Hiring Someone Your Level or Above

Question

I’m a low-level employee at a tech company. A few minor promotions, but not a lead or manager. I am the senior most (of 2) in my department in my office. Our boss (director level) works remotely, but his boss (VP level) works in the same office as me.

We are on a hiring spree and have open reqs in my department. My boss’s boss asked me to take a look at some candidates, many of which have more experience than me and would likely require offers above my position to consider them. However, because of our company’s internal tooling and processes, they would probably need a year or more of training, likely from me, to be effective in those roles. (Possibly notable, my boss is on family vacation while this is going on).

How should I handle this situation? For me personally, it seems best to recommend and hire people with less experience, and angle for an official promotion to lead/manager once our department hits critical mass. But If we run into a great candidate who would be my new boss (perhaps a lead/manager between me and my director) if hired, how should I handle it, both during the hiring process and during training?

Answer 1

Collaborate with the hiring manager (or closest role) to develop the requirements for the role, and asses the candidates against those requirements. If you've interviewed/hired before, you're likely a proficient interviewer. What you might lack is an awareness of the specific capabilities that a more senior role requires.

Be professional and patient in training and you'll both do fine. Don't use training time to show off or exaggerate annoyances that you want fixed. Have a great training plan before your trainee arrives, pass on the knowledge, answer questions with patience, and be responsive to requests for help in the future.

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I'm assuming "take a look at" includes interviewing, so here are some good interviewing practices that will help you ensure things go well even if you don't know the role well:

• Use evidence-based interviews. An interviewee should demonstrate (unprompted) the capabilities in the job requirements while describing a past experience.
• Be consistent between interviews. Judge candidates for the same role against the same requirements using the same prompts.
• Seek alignment between interviewers. Ensure another manager or leader in the firm also has an opportunity for an in-person or phone interview.