If you have been around in a job for a while you may have met some dicks (m/f/x). All of us did. One can find them at any career stage, company size and industry. I want to be totally clear with you: I don’t want to meet a single one anymore. None of us should. In this article I want to share with you briefly how my last 2 meetings with dicks (m/f/x) went. Afterwards I want to help you to spot a dick (m/f/x) to make sure that you don’t hire one. So keep on reading and make your organisation dick free.
During my time in talent acquisition I had the doubtful pleasure to deal with numerous dicks (m/f/x). Let me share stories about two of them! As HR Executive of a big company with more than 10.000 employees one lady felt like she was very successful in promoting women’s careers. When I persisted deeper into her methods and motivation I understood what she actually was doing (and she finally confirmed): she invested in development of young women to hold them back from pregnancy. And she stood by her opinion. Once an employee became pregnant, she dropped them and their careers were over. What a dick (m/f/x)!
Another dick (m/f/x) was looking for a new employee in the purchasing department and I attended the interview. Once the candidate said she would like to introduce agile methods into the organisation, he became red and mad. ‘You are wrong!’ he yelled at her, ‘guess why!’ She was entirely perplexed and didn’t say anything. Then he explained to her that ‘agile’ was an IT-related term and has nothing to do with purchasing. She swallowed this valuable information and the interview continued. After the candidate left the room I wanted to give him feedback, but before I could say anything he mumbled, satisfied: ‘good for her that she confessed that she was wrong, I don’t like people who can’t examine their own mistake. Let’s hire her!’ Some dicks (m/f/x) just leave you speechless!
These are only two examples, honestly I still feel pain when I remember these strange encounters. I guess you had some cruel experiences yourself and are not keen to continue working with such people. Let me help. In order to get rid of dicks (m/f/x), or at least not to hire one mistakenly, you need to learn how to spot them. Here are some characteristics:
Now that you have a better idea of how to spot a dick (m/f/x), let’s make sure you don’t hire one!
Honestly: nobody can spot a dick (m/f/x) by reading a CV, whereas an interview is the most appropriate information source to serve this purpose. It’s all about asking the right questions. Here are some examples:
These questions might help you to identify dicks (m/f/x) as they tend to feel right and great in each situation and not be self-reflective at all. By the way: when you want to have a really efficient process of personality- and not cv-based selection, you should consider enriching your hiring process with video interviews. It will help you to avoid getting… you know whom onboard. Happy Hiring!
