Determining Candidates' Skills Sets ... Do you wish to b

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Advancing Your Career
Interviewing Techniques
May 12, 2007

• Milton Hall, MBA
• President and CEO
• Human Capital Consultants, LLC

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Coverage Points

• The Interview Process
• Tips For Candidates
• Selling Yourself in the Interview
• Communicating Your Skills
• Assessing the Skill of the Interviewer
• Tip For Managers
• Determining Candidates Skills Sets
• Assessing the Candidates Integrity
• Telling Interview Questions

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The Interview Candidates Perspective

• An Opportunity to Learn More About
• The Company / Department
• The Goals, Vision, Major Recent Achievements
• The Job
• The Roles and Responsibilities
• The Inter-Relationship Between the Job and Goals
• Why is the Job Vacant
• How Many People Were in the Job Prior
• The Reporting Relationships

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The Interview Companys Perspective

• An Opportunity to Learn More
• About the Person Candidate
• Personality Assessment (Myers-Briggs)
• Work Ethic
• Are they Well-Rounded, Well Spoken
• Unpackage Their Past Experience
• Review Past Career Successes
• Assess Directionally Where they are going
• Envisioning them in the Assignment How they
  Might Perform

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Interview Process

• An exercise where candidates and potential
  employers meet to
• determine if the right competencies, chemistry
  and commonality
• exist in order to enter into a relationship.

Chemistry Sense of Connection
Commonality Shared Vision Team Spirit
Competencies Special Skills Recognized Abilities
Employment Fit
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Interview Process

• Steps During the Interview Process

Affirmation of Perceived Value
Renewal of Initially Identified Competencies
Assessment Of Qualifications
Assessment Of Interest Communications
Job Offer
Second Interview
First Interview
Telephone Interview
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Interview Styles

• Unstructured
• No Pre-Planned Questions
• Candidate Sets the Pace
• Difficult to Compare Candidates Due to Lack of
  Consistency in Questioning

• Paneled
• Multiple Interviewers Simultaneously
• Structured or Unstructured
• Yields More Immediate Decision
• Best in Cross-Functional Work-Spaced

• Structured
• Pre-Planned Agenda
• Consistent Line of Questioning
• Same Questions All Candidates
• Questions Derived from Job Requirements

Typical in Govt
Source Society for Human Resource Mgmt.
Employment Practices Committee, May 2002
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Interview Type Most Common

• Behavioral - "A thorough, planned, systematic way
• to gather and evaluate information about what
• candidates have done in the past to show how they
• would handle future situations."
• Professor Herbert Heneman, III
  University of Wisconsin-Madison
• The technique of Behavioral Interviewing was
  created by Development Dimensions International
  in the 1970s

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Behavioral Interviews

• Seek to draw out behaviors demonstrated by a
  candidate when questions are framed by an
  interviewer in a way that requires them to
  recount their handling of a problem or task.
• The hiring authority determines which specific
  behaviors are necessary for success on the job
  and then seeks out candidates that have shown
  that they are capable of exhibiting those
  behaviors.

Source Sommer, R.D., SPHR. BEHAVIORAL
INTERVIEWING, 1998.
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• The Candidate

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Interview Preparation

• Read Job Description Carefully
• Determine Early on if Applying is for.
• Passion
• Paycheck
• Prepare a Typo-Free Resume / CV
• Learn as Much as Possible about the Company /
  Dept
• Dress Appropriately
• Eat Lite before the Interview (Avoid Growling
  Stomach)
• Get Directions to the Interview Address
• Show up 5-10 Minutes Early
• Bring a Notepad (2) Pens
• Practice the Pronunciation of the Interviewers
  Name
• Remind yourself to speak at a moderate pace

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Selling Yourself

• Preparation Impresses Hiring Managers
• Obtain information about the job description,
  application process, salary, benefits, etc
• Read up on the company (or Dept if internal), its
  history, the industry, the companys competition,
  and the employer, especially the interviewer, if
  possible
• Bring a couple copies of your resume and a
  portfolio of your work if appropriate
• Offer responses to the interviewer before s/he
  asks

Source Preparing for Those Common Job Interview
Questions. Battaglia, E. LifeScript Staff Writer.
2006, Jan 5
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Selling Yourself

• Be On-Time (1st Impressions Lasting
  Impressions)
• Dress Appropriate to the Position, Dept or
  Culture
• Take Notes Evidences Genuine Interest
• Bring Prepared Questions / Ask Non-Complex
  Questions
• Listen Carefully (Avoid Asking Questions Already
  Answered)
• Restate Your Understanding of the Assignment
• Convey How you Would Handle Certain Tasks
• Offer Experiences of Specific Projects Youve
  Lead

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Selling Yourself

• Top Ten Strikeouts that most often CONDEMN Job
  Candidates
• Doesnt ask questions 
• Condemnation of past employer 
• Inability to take criticism 
• Poor personal appearance
• Indecisive, cynical, lazy
• Overbearing, over aggressive, know it all 
• Late for the interview 
• Failure to look at interviewer while interviewing
  
• Unable to express self clearly
• Overemphasis on money

Source Kador, J. Author 201 Best Questions to
Ask Your Interviewer.
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Selling Yourself

• 5 Engaging Questions for Your Interviewer
• What does this company value the most and how do
  you think my work for you will further these
  values? 
• Whats the most important thing I can do to help
  within the first 90 days of my employment? 
• Do you have any questions or concerns about my
  ability to perform this job? 
• What kinds of processes are in place to help me
  work collaboratively?
• Do you have any concerns that I need to clear up
  in order to be the top candidate?  

Source Kador, J. Author 201 Best Questions to
Ask Your Interviewer.
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• The Interviewer

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Opening up the Candidate

• Put the applicant at ease at the beginning of the
  interview. Break-the-ice with Social Chatter
  (e.g. Driving Distance, Parking Challenge, What
  Building are you In?)
• Frame an Introduction of the Department, the
  history, the successes and other relevant points.
• Ask the Candidate for an Introduction of
  themselves
• Ask Open-ended questions that will facilitate
  discussion. Avoid questions that require a yes or
  no answer.
• If candidate freezes on a particular question, go
  to the next one. It takes time for some
  applicants to relax and feel comfortable with the
  interviewing process.
• Be sure to ask only job-related questions. Review
  Title VII of the Civil Right Acts
• Prepare to Listen More and Talk Less. When
  Positioned Properly, Candidates will Tell their
  Life-Story and some.

Source SHRM Information Center
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For Managers Determining Candidates Skills Sets
Two Types of Candidates

• Processes
• Thrives on Routine
• Requires Certainty
• Methodical
• Tends to be Absolute
• Requires Specific Direction
• Melt-Down on Impromptu Projects

• Innovator
• Creative Thinker
• Rebels in Structure
• Solicits Input w/Ease
• Delegates Often
• Free-Spirited

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For Managers Asking the Right Questions

• The guiding principle behind any question to an
  applicant is, can the employer demonstrate a
  job-related necessity for asking the question?
• An applicant should only be asked questions that
  are job related.
• The interviewer should ask himself/herself if
  this information is really needed in order to
  judge the applicant's qualifications, level of
  skills and overall competence for the job.
• Problem areas are discriminatory questions that
  are posed on the basis of the applicant's gender,
  race, age, national origin, religion, or other
  non-job-related basis.
• i.e. What age were you when you graduated from
  college?
• i.e. What country were you born in?
• i.e. How many work days did you loose due to
  daycare challenges?

Source Nail, T.H, and Scharinger, D., PhD. 2002.
GUIDELINES ON INTERVIEW AND EMPLOYMENT
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
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For Managers Asking the Right Questions
Source Nail, T.H, and Scharinger, D., PhD. 2002.
GUIDELINES ON INTERVIEW AND EMPLOYMENT
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
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For Managers Telling Interviewer Questions

• Whats a Bad Day Like For You?
• Walk Me Through the Last One You Experienced?
• Name Your Top Three Areas of Growth?
• Based on What You Know About this Job, What
  Exactly Will Contribute to Help us Achieve our
  Goals?

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For Managers Sample Interviewer Questions

• Diversity Focused
• What kinds of experiences have you had working
  with others with different backgrounds than your
  own?
• Tell me about a time you had to alter your work
  style to meet a diversity need or challenge?
• Time Management Focused
• Tell me about your productivity and time
  management skills?
• How do you determine what amount of time is
  reasonable for a task?

Source SHRM On-Line. Sample Interviewer Database
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For Managers Sample Interviewer Questions

• Teamwork Focused
• When groups work together, conflict often
  erupts.  Tell me about a time that conflict
  occurred in one of your work groups and how you
  handled it?
• Tell me about the most effective contribution you
  have made as part of a task group or special
  project team.
• Integrity Focused
• In what business situations do you feel honesty
  is inappropriate? 
• If you saw a coworker doing something dishonest,
  and by alerting management, it could affect your
  position, what would you do? 

Source SHRM On-Line. Sample Interviewer Database
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• Questions?