Selecting and hiring people to be Community Connectors can be a difficult task. What type of experience and education should the applicant have? Should the person be out spoken? How can I find the right person? Should he or she be an extrovert?

I recall John McKnight telling me that I should look for 3 traits:

- fearless

- well-connected

- passionate about people, neighbourhoods and the power of citizens

Unfortunately, working with agencies that provide services there is often a different set of hiring criteria. Also, a typical interview process does not lend itself to clearly identifying people with these types of characteristics. Even the job description and ads tend to be confusing and not reflective of the real nature of community work. Spending time in neighborhoods and meeting people are seldom mentioned in descriptors that I have seen, but are 2 key components of this work.

I have struggled for years about how to create an interview process that identifies characteristics fearlessness and passion for connecting people in the community. Out in neighborhoods I have met citizens that are passionate about people and community and have met people who I thought would be amazing Connectors, but very few interview questions and responses have left me with that same feeling.

This led to an idea: what if we did a slightly different type of interview and invite applicants to spend time in a neighbourhood, meeting people as part of the interview process? Would this provide information that was useful in selection? If nothing else would it share clearly what our mission is? Would it be a positive experience? What if it was a disaster? And what if it rained buckets?

We recently had an opportunity to hire a new Connector and this would provide a great opportunity to showcase key ingredients of Asset Based Community Development (ABCD). It would also provide a great chance to practice radical hospitality, welcoming each applicant and sharing and reflecting on this experience with him or her.

We started by rethinking the job posting. We left out the system words and lingo and focused on people, neighbourhoods, hospitality and invitations. Within a week, we had received close to 80 applications.

The selection process started with the phone call to invite 20 of the applicants in for the revamped interview. I told them why I was calling and offered them an invitation to meet. At that point everyone seemed excited and eager to be invited. Then I told them that we were trying something new and what we hoped would be fun. I informed the applicants that part of the interview would be spent outdoors so to dress comfortably and for the weather. Most of the applicants were very excited to be invited to do something different and what was being described as fun.

However, there was a percentage (15-20%) that seemed alarmed by the invitation and would ask nervous questions about the job or then politely say they had a conflict that day. In all of the cases that people sounded apprehensive, they declined my invitation for the interview. Coincidently, each of the applicants that withdrew also had experience working in the disability services field. Self-selection out served as a helpful tool.

Here is a brief summary of the process that we developed:

Six to ten applicants would arrive for an interview at the same time. They would be greeted warmly and engaged in conversation as they arrived. Once all had arrived I would describe the initiative we were embarking on and then describe the neighborhood experience they would set out on.

The applicants then spent time 45 minutes to an hour in the neighbourhood with the following guidelines:

- Meet one to three people and learn about their gifts and what they are connected to

- Be as natural as possible (taking notes was discouraged)

- Do not saturate a person or place

- Have fun

Each person was told that we thought they would have a great experience connecting with welcoming people and places, but that sometimes it does not go so well and that would also be okay. They were told that its no reflection on their ability to connect, it just happens sometimes. I gave each applicant my phone number in case they got lost or ran into any difficulties. And they all headed out. In most of the sessions one person would inform us after the introduction that this job was not for them and leave

The return of the group was an exciting experience. They came back one by one and were eager to share stories. Some people even returned with items they had been given or picked up on along their journey. When each person returned, we had a discussion around 3 questions:

- Tell us about one person you met?

- What struck you about this experience?

- What surprised you about this experience?

The hope of the discussion was to gain insight into applicants ability to listen, tell a story and be a contributing team member. As we proceeded through the discussion the other team members were paying attention to assess each applicant on:

- Did they appear to have a gift focused approach?

- Were they able to effectively build relationships?

- Do they communicate effectively?

- How do they appear to function as a team member?

- Did the applicant appear to enjoy the activity?

The discussion was lively, interesting and at times very emotional. Each person had a story to tell and the applicants were able to engage with one another versus just answering interview questions. There was a buzz and excitement to the group. We tried to keep the discussion to an hour but I think they group may have stayed for hours.

Later that week, five of the twenty applicants were invited back for a more in depth individual discussion. These conversations felt as if we were reconnecting with friends. The applicants were still telling stories about their experiences during their neighborhood exploration. Some had even connected again with people they met during the first interview. One thing for sure is that an asset-based interview creates a space for people to share their gifts. This is what we are about.

Joe Erpenbeck

www.joeerpenbeck.com

513-646-9493

Director of Asset Based Community Development

Vancouver, BC