Interview process a two-way street

Alto CEO Bruce Skinner

“Relationships don’t usually begin with a marriage proposal, and the recruitment process should be no different,” says Alto CEO Bruce Skinner.

As the head of a thriving Aberdeen-based Managed Services and Security Provider (MSSP) which was set up in 2009, Bruce is well accustomed to putting prospective employees through their paces during interviews – but it was stepping away from some of the stereotypes which truly freed him to find the people he needs to help his business flourish.

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“Our entire corporate ethos is built on a relationship-based attitude so it’s natural that this should encompass our people as well as our customers,” says Bruce.

“I strongly believe that companies have to remember that they’re employing people, not just employees and it’s crucial to get a sense of the whole person.  The only way to do that is to invest time in the relationship from the start.”

“Our first step is a psychometric test to give an indication of how someone may show up in an interview.  These are structured to work out if a candidate is trying to positively influence and force the results – the secret is to be true to yourself and answer all the questions as honestly as possible.  The more honest, the more likely you are to make it to the next step.”

“From an initial telephone call, we will invite candidates in (or online) for a chat – although the purpose of that first meeting is an inversion of what lots of people expect because we don’t ask the questions, the interviewee does.”

Bruce says, as well as answering questions, this helps him, and his fellow interviewers get a true sense of the individual.  He continues: “A CV tells me some of the qualifications and experience someone has, but a CV doesn’t really tell me who they are as a person.  A CV charts a professional journey in a very flat way, but it doesn’t really do justice to a human story.” 

“What do they do away from work?  What are they passionate about?  What would they rate as their greatest personal achievement?  Most people will answer that question with a work-related response because they think that’s what we want to hear, but what we really want is for a person to share something they have accomplished outside of work.  From that foundation, we can get a much better sense of a person and things are then more likely to fall into place correctly for all concerned.”

For Alto, the result of removing what Bruce terms the “CV lottery” has been building the best team possible with others now beating a path to become part of it.  Bruce adds: “People who join us often say it’s not like anywhere else they’ve worked and it can take them time to adjust to our culture which encourages challenging eachother, speaking and listening.  In everything we do, internally and externally, communication is priority – and the keystone is having a hierarchy of job roles, not a hierarchy of people.”

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