Interviewing and Evaluating Candidates

Once you’ve aggregated a collection of candidates for the roles you are trying to fill, you’ll need to assess and interview applicants to ensure they’re a great fit for your business.  We recommend evaluating your applicants across three dimensions - their personal attributes, their technical skills, and their industry knowledge.  Remember, that personal attributes, and attitude specifically, reign supreme in the evaluation process.  Said more clearly, an employee may have the best technical understanding of how to be the best captain in the entire world, but if they have a poor attitude, they’re not a fit for TourScale.

Personal Attributes

Personal attributes can be defined as who an applicant is as a person.  The most important attribute to evaluate above all else is attitude.  When assessing your applicants’ attitude, see to understand whether they are:

• Proactive self-starters

• Problem solvers and not problem bringers

• Positive in the face of adversity

You can best understand your applicant’s attitudes by asking open-ended questions like “Tell me about a time when you didn’t have the knowledge to complete a task.”  Leave the question open ended and look for signs of someone who was positive about the situation, proactively attempted to solve the problem, can explain in detail what they did, and is excited about being part of the solution.  Discard candidates who complain, don’t voluntarily share their part in bringing solutions, or point blame to other parties.

For a more in depth understanding about how to hire for attitude, we recommend reading “Hiring for Attitude” by Mark Murphy.

Technical Ability

Technical ability can be defined as knowing how to complete a specific task or set of tasks in a particular function.  While technical ability is not as important as attitude, there is a level of technical competency required for particular positions.  For example, someone who applies for a captain’s position without proper licensing, would clearly not meet the minimum requirements for technical ability.  While every position will vary, be sure to have detailed technical questions ready to go to assess an applicant’s technical ability.  Remember, proven prior experience is always better than someone who has a theoretical understanding of how to complete a technical task.

Knowledge

Knowledge is a candidate’s understanding of the overall industry.  For example, a candidate with good knowledge would have an extensive understanding of how to run a tour, interact with guests, operate a commercial vessel and would know maritime law and regulation.  Just like technical ability, knowledge is less important than personal attributes, but there may be minimum knowledge requirements depending on the position.