How To Avoid Potential "Blind Spots" When Interviewing
Eben Pagan teaches how to build a proactive interview process that reveals candidate blind spots through relationship building over time. He shares his virtual bench strategy and the power of having diverse people interview candidates to uncover insights you'd miss on your own.
Teachings 6
Build a 'virtual bench' by treating interviews as relationship-building processes over time rather than single evaluation events
Brad Smart's virtual bench concept, used since early days of Eben's business. Half dozen emails over months reveals response speed and thoughtfulness patterns
Use email exchanges and advice requests during the relationship building phase to evaluate how candidates think and respond
Asking candidates 'what would you do in this situation' during relationship building reveals problem-solving approach and insight quality
Have trusted people with different skill sets interview your candidates to reveal blind spots you can't perceive
Using friends who are developers, designers, entrepreneurs, and finance people as interviewers reveals different perspectives that single interviewer misses
Different personality types and skill sets will see qualities in candidates that you have no way of perceiving
Eben reports being 'surprised all the time' by what emerges from Brad Smart's tandem top grading interviews combined with relationship building steps
Conduct group debriefs after multiple people interview a candidate to piece together behavioral patterns
Group discussions reveal patterns like 'they kept making excuses for all their failures with everyone' that individual interviewers might miss
Use multiple team members from different departments to interview candidates for comprehensive evaluation
Having people from different departments and 'all over the place' provide varied insight that creates complete candidate picture
Quotable Moments 3
“when I stopped thinking thinking of it as an interview and I started thinking of it as building a relationship that at some point might turn into a work relationship my whole Paradigm changed”
— Eben Pagan“different people will see different things they will see things that you can't see you have no way of perceiving”
— Eben Pagan“I'm surprised all the time when we we have our process of getting to know someone over time and then we do we use Brad Smart's system of doing a tandem top grading interview what comes out of these relationship building steps what we learn it's incredible”
— Eben Pagan
How to Build a Virtual Bench for Proactive Hiring
A step-by-step process for building relationships with potential hires before you need them, using multiple perspectives to avoid hiring blind spots.
- 1
Identify potential stars
When you meet someone you recognize as a star, start a dialogue about potential future collaboration
- 2
Begin relationship building
Exchange emails over months, asking for advice on real situations to evaluate their thinking and responsiveness
- 3
Arrange diverse interviews
Have trusted people with different skill sets (developers, designers, entrepreneurs, finance people) interview the candidate
- 4
Include team members
If you have a team, have the candidate interview with people from different departments
- 5
Conduct group debrief
Get everyone together to compare notes and identify behavioral patterns that emerged across interviews
- 6
Look for consistent patterns
Pay attention to behaviors that multiple interviewers noticed, especially red flags like excuse-making
Questions Answered
How do you build a virtual bench for hiring
“if you build this thing called a virtual bench that's what Brad smart calls it and we've we've been doing it since uh since kind of the early days that you can start getting a feel for who someone is”
— Eben Pagan▶ 0:31
Start relationship-building conversations with potential stars before you need them. Exchange emails over months, ask for advice on situations, and see how they respond and think.
Why should multiple people interview job candidates
“different people will see different things they will see things that you can't see you have no way of perceiving”
— Eben Pagan▶ 3:07
Different people see qualities you can't perceive. Having trusted friends or team members with varied skill sets interview candidates reveals blind spots and behavioral patterns.
What should you look for in interview group debriefs
“oh they kept making excuses for all their failures with everyone oh that's interesting”
— Eben Pagan▶ 4:10
Look for patterns that emerge when comparing different interviewers' experiences. Group discussions often reveal consistent behaviors like excuse-making that individual interviews might miss.
How do you evaluate candidates before formal interviews
“you can say hey we've run into a situation over here what would you do if you were in this situation get a little bit of advice or Insight from them”
— Eben Pagan▶ 1:34
Use email exchanges and advice requests during relationship building. Ask candidates what they'd do in real situations you're facing to see their thinking process.
What is the virtual bench hiring strategy
“I typically think of the interview process as something that's more like a relationship building process I want to be getting to know someone over time”
— Eben Pagan
A proactive approach where you identify potential stars and build relationships with them over time, before you have immediate hiring needs. This reveals their true character and capabilities.
Summary
Building Your Virtual Bench Through Relationship Development
Eben introduces the concept of treating interviews as relationship-building processes rather than single evaluation events. He explains how exchanging emails and seeking advice over months reveals candidate qualities that traditional interviews miss, fundamentally changing how you approach talent acquisition.
Leveraging Multiple Perspectives to Eliminate Blind Spots
The core strategy involves having trusted people with different skill sets interview candidates to reveal qualities you cannot perceive. Eben emphasizes how developers, designers, entrepreneurs, and detail-oriented finance people each see different aspects of a candidate's potential and character.
Group Debriefs Reveal Critical Patterns
After multiple people interview a candidate, group discussions often reveal consistent behavioral patterns that individual interviewers might miss. These debriefs can uncover red flags like excuse-making or confirm positive qualities across different interaction styles.
Counterpoint
Claim: “Interviews are single evaluation events to assess candidate qualifications”
Reframe: Interviews are relationship-building processes that unfold over time to reveal true character and capabilities
Eben's paradigm shift from thinking of it as an interview to building relationships that might turn into work relationships changed his entire recruiting process
Claim: “You can effectively evaluate a candidate through your own perspective alone”
Reframe: Different people will see qualities in candidates that you have no way of perceiving
Using friends with different skill sets (developers, designers, entrepreneurs, finance people) as interviewers reveals blind spots and provides dramatic results
Key Points 6
Build a 'virtual bench' by treating interviews as relationship-building processes over time rather than single evaluation events
▶ 0:31Use email exchanges and advice requests during the relationship building phase to evaluate how candidates think and respond
▶ 1:34Have trusted people with different skill sets interview your candidates to reveal blind spots you can't perceive
▶ 2:05Different personality types and skill sets will see qualities in candidates that you have no way of perceiving
▶ 3:07Conduct group debriefs after multiple people interview a candidate to piece together behavioral patterns
▶ 3:39Use multiple team members from different departments to interview candidates for comprehensive evaluation
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