates are interviewed by
five or six different interviewers
in eight-minute segments. This
forces candidates to think quick-ly
and prioritize their responses.
Having numerous interviewers
involved allows for a truly collab-orative
team environment, one
that Search Engine People (SEP),
creator of this innovative process,
will continue to utilize even after it
hires its estimated 350 employees
over the next few years.
Sample questions that candidates
are often asked include:
Suppose you are a diehard iPhone
user and you now have to use an
Android?
(SEP uses this question to assess
the candidate’s ability to deal with
things on the fly.)
Sooner or later everyone gets
overwhelmed by their work-load.
Tell us about the last time
you were unable to finish a proj-ect
or work assignment in the time
allotted?
(This question is meant to gauge a
candidate’s ability to manage their
time.)
Santhosh Kumar/Shutterstock
56 ❚ MAY/JUNE 2014 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL