The Talgo Blog

Not Subscribed Yet?

Join hundreds of other founders, investors and talent leaders and get the Talgo Talent Tuesdays newsletter sent directly to your inbox each week. Actionable advice, zero fluff. 

Five Resolutions

Happy New Year! Here are five resolutions you can make to improve your interviewing and hiring game in 2024:

  1. Sharpen Role Definitions: Commit to putting down—in writing—a Target that outlines measurable, time-bound results for each role. Pair them with sharp, differentiated competencies that clea
  2. ...
Continue Reading...
Drucker on Talent

One of my favorite business thinkers is Peter Drucker, author of The Effective Executive. Here are a few selected quotes, along with my reflections on how they apply to interviewing and hiring:

“What the executive needs are criteria that enable him to work on the truly important, that is, on cont...

Continue Reading...
Interview Coaching

When coaching interviewers, I find myself giving certain advice repeatedly. Here are three areas that almost every new interviewer struggles with.

1. Vocalize More.

We help condense the nuanced concept of rapport (curiosity, fascination) into a memorable tagline: Smile, Nod, Vocalize. Most people ...

Continue Reading...
High Accountability

I've been facilitating CEO/founder 360 feedbacks and noticed a recurring theme: most leaders and organizations grapple with accountability. It's a well-known concept, yet creating a high-accountability culture is hard.

Everyone knows—intellectually—how important accountability is. Of course you’re ...

Continue Reading...
A Common Myth

The idea of a perfect initial question is a myth in the world of interviewing. A question that promises to unlock a candidate's entire potential or flawlessly predict their future performance doesn't exist. If it did, candidates would rehearse their answers, turning interviews into scripted plays ra...

Continue Reading...
Avoid Boring People

Curiosity isn't just a trait; it's an essential skill for interviewers. We all have an internal sense of when we are bored and when we are engaged, and you can actually channel this into an tactical compass for becoming a better, more precise interviewer.

First, a note on relevance. The interview s...

Continue Reading...
Double Down on Network Sourcing

Our hiring philosophy stands clear: source actively from your networks. Make this your primary strategy, enhanced by recruiters, and rely less on passive tactics like job postings.

Here are the advantages of a network-based sourcing approach for your company:

Higher Quality Candidates. Top perform...

Continue Reading...
How to Not "Like" Candidates

One of the biggest dangers in hiring is that you end up swapping out a difficult question (is this the right person for the job?) for a much easier one (do I like this person?). It’s easy to see why that can lead to less-than-desirable hiring outcomes.

What’s more difficult is devising a series of ...

Continue Reading...
Keeping It Simple

When generating a Target (Results Expected + Competencies) there are several questions that you can use to clarify what is essential for the role.

For Results Expected, you can ask questions like: “Imagine this person is a star in 6-12 months. What data would you rely on to make this case?” And of ...

Continue Reading...

Enjoying These Articles?

Join hundreds of other founders, investors and talent leaders and get the Talgo Talent Tuesdays newsletter sent directly to your inbox each week. Actionable advice, zero fluff.Â