SELECTION INTERVIEWING SKILLS

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SELECTION INTERVIEWING: BASIC QUESTIONS

Can the candidate do the job?

Will the candidate do the job?

How will this candidate fit into the organization?

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SELECTION INTERVIEWING: OVERALL APPROACH

Content ensure you cover all the areas you need to explore.
Contact ensure you establish a relationship (rapport) that will encourage the candidate to respond to your questions.

Control maintain control over the interview, dont let the candidate digress, and keep to time.

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PREPARING FOR THE INTERVIEW

Check person specification.

Decide on approach to interview and timing.

Study candidates application.

Prepare general questions.

Prepare specific questions.

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SELECTION INTERVIEWING: CONTENT

Start (5%): put candidate at ease, provide information about job and company (not too much).
Middle (80%+): ask questions to get information on candidates capabilities, qualifications and experience and to assess personality. End (up to 15%): give candidates chance to ask questions, provide more data, inform of next step.

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SELECTION INTERVIEWING APPROACHES

Biographical interview This is the traditional approach that either moves forward through a candidates education and career or backwards from the present or most recent job. The latter is often preferred for more experienced candidates. The biographical interview is logical and easy to conduct, but it may not produce the information required as effectively as a referenced or structured approach. Person specification referenced interview This aims to obtain information under the main headings in a person specification, eg capabilities (knowledge, skills and expertise), qualifications, experience and personal qualities. Structured competency (behavioural) based interview (sometimes known as a criterionreferenced interview) The interviewer progresses through a series of questions, each based on a criterion that could be a behavioural or a functional/technical competency and that will be referenced to fundamental skills, capabilities and behavioural characteristics that have been defined as being necessary to achieve an acceptable standard of performance in the job. Structured situational-based interview (sometimes known as a critical incident interview) The interviewer gets candidates to describe how they would handle typical situations that they might meet in the job. Situational questions are often incorporated in other methods of interview and are seldom used on their own.
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INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUES: QUESTIONS

Open a general invitation that encourages candidates to talk freely about their experience, eg Would you please tell me about the sort of work you are doing in your present job? Could you give me some examples of?, What have been the most challenging aspects of your job? Probing questions designed to obtain further details or to ensure that all the facts are obtained, eg Youve told me about your experience in Could you give me some more details of what you did and achieved? Closed specific questions seeking clarification, eg What did you do then?, Why did that happen?, Who else was involved? Behavioural event questions designed to find out how the candidates would behave in certain situations, eg Could you describe an occasion when you persuaded others to take an unusual course of action? Hypothetical putting a situation to candidates to see how they would respond; such questions start with a phrase such as What would you do if? Capability questions designed to establish what candidates know, the skills they possess, or the experience they have had, eg What are the key skills you have to use in your work?, What experience have you had in?

Note: interviewers should not put leading questions, ie those that indicate the answer required, or multiple questions.
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TEN USEFUL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What are the most important aspects of your present job? 2. What have been your most notable achievements in your career? 3. What sort of problems have you successfully solved recently? 4. What have you learned from the your present job? 5. What has been your experience in...?

6. What do you know about...?

7. What is your approach to handling...? 8. What particularly interests you about this job and why? 9. Which aspects of your experience are most relevant to this job? 10. Is there anything else about your career we havent covered that you want to talk about?

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ASSESSING CANDIDATES
Refer to key points in person specification and mark candidate as appropriate:

exceeds specification;

fully meets specification;

just meets the minimum specification;

does not meet the minimum specification.

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INTERVIEWING COMMON MISTAKES

Jumping to conclusions on a piece of favourable evidence the halo effect. Jumping to conclusions on a piece of unfavourable evidence the horns effect. Not weighing the balance between favourable and unfavourable information. Coming to firm conclusions on inadequate evidence. Making snap or hurried judgements. Making prejudiced judgements.

This resource is part of a range offered free to academics and/or students using Armstrongs Essential Human Resource Management Practice as part of their course. For more academic resources and other FREE material, please visit www.koganpage.com/resources and then click on Academic Resources.

DOS AND DONTS OF SELECTION INTERVIEWING

Do
Give yourself sufficient time. Plan the interview. Create the right atmosphere. Establish an easy and informal atmosphere. Cover the ground as planned. Analyse career to reveal strengths, weaknesses and patterns. Ask clear, unambiguous questions. Get examples of success. Make judgements on basis of factual data in relation to specification. Keep control of content and timing.

Dont
Attempt too many interviews in a row. Start the interview unprepared. Plunge too quickly into demanding questions. Ask multiple or leading questions. Pay too much attention to isolated strengths or weaknesses. Allow candidates to gloss over important facts. Talk too much or allow candidates to, Allow prejudices to override capacity to make objective decisions.

This resource is part of a range offered free to academics and/or students using Armstrongs Essential Human Resource Management Practice as part of their course. For more academic resources and other FREE material, please visit www.koganpage.com/resources and then click on Academic Resources.