Software People Inspiring

Hiring A Pianist

Today we have to hire a pianist for the cocktail lounge (y'know, just next to the exit to the rooftop helicopter landing pad).

I'm not a pianist myself, so I asked a friend who is a Pianist Management & Transformation Consultant. He is highly knowledgeable on these things.

He recommended a Pianist Recriutment Agency called Piano People to select candidates for us. They placed ads in relevant publications (Radio Times, Dr Who Monthly, Club International etc) and filtered out a dozen of the best CVs from pianists who applied.

They faxed the best CVs to me. TBH, on some of them it does rather look as though someone has randomly inserted the word "piano" and "pianist" into their job histories. For example, "Oversaw global program of MS Office training, and played the piano" doesn't quite ring true to me. But I'm sure Piano People know what they're doing.

Anyway, we got a dozen strong candidates for possible interviews. Of course, everbody's incredibly busy what with Christmas coming up, and the mid-term US elections, not to mention the troubling bee decline. So there isn't time to see all twelve face-to-face.

My Piano-expert friend has kindly prepared some multiple choice questions we can use to screen them over the phone, so we only have to interview 2-3 of the very best in depth.

I didn't understand his questions, but I'm told they would be a surefire way of weeding out the weaker candidates:

Q1: Is a piano...
a. A mode of underwater transportation?
b. Another name for a banking ombudsman?
c. A musical instrument?

Q2: Which if the following are NOT notes found on a standard piano?
a. A
b. F#
c. %

Q3: Who wrote Beethoven's famous Moonlight Sonata?
a. Ludwig Van Beethoven
b. Elton John
c. Batman

After we've whittled the list down, we'll ask the candidates to come in to the office and have a much more in-depth discussion about their experience and suitability for the job. Hopefully it'll work out okay, but I am a bit worried that I won't be able to pick the best.

I asked my friend "How will I know if they're a good pianist?", to which he replied "Simple. You look them straight in the eye and ask them 'Are you really a good pianist?' You'll just know if they're lying."

I suppose that's why it's so important to interview pianists in person. It certainly put my mind at rest, I can tell you.

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