Beyond academic credentials, we also look for certifications. If someone is going to come in as a senior IT project manager, they must have a certification as a project manager. If you're coming in to work in a clinical area as a business analyst, your position may actually require that you be a nurse. We're getting to the point now where we're developing exercises for our technical staff. It is not enough for you to tell me you're good at your job. I may give you an assignment and tell you to come back and show me that you know how to complete it. We're increasingly looking for evidence that you not only are who you say you are, but that you have accomplished what you say you have.
What do you consider a successful hire?
In many ways, if we make a successful hire, chances are that person will stay for a while. When I look at people who I think have been successful in the organization, they are-by and large-people who have come in at the right level and progressed through the organization. Every couple of years, these people are looking for promotional opportunities. We have a strong emphasis on continued education, so if you've been a successful hire, I want to know that you've gone out, looked and taken advantage of our educational opportunities. We have people who come in on time, take an hour for lunch, and leave at 5 p.m., and they are important people in the organization, but a really successful hire is somebody who is hungry to learn, move in the organization and embraces all the aspects of change that we have. Working in a place like M.D. Anderson is like working in quicksand; things are constantly shifting under your feet and you have to be fairly fast to keep up with that. People who are successful do that very well.
什么是你犯的最大错误雇用，什么？你从中学到了什么？
I like to give people the opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities even if there is not a perfect match and I've been disappointed after hiring someone who didn't step up to the opportunity. I'd like to tell you that I made that mistake once, that I learned from it and never made it again. The problem is, I've made that mistake a number of times. I think it's my nature. I'm someone who really likes to give people opportunities, to see people grow and step up, and who tends to give people the benefit of the doubt. In some situations, that has worked, and when it works, it is a fabulous thing to see.
什么是最坏的采访中你曾经进行？
我这辈子最糟糕的面试电导率ucted was with a staff member whose qualification for the position was a bachelor's degree in a field related to the position for which we were hiring. This person had been doing similar work but did not have the specific degree we were looking for. That was the dilemma. I was interviewing this lovely person who looked at me across the table and said, "You know, Dr. Vogel, you don't qualify for this position either." I said, "You know, you're right, but then again, I'm not applying for it." It wasn't the worst interview, but it was a fascinating twist in the process.
Have you ever had a case where you really liked somebody you interviewed, but your team didn't like them? If so, did you hire them, and did the person work out?
I don't think I've ever had a situation where I've had someone go through a series of interviews where the team didn't think the person would work, while I thought the person was fabulous. I think the reason is because when a candidate goes through a series of interviews-particularly when they are interviewing with the people they will be managing-if those people come back and say they're not comfortable with the candidate, you're setting yourself up for a very difficult situation as CIO if you override that process.
我有相反的情况，即团队成员喜欢谁我不认为这是一个不错的选择的候选人。它发生了，当团队成员都没有在自己的采访过程中特别有效。当我雇谁直接为我工作的人，我正在寻找非常特别的种种经历和化学。从某种意义上说，我是一个承担风险，因为我做最后的招聘决策。
Do you require unanimity on a hire?
There is usually some dissention because you have six or seven people involved in the interview process and not everybody is going to think the candidate walks on water. For directors, I make the final decision. For managers, the individual director makes the final decision. I've even interviewed manager candidates and told the director that I wasn't sure it would work, but it is their call. I'll give them the benefit of my experience and questions, but at the end of the day, it is their decision. I think that's one of the most difficult things that a CIO can do: to let staff make their own decisions because the CIO will pay for some of the consequences if it does not work out.
What should candidates wear to an interview?
That's an interesting question, because if you're talking to programmers and they're dressed in sports shirts and slacks and their boss is wearing a sport coat and tie, you probably ought to wear a tie to the interview. I tend to be more conservative about dress. It was an interesting cultural experience going from New York to Houston. New York tends to be much more formal in terms of dress codes; by and large it was suits and ties and white shirts. Houston is much more laid back. My direct reports and I discussed the issue for months. I have relaxed my standards since being in Texas. It is hot, so the expectation that you should always wear a suit or wear hose does not work when it is 95 degrees and 95 percent humidity. As a general rule for an interview, you create a far stronger impression if you overdress than not.
What should candidates keep in mind during job interviews, whether they're interviewing for a CIO position or to work for a CIO?
For someone interviewing with a CIO or to be a CIO, you should talk about what you've accomplished, how you work in complex organizations, what teams you have been a member of and how that team's success has been enjoyed by others. You might want to give examples of your leadership on a team and what you have done for your customers. I want to know what teams you've been on, what you've contributed, and you have to be dead honest.
我认为，在接受媒体采访时，告诉我你的失败最愚蠢的问题之一。没有人喜欢谈论他们的失败。很少有个人的成功和极少数个人的失败。如果面试官完全集中在这，这不是一个现实的讨论有。
Do you have any pet peeves during an interview?
谁认为人们他们是下来的梭子鱼和谁在他们最疯狂的梦想无法想象，为什么你会不会雇佣他们当场最重要的事情。我采访的人，坦率地说，他们的态度告诉我，他们不理解我们工作世界的复杂性，这是不幸的。而且，顺便说一下，把你的黑莓或手机关机你进入房间之前。
有什么建议可以提供关于他们的候选人的简历，感谢信和求职信？
Thank you notes are almost a lost art, but I continue to be impressed with people who write a follow up thank-you note emphasizing their fit with the position. What I find most difficult is when someone shows up for an interview and says that they don't know much about M.D. Anderson and asks me to tell them about it. That's something they could have learned had they checked our website and done their homework.
If someone is a quality candidate, would they have a better shot contacting you directly or should they go through human resources?
我们的人力资源部门可能每年处理3000至4000殿试。我们拥有的拥有大约1.7万名员工的基础上，所以也有很多，在流动电子或纸张上简历的。这可能是真的，直接发送照会CIO至少一份简历得到了一些关注。如果我收到一封信或恢复，它看起来像别人谁可能会感兴趣的我的导演之一，我将简历发送给导演，让他们处理。我也将它发送到人力资源部。
As a state agency, we do have a fairly formal hiring process, and we have to be sure that we comply with all of the relevant hiring regulations and EEOC requirements, so everybody has to go through human resources at the end of the day. I do get some résumés by e-mail that I do discard because the e-mail is poorly written or the résumé has nothing to do with anything we do. One of the lessons that people need to learn is networking, so when someone is recommended to me from somebody I know, I certainly pay more attention to that than a blind letter. Networking really does work.
What three interview questions do you always ask and why?
我想知道你完成了什么以及如何哟u've accomplished it. That tells me whether you think you're the only guy who's actually done it or whether you were part of a team.
The other question I typically ask is, What do you see yourself doing in three to four years down the road? One of the things that I'm interested in is whether this particular opportunity fits into your career path, and I want to know that you've thought about your career. If your response is that you think the job you're applying for looks like an interesting job, but you don't have a clue what it is going to do for you, you don't know where you're going to be in four to five years or what you want to do in four to five years, that tells me that this person will end up drifting. I want to know that this particular job is something that you think is a fit for you given your career plans because we're deciding whether it is a fit for us. I think this goes back to the successful hire question-a successful hire being in some ways someone who's an organizational fit as well as an individual fit. When those two things come together, as someone once said, it is a beautiful result.
约翰·曼恩is associate director of The Alexander Group. He works out of the executive search firm's office in Houston.
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This story, "Cancer center's IT pros keep up with doctors' needs" was originally published byCIO .