During Monday’s all-hands, I got heavily influenced to create my own newsletter despite finger pointing everywhere all of this. Yet, here we are, doing the thing.

This is less about tea (perhaps a drop or two), and more about observations and learnings from a hinged enough People Ops professional slash therapist.

The first interview is always the most interesting, at least to me. This is where I get a sense/expression of who the candidate is, what they’ve done, if they’ve done the homework, and, more importantly, could they potentially be a fit for this role.

There is some secret to the sauce on how candidates pass through. I’ve recently had to prep another employee to take on screeners because I’ve frankly at capacity. But, in doing so, it was a good refresher on my interview flow, what kind of questions should I ask and expect, and what are the details I try to explore further.

In so many ways, it’s not that different from when I have to do consultations with new clients as a therapist. In consultations, I usually give a brief overview of who I am and how I practice and flip it over to them to learn more about what brings them into the space.

I often find that some interviewers (or candidates for that matter) don’t actually listen. Active listening is a skill! I think if you listen well, most interviews can move pretty seamlessly if you let it. It becomes less of checking the box from my question bank and more about exploring deeper into your experience.

I do watch out for people who interview well. It’s so easy to get wrapped in someone’s vibe that you might miss out on whether they can do the role or not. Personality hire or not, it’s too expensive just to go off vibes.

One of my favorite hiring stories to tell is when we hired our social media strategist. Full Gen Z-er, I grew white hair while she spoke. During our interview, she asked the following, “As HR Girlie/HR queen, what’s been an impactful initiative you’ve done in the last year?” Color me frazzled. She’s not only brilliant but she’s so immersed in the culture that it was so fun/shocking/refreshing/scary to see all of it in one human. She’s also so naturally funny that it was great to see that in those early interviews. She’s a good example where the vibes were right but the work spoke for itself.

It goes without saying, I’ll always appreciate when the candidate does homework on the company. If you haven’t, you can lie a little to me. I know that’s not right, but who am I to challenge the notion? You’d be surprised to know how many candidates ask me, “what is beehiiv?”

Lastly, during these interviews I try to be as upfront as possible about what to expect. No one likes being bait and switched on their roles especially during this critical stage of the development of the company. We’re at a pivotal time in this company’s growth and if you’re aren’t committed to the mission, it’s going to be really hard for folks to prosper.

So, to recap:

Sure, you can blame your parents for everything, but have you tried blaming your grandparents? Hint: it didn’t start with you.

First dispatch out! We’ll see how it goes.