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A traditional job interview
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is basically a one-sided
high pressure interrogation,
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almost guaranteed to create
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significant psychological strain.
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Ironically, such stressful procedures
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can totally obscure
a person's true potential
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causing us to overlook a lot of people
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who could be great employees.
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We need a different way
to interview and screen candidates.
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One that will reveal
hidden potential and talent.
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[The Way We Work]
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[Made possible with
the support of Dropbox]
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Twelve years ago, I founded CY,
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an outsource call center
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staffed and managed entirely by underdogs.
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More than half
of our hundreds of employees
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are severely disabled.
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Others come from other
disadvantaged populations
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or just suffer from anxiety,
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low self-esteem, and lack of confidence.
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The problem I needed to solve
when we started out was
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that traditional
interviewing and screening,
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especially for entry level positions,
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are totally biased towards people
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who function well under intense stress.
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Now, if you're screening
for Navy SEALS, I totally get it,
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but the capacity to function under duress
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is totally irrelevant
if the actual job is stocking shelves
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or folding T-shirts,
unless of course it's Black Friday.
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Clara is a classic example.
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We met in CY's early days
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while she was waiting
for her job interview.
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Clara was 25 years old,
had cerebral palsy,
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and used a walker.
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She seemed quite nervous,
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but she was likable,
intelligent, and talkative.
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And yet just a short while later,
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her interviewer told me
that she had totally failed,
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that she couldn't string
two words together.
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The screening philosophy
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of "let's pick our employees
by viewing them at their worst,"
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not only overlooks disabled people,
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but anyone whose shine
is diminished under harsh pressure.
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We developed the reverse screening process
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to find potential.
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And as the name implies,
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we go about things
practically the opposite way
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traditional approaches do.
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In a nutshell, if you want to assess
a candidate's true potential,
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see how they function
at their best, not their worst,
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which for most of us
is when we're calm and relaxed,
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not stressed and anxious.
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So build screening procedures
specifically tailored
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to help candidates feel
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as emotionally comfortable as possible.
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Three examples how you can achieve that.
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Lower anxiety and insecurity.
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Start out by losing
the whole interrogation vibe.
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Rather, interviewers should
view themselves as hosts,
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be friendly, and welcoming.
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Choose an environment that's conducive
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to putting a candidate at ease,
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like making your interview room
look like a living room.
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People are most confident
discussing things
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about which they're
knowledgeable and passionate.
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So we ask candidates
to fill out a short questionnaire
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about their hobbies
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and we start out the interview
by discussing those
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so that candidates could bring forth
their verbal skills,
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strengths, and personality.
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Assess skills in everyday life situations
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with which the candidates are familiar.
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For instance, sales positions
require the ability to use persuasion.
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So ask the candidate to role play
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how they would persuade a neighbor
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to pay an extra maintenance fee
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for the renovations of their lobby.
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Looking for tough,
full-throttle negotiations?
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Ask the candidate to describe
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how they would persuade a teenager
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to not look at their phone
during a family dinner.
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Help them move beyond the stuck points
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to see how they adapt and learn.
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In the reverse screening process
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we offer candidates three lifelines.
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We call it "Who Wants to Be an Employee?"
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If the candidate asks for a hint,
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the interviewer will model
a few correct arguments
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and ask the candidate
to role play the scenario
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to see how convincingly
they absorb and convey those points.
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Finding people's true potential
makes for happier,
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more diverse, and more successful
companies and employees.
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Remember Clara? We hired her.
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She gradually improved
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until she hit her targets
of calls per hour,
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and then she kept on getting better.
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And nowadays Clara gives talks
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about how many years ago
no one, including herself,
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believed she had any potential at all.
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A job is so much more than a paycheck,
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especially for marginalized populations.
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By finding and hiring
those you might otherwise overlook,
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you will not only
benefit your own company,
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you will literally
transform people's lives.
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The opportunity to win
with underdogs is all around you.
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Make sure to grab it.