interviewing skills for talent acquisition

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

Thank you

Shashikanth Jayaramanshashikj@gmail.com