I confess.

My interviews are not easy. Unlike Jamie Foxx, I can’t “blame it on the alcohol.”

Enterprise Rent-A-Car is who I blame it on. My first real job after graduating from Purdue University was to manage a team, pick-up customers, wash vehicles and sell rental car insurance in the 115-degree heat of Phoenix, Arizona.

Mind you, it’s a dry heat

From that experience, I learned to look for leadership qualities in future team members. Number one: recruit only “inquisitive brains.” Number two: weed out all the kiss-ups.

So, how to hire an employee, that’s good?

First off, make your interviews like mine…

brutal, yet I still make sure they’re fun.

When I worked at Enterprise, to earn the promotion to management assistant, you had to pass “The Grill.” (If you have ever worked for Enterprise, tell people in the comment section below about your “Enterprise Grill” experience.)

For my hiring interviews, I modified the “Enterprise Grill” concept. Now I always find the right kind of talented brainiacs.

I have discovered that most candidates are prepared to be “grilled” with questions. But what they aren’t prepared for is to talk with C-level executives or to discuss their online profiles.

According to a research study done by CareerBuilder involving 8,293 people, they discovered there…

I should have been in this study. You know why?

Because I’m like these hiring managers. I research the digital backgrounds of candidates before the face-to-face interviews.

I’m always networking for people with creative yet analytic brains. Scouring Meet-ups, from the Phoenix Content Strategy Group to the Scottsdale Gun Club, these brains are hard to find. But just like a Zombie, I am attracted to them.

Actually, can I be honest with you?

For my initial interviews, I have only two prepared questions.

I’ll tell you the first one.

Here it is…

“What questions do you have for me? And make them hard.”

I ask this because most people are prepared to talk about themselves and their career experience.

● “I did this or that…”

● “I know him or her…”

● “I manage up this way or that way…”

At this point, I truly do care…

But not that much.

Right now, I want to know if you lost that inquisitive brain you had when you were 22.

• When you heard Steve Jobs speak at your graduation commencement.
• When you believed that you could change the world.
• When you questioned everything.

I want to know if that brain has finally submitted to compliance. Scrambled by credit card bills, mortgage, and that screaming newborn named Sienna “Feed-Me-at-midnight-and-3-am” Grace.

I want to know if you researched various media and news outlets about the company. Did you even research my background?

I have done my digital investigation.

• I’ve viewed your LinkedIn profile.
• I’ve read what others say about you.
• I’ve even found Instagram spring break pictures.

But despite all that, can you think on your feet? Can you execute on the spot?

If you want to know how to hire an employee…

Don’t take my word for it.

Here are some hiring managers whose successes on hiring good employees have helped change the world:

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Now, what if you agreed to work on one of my teams? Would your first 90 days be just as brutal as my interviews?

Not so much.

Your first 90 days would test your capacity and aptitude. But don’t worry about that just now.

To know what I expect from you, just read and follow the suggestions in “The First 90 Days” by Mike Watson. You don’t have to buy it yet. I created a book review for you.

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But above all else…

Dominate in the Details.

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Notes

• Jamie Foxx featuring T-Pain, “Blame It,” available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfjtpp90lu8&feature=kp
• Enterprise Rent-A-Car, “Enterprise Grill Study Deck,”
• Careerbuilder Study, “Nine Lessons for Job Seekers and Recruiters That May Surprise You,” available at http://www.careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail.aspx?sd=10%2f17%2f2013&siteid=cbpr&sc_cmp1=cb_pr785_&id=pr785&ed=12%2f31%2f2013
• Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Speech 2005, available athttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA
• Richard Branson, “How I Hire: Focus on Personality,” available athttp://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130923230007-204068115-how-i-hire-focus-on-personality?trk=cha-hero-art-title
• Daniel Shapiro, “How I Hire: Stop Telling Me And Start Showing Me,” available athttp://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130924162523-314058-how-i-hire-stop-telling-me-and-start-showing-me?trk=cha-feed-art-title-10000316
• Jennifer Dulksi, “How I Hire: Adaptability and 5 Other Must Haves,” available athttps://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130924104438-407452-how-i-hire-adaptability-and-5-other-must-haves
• Lesley Jane Seymour, “How I Hire: Weed Out The Spoiled Millennials,” available athttp://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130924104151-16900836-how-i-hire-weed-out-the-spoiled-millenials?trk=cha-feed-art-title-10000316
• Mike Volpe, “How the Hubspot CMO Screens for Top Marketing Talent,” available athttp://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33999/How-the-HubSpot-CMO-Screens-for-Top-Marketing-Talent.aspx

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