Stephan Spencer talks with Jason Barnard about his 7-step hiring process. Stephan Spencer has 25 years of experience in the SEO industry under his belt, having hired hundreds and hundreds of people. In this episode, he shares the process he has developed to make sure he hires the right people for his team. He has 7 steps, each one designed to sort the wood from the chaff and hire the right person. The techniques range from Rock 'n Roll (the “No Brown M&Ms” clause used by Van Halen's David Lee Roth) to fun (riddles), to marketing (split testing job ads) and simply putting people on the spot.Listen to then end to learn some of his riddles and trick questions! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbhZhNmDt1g In partnership with Wordlift What you'll learn 1:04 Stephan’s Brand SERP and his image format system for Twitter5:00 Step 1 – Stephan's use of riddles and trick questions in his initial hiring process8:57 The reason behind the “No Brown M&Ms” clause popularized by David Lee Roth, and how Stephan uses it to pre-select his employees11:30 Step 2 – Checking a potential employee's social media (tips and tricks)12:50 - The importance of setting the culture for the entire team15:16 Step 3 – A/B split testing job ads to see what performs better by platform and region17:11 Step 4 – How to filter out unqualified candidates, and how to prepare a client to do the same21:17 A look into Stephan's vast experience in the hiring process and a couple of examples of his trick questions26:19 Stephan's method on withholding judgment towards a candidate during an interview28:49 Question: Do you do online interviews?30:35 Step 5 – Specific questions that can prove expertise on an interview32:38 Step 6 – Bring in another interviewer for a second opinion34:00 The importance of personality assessments for team members34:46 Step 7 – Confirm the fit by having a trial period or a trial project36:13 The finale: One of Stephan's riddles