Whoah, I was just reading Seth Godin’s ideas on interviewing candidates. It’s revolutionary…but also reckless at best.

In a nutshell, Seth says that hiring the traditional way (a 1 hour interview followed by 4 other one-hour interviews with colleagues, etc), is a waste of time and resources. You’re just looking for validation, he says. In this particular case, Seth is absolutely correct. Far too many times have I seen clients lose out on SUPER hires, because of the recruitment process being far too lengthy and time consuming. This has got to STOP!

But, what is interesting (and by “interesting” I mean, “absolutely nuts!”) is Seth’s proposed alternative.

Either

1: Avoid interviewing and just find candidates that will work with you on a trial, free or freelance basis first, before you hire them. or
2: The 5 minute interview.

Now, the 5 minute interview is novel, if not insane. The premise of it is the supposition that you know within 5 minutes whether you are going to hire someone or not. The following 55 minutes is just a way of validating the decision you made in the first 5 minutes. So, rather than waste your time, Seth says, forget it. eliminate the last 55 minutes, and just interview MORE people!

As a recruiter, I think this is insane. But, what is YOUR take? I’d love to get some input on this one!