On GPAs and Brainteasers: New Insights From Google On Recruiting and Hiring

How can you improve your hiring success?   Read the following Corner Office article by NY Times' Adam Bryant who interviewed Laszlo Bock, senior vice president for people operations at Google.

Knowing what to look for and how to interview successfully are important steps in a successful selection, hiring and on-boarding process for businesses of all sizes.   The Profiles International assessment programs offered by Parsley Performance Solutions offers you a validated and reliable approach to measuring all current candidates as well as current employees who could benefit from better coaching by managers.   Our program includes reports based upon each person's scores including a customized Interview Guide with tailored questions based upon gaps in "Job Match" scores,  Candidate Matching Reports and a detailed "Coaching Report" for managers should you choose to hire the individual(s).   We have helped thousands of businesses make the most out of the interview process and determine if the candidate fits your unique culture, management style as well as the demands of the actual job position being filled.

~ David Parsley
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"Laszlo Bock, senior vice president for people operations at Google, says some data is essentially worthless in assessing job candidates: G.P.A.'s. for instance, except for recent college graduates, and test scores."

1. The ability to hire well is random.
“Years ago, we did a study to determine whether anyone at Google is particularly good at hiring,” Bock said. “We looked at tens of thousands of interviews, and everyone who had done the interviews and what they scored the candidate, and how that person ultimately performed in their job. We found zero relationship. It’s a complete random mess, except for one guy who was highly predictive because he only interviewed people for a very specialized area, where he happened to be the world’s leading expert.”
 
2. Forget brain-teasers. Focus on behavioral questions in interviews, rather than hypotheticals 
“We found that brainteasers are a complete waste of time. How many golf balls can you fit into an airplane? How many gas stations in Manhattan? A complete waste of time. They don’t predict anything. They serve primarily to make the interviewer feel smart.”
 
3. Consistency matters for leaders.

4. GPAs don’t predict anything about who is going to be a successful employee. 
   
READ ADAM BRYAN'T'S FULL COLUMN