interviewing skills for talent acquisition
TRANSCRIPT
Interviewing Skills for Right talent acquisition
Talent Synergy Workshop17 & 18 Sept 2010
“All we can do is bet on the people whom we pick. So my whole job is picking the right people.”
Jack WelchFormer CEO, General Electric
Objectives for the day
To Acknowledge Interviewing as a strategic Organisational Image Projection Opportunity
To understand interviewing as a selection tool
To have a step by step guide to plan, prepare and conduct goal-directed interviews
To understand and review the skills required for effective interviewing
Cost of Getting it wrong
Sourcing and selection, relocation Salaries - candidate’s , manager’s Education and Training Management overheads Decreased productivity Decreased morale Mediocrity begets mediocrity
Top ten reasons why we make mistakes
1. We are under pressure to fill the position2. We don’t know what we want3. Candidates are better trained than us4. We are overwhelmed by GUT FEELING5. We experience THE HALO EFFECT6. We ask predictable, opinion based questions7. We accept canned responses8. We place an over-emphasis on can-do factors (as
opposed to will-do)9. We oversell the position10. We don’t have an interview strategy
Step One Define the Job
Step Two Assess the Candidate
Step Three Document & Decide
Three-step Process
Our Fundamental Principle
People come with certain well-established personal characteristics and we need to recognize these characteristics in an individual if we are to make good selection decisions. These personal characteristics are best measured by evaluating past performance.
The best predictor of future performance is past performance in similar situations
The Three Levels of Appraisal
Temperament/Behaviour
LEVEL II Attitudes & BeliefsKnowledge Self Motivation
Appearance Acquired Skills Stability & PersistenceManners Training Maturity & Judgment
Expressiveness Experience Aptitudes/CapacityTo Learn
Interests EducationGoals Credentials Patterns
GREATER GREATEST MINIMAL
LEVEL I
LEVEL III
Attitudes & Beliefs
Self Motivation
Stability & Persistence
Maturity & Judgment
Aptitude/Capacity to Learn
Temperament/Behaviour Patterns
LEVEL III
(I) Attitudes and Beliefs
A Positive, optimistic Approach to Life and Work
Confidence in One’s Own Abilities
Demonstrates High Personal Standards
(II) Self Motivation
Goes above and beyond what is expected
Attacks projects and tasks with energy
Passionate about work activities
(III) Stability and Persistence
Consistent Goals and Interests
Overcomes Obstacles
Finishes what one starts
(IV) Maturity and Judgment
Takes personal responsibility for actions
Will forego short-term rewards for longer-term benefits
Takes a common-sense approach
(V) Aptitudes / Capacity to Learn
A history of learning new skills
Continued education, often self-initiated
Readily absorbs information and new concepts
(VI) Temperament/Behaviour Patterns
Is competitive, likes to take control, or is happy to take direction
Prefers a structured or unstructured environment
Is oriented toward people or takes an analytical approach
Attitudes & Beliefs
Self Motivation
Stability & Persistence
Maturity & Judgment
Aptitude/Capacity to Learn
Temperament/Behaviour Patterns
LEVEL III
Bottom Line
Hiring Exceptional people has nothing to do with assessing surface qualities
Appraise people by their past actions over time
Appraising past actions is not easy, but, with training and practice, anyone can learn to do it
Managing an Interview
Smile, lean forward, look interested Listen actively Use prompters, maintain eye contact Give non judgmental responses Be encouraging Avoid getting into debates with the
candidateKeep the mood relaxed and conversational
W-A-S-P InterviewWelcome Put the candidate at
ease
» Greet Candidate» Introduce yourself» Chat
AskCollect information
» Ask questions» Probe» Observe
Supply Give Information» Answer questions
about company,culture etc
Part Close the interview» Decide further
course of action» Commit on a date
RAPPORT BUILDING
OPINION BASED
GENERAL, OPEN-ENDED
BEHAVIOUR BASED
FACT BASED
CLOSED-ENDED
SITUATIONAL
TYPES OF INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
What would you do if...
Situational Questions
Create a hypothetical job situation and ask how the candidate would respond
Ideal for candidates who do not have a great deal of directly-related experience
1. What are the key goals/expectations for the position?
Developing Behavioural Questions
focus on the pastgive directionsearch for critical incidents
2. List examples of the key challenges the individual will face to achieve those goals.
3. Turn these examples into questions. Remember to...
•What was the situation?
•What did you do?
•What was the outcome?
•By the way, who were you reporting to at that time?
Probes
1) Silence
“take your time”
restate question
2) Generalities
3) The Verbal Explosion
3 Common Responses to Behaviour-based Questions
Your Success As an Interviewer Depends on:
Clearly understanding the job requirements
Establishing rapport & getting open communication
Drawing out relevant information from the history
Interpreting the history within the context of the three levels
Making an informed decision
Initiative Questions
1. What career accomplishments are you most proud of?
2. How do you feel about being closely (or loosely) supervised?
3. What did you dislike about your most recent job?
4. What did you do to change it?
Motivation Questions
1. What are your goals for the next two years? Next five years?
2. What have you done to continue your education that is related to your career?
3. What does "job security" mean to you?
Attitude Questions
1. What job values are important to you? 2. What do you think of your most recent
boss? 3. How do you feel about doing routine
work?
Interviewer types
Professor Salesman Timekeeper Programmer Butcher Friend Harassed
