It’s an all too familiar scenario for tech companies. After months of searching, a candidate with the right combination of skills and experience is hired. On paper, they have everything they need to succeed—except they don’t.

Whether it’s because of personality conflict or lack of commitment or an inability to deal with the rigors of a small company, they leave or are fired. Suddenly the company is six months further down the runway and facing engine trouble.

What went wrong?

“There’s a difference between hiring a resume and recognizing a personality who will excel,” says Mario Laudi, Managing Director of the Laudi Group, an executive search firm specializing in the emerging technology sector. “You need someone who’s skilled of course, but you also need to look for certain values and behaviours – that startup instinct”.

Laudi argues that startups have a unique set of needs that must be matched in order for a new employee to succeed. Nebulous terms such as ‘teamwork ‘and ‘culture’ rarely help to define that uniqueness.

Knockout factors and the key to behavioural interviews

The first step is to create a short profile of behaviours that would help an employee thrive in the role. Based on that profile, you then generate a series of questions that will help determine if a candidate exhibits those behaviours (see the questions below to get an idea). Questions should be aimed so candidates present you with multiple examples.

”You’re looking for recent, repetitive, instances of how they behaved in ‘x’ situation. The more recent the incident and the more frequently the person has done it, the more likely they are going to replicate it.”

Repetition is a key element of behavioural interviewing. Asking for multiple examples separates the merely well-prepared from those who sincerely possess the desired traits.

Of course, it’s important not to lose sight of the key skill sets required for the job. Knockout factors—an absolute set of required skills and experiences for the role,—can narrow down the field of candidates before the time-consuming interview process.

Behavioural hiring requires internal honesty

A behavioural hiring approach requires a great deal of honesty about both the merits and flaws of a role. Too often, a company will present candidates with a rosy picture of working life within the organization. That illusion won’t stand up to the employee’s actual experiences once they’re hired, leading to employee dissatisfaction, a high turnover rate and increased recruiting and retention costs.

“It’s pretty simple,” says Mario. “People are hired for their technical knowledge, promoted for their innovative capability and fired for their interpersonal behavior. The key is to know what behaviors you’re looking and define it clearly and succinctly.”

Sample Behavioural Hiring Questions for Startups

• “Tell me about a time when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done.”

• “Tell me about a time when you had too many things to do and you were required to prioritize your tasks.”

• “Give me an example of a time when you had to make a split second decision.”

• “Tell me about a time when you missed an obvious solution to a problem”

• “Describe a time when you were faced with a stressful situation that demonstrated your coping skills.”

• “Tell me about a time when your co-workers looked to you for guidance on an important project or task. What was the situation and how did you handle it?”

• “Tell me about a time when you were required to make an important decision without having complete information. What was the situation and what was the outcome?”

• “Tell me about a time when you were required to work with a team on an important project and you weren’t pleased with the speed at which it progressed. How did you deal with the situation?”

• “Describe a situation where you were required to work an extended period of time to accomplish a task. What was the situation and how did you keep yourself motivated?”