the interviewer's book: hiring the right person

7/29/2019 The Interviewer's Book: Hiring the Right Person

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The Interviewers Book

Hiring the Right Person

Mary Hanson and Brian McIvor


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Table of Contents

Foreword ..................................................................... xiPreace ......................................................................... xiii

1. Why You Have to Get the Interview Right.......... 1Why Getting It Right Is Important ...................... 2

Te Role o the Interview in Helping to Choosethe Right Person ............................................... 3Te Interview Challenge ....................................... 4Which ype o Interviewer Are You? .................... 5Are You Ready to Interview? ................................ 8

2. First Tings First Knowing What Youre

Looking For and Spreading the Word............... 13ake a Good Look at What You Need ................. 14Its Good to alk ................................................... 15

Whats the Job? ..................................................... 16What a Good Job Advert Includes ...................... 20Where o Go Fishing ........................................... 21Using Available echnologies ............................... 23


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3. From Mountain to Molehill Shortlisting.......... 29

Reading Applications and CVs MoreInsightully ......................................................... 30Getting the Shortlist ogether ............................. 33Our CV Pet Hates ............................................... 37

4. Game Plan ............................................................ 41What ype o Interview Best Suits Your

Needs? ................................................................ 42How to Best Use Your Resources or

Interviewing ....................................................... 46Other Selection Aids ............................................ 47Giving Structure to the Interview ......................... 52Phases o the Interview ......................................... 54Interviewing with Others ...................................... 58

Interviewing Your Colleagues InternalPromotions ......................................................... 60

5. Getting the Chemistry Right............................... 65Creating the Right Atmosphere ............................ 66Stress Interviewing ............................................... 75Role o Humour in Interviewing .......................... 76

Listening Skills ..................................................... 77Note-taking ........................................................... 79

6. Asking the Right Questions to Get the BestCandidate .......................................................... 85

Te Power o Questions ........................................ 87Questions: An Open and Shut Case? .................... 87

Asking Good Questions........................................ 88Questions Tat Are Not What Tey Seem .......... 90Get More In: Use a Funnel! .................................. 93


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Probing a Candidates Education .......................... 94

Probing a Candidates echnical Expertise ........... 96

7. Getting the Full Story: Competency-basedInterviewing...................................................... 99

Introduction to Competency-basedInterviewing ...................................................... 100

How Does It Work? ............................................. 101

What Do We Mean by a Competency? ............... 102How Many Competencies Do I Need to

Look For? .......................................................... 103Using a Competency-based Framework o

Questions ........................................................... 104Avoid aking Tings at Face Value ....................... 107

8. Unravelling the Answers....................................... 111Dealing with Misrepresentation: Can You

Believe All the Interviewee ells You? ............... 112Unravelling the Answers: What Am I

Getting Here? .................................................... 113Seven Strategies to Sharpen Your Investigative

Skills .................................................................. 117

Spot the Star Perormers ....................................... 122Eliminate the Duds ............................................... 123Spotting the Coached Candidate .......................... 127

9. Keeping It Legal................................................... 131Wired o Be Biased .............................................. 132Saints and Devils ................................................... 133How Biased Are You? ........................................... 136Interpreting How a Candidate Dresses or

Interview ............................................................ 137


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Legal Obligations.................................................. 138

Some Nasty Surprises ........................................... 138Keeping Yoursel Honest ...................................... 140Candidates with a Disability ................................ 142Keeping Your Advertisements Free From

Discrimination ................................................... 143

10. Making the Final Decision................................... 149

Marking Schemes ................................................ 150Checking Reerences ............................................. 157Last-minute Reservations ..................................... 160

Postscript ..................................................................... 163


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Foreword

Any manager who has had to fnd new employees throughan interview process will know just how di cult it can be tomake the right choice. Tere are potential recruits who shinein an interview, but whose perormance on the job turns outto be less stellar. Ten there are those who struggle to put

themselves across well in an interview, but turn out to beideal employees, motivated and talented. How can you tellwho the right person is? Tere is no magic answer, but themessage rom this book is that, i the proper preparation isdone, then the chances o a successul hire are much higher.

Interviews will never be a perect process or choosingpeople but they are, usually, the best way we have. And

making the right choice is so important. For managers andteam leaders at all levels, having the right people is vital. Apool o good talent and high perormance is the liebloodo any business, while as this book underlines the priceo choosing the wrong person is high. In act, the costs oreceiving less than the best perormance rom employees isimmeasurable and can almost always be traced back to poorhiring decisions. Companies spend time and money tryingto compensate or gaps in perormance but, oten, all that ispossible is limiting the damage.


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Te act that you have bought this book or are consider-

ing doing so is a sign that, as a potential interviewer, you eelyou need some guidance and are prepared to put some timeinto learning how to conduct the best job search process. Tisis surely worthwhile. Te temptation o busy managers, otennot used to interviewing, is to hope that it will all work outand that the best candidate will somehow be clearly evidentater a brie, unplanned discussion. I only it was that easy.

Written by experts, this book is an accessible, practi-cal guide, easy to read and ull o common sense. It doesnot contain a magical shortcut to fnding the best person.

Tere isnt one. Instead, ater underlining that it is reallyvital to invest time and eort into the recruitment process,it outlines what you need to do at each stage, rom search-ing or candidates, to screening applicants, to the interviewprocess itsel. Te authors have years o experience, and itshows. Tey illustrate clearly how the best managers can reapa rich reward rom advance thinking and preparation, romcareul screening and rom a orensic approach to deciding

what inormation they want rom candidates and how theywill get it, right down to just what questions to ask.

Tis book addresses the whole recruitment process in ahighly practical and accessible way. Tere is something in itor everyone who ever has to carry out a job interview, whethera seasoned or inexperienced interviewer, rom CEO to frst-line team leader. It can be dipped into, scanned through, readcompletely in one sitting or kept as a reerence to be used asa reresher beore you don the interviewer mantle yet again.

You cant aord to make the wrong decision; this book willundoubtedly help you make wiser choices.

Clif aylorEditor, Te Sunday Business Post


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Preface

Over many years we have been asked into companies o allshapes and sizes to oer practical assistance on aspects orecruitment, selection and perormance management. Inthe process we have seen how managers and team leadersgrapple with the business o selection, some with more

success than others. We have seen genuine attempts to makethe best possible decisions about who is the best person orthe job, but we have also seen the other end o the scale,

where slipshod practices have been used, generally in aneort to fll a vacancy too quickly. Even in companies wherea lot o time and eort is put into the selection process, thebest decisions are not always made.

As management consultants, we have worked with manycompanies on aspects o managing perormance at work,and it is in the nature o our business that we are usuallyasked to work in a remedial context, where someone is not

working out well in their job. Te investment needed to tryto get someone on track and perorming adequately canbe huge, and the process is not always successul. o us itis clear that these situations oten result rom a bad hiringdecision in the frst place.


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Over the years we have provided training to many

hundreds o interviewers, and in the process we have devel-oped a sense o what does and doesnt work in the selectionfeld. Our clients have valued above all else our use o apractical and relevant approach to interviewing. Tis bookis a distillation o that approach, a pocket guide o sorts,

which can be read in one sitting or dipped into as required.It is intended primarily or anyone who has to interview, at

any level, and has relevance to both the public and privatesectors, and to big and small companies. It will act as a ullguide to interviewing or inexperienced interviewers, butalso has plenty o useul tips or the practised interviewer

who might be orced to rethink some o their techniquesater reading it.

We have designed this book with easy reading in mind. Ittakes the reader rom the pre-interview stage o preparationto the fnal selection. It gives guidelines and advice on howto get the most out o the interview process and, in so doing,how to get the most out o each candidate. You will thenhave enough inormation on each candidate to decide whois the best match or the job on oer and or your organisa-

tion. Te Interviewers Book will give you answers to commonquestions that we are both asked regularly, such as:

How can I connect with the candidate in a meaningulway and get below the surace to discover the real personbehind the application?

How can I remain air, objective and ocussed?

What kinds o questions should I ask or avoid asking? What is the latest thinking about this competency-

based interviewing that so many recruiters are using?


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How can I work best with other interviewers to make

sure we are all happy with the decision?

Each chapter is structured so that the thinking behind ourapproach is laid out at the beginning. Tere are also sectionstowards the end o each chapter that give summary tipsrelevant to that chapters content: details on current bestthinking are given in what the pros say; there are details o

what the best interviewers do; details o things you shouldavoid are provided in the lazy interviewer section; andthings that you might try or think urther about are outlinedin the coaches corner. Tese lists will be especially helpulas reminders to the reader just beore an interview.

We are passionate about the importance o choosingthe right person or any available job. A suitably motivatedand talented employee or manager will make a valuablecontribution to the success o your company or organisa-tion. We have worked with so many people at all levels inorganisations who have the opportunity or personal growthand ulflment by virtue o being suitably matched with arole that allows them to reach their potential and, thereby,

enhance the quality o their lie hugely. Tere is great joyand satisaction in knowing that you had some part to playin making selection decisions that can lead people towardsthat level o ulflment.

Mary Hanson and Brian McIvor

Clickhere to order PaperbackClickhere to order eBookClickhere to order Kindle version
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the interviewer's book: hiring the right person

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