I often come across several Entrepreneurs and Managers quoting, "
We hired a wrong person... he is not able to fit into the organization...now we
are struggling to send him off " ! Yes, this is a night mare for many Organizations, recruitment of a wrong person with no
productivity which might even harm the morale of existing employees. So, how do
we get right people on board, is it mere luck or needs a systematic preparation?
I had the opportunity to interview hundreds of people over the last twelve
years for our Group. Even though I am not an H.R specialist, let me take you
through this interesting topic based on my experience.
Job interviews can be discouraging, not only for those interviewed, but
for interviewers as well. The sad reality is that a large percentage of employees recruited simply don't stick with the Organization. I have read, in
fields like sales, the attrition rate can be as high as 75 percent. For many
other areas of work, one out of four new hires are gone within a few months. Every
employee who doesn't perform as expected is a drain on a company’s resources.
Interviewing potential employees can be stressful, to say the least. All
too often, you're under tremendous pressure to find the ideal candidate in a
limited amount of time. There may not be one right way to interview. I have
seen in some Companies they interview someone four or five times before they
make an offer. But I guess, If we ask the right questions, we should be able to
make the decision in a shorter time frame. Let me share with you some steps
that might help you to make the interview process easier.
Step-1 : A good interview begins long before a
prospect walks in. Every position should be covered by a job description. The employee’s
place within the organization should be clarified for the record including what
his/her authority is within the company and to whom he/she reports. The
description should wrap up with the skills and experience required to do the
work effectively.
Step-2 : The job description will structure for
the interview questions. Depending on the position, specific technical
abilities may be essential. In other cases, how the prospect works with the
team is more important. For an entry level position, we can put a premium on enthusiasm, promptness
and common sense, since the rest of the skill set will evolve.
Step-3 : Prepare the interview questions before
the prospect arrives. Here’s a good set of generic questions to start. Choose
the ones that work best for you.
Tell me about yourself.
What are your most significant accomplishments?
What adjectives best describe you?
What attracted you to this line of work?
What skills would you like to acquire to move ahead?
What did you do in your most recent (or current) job?
What did you like most about the work you were doing?
Why did you leave? (Or why do you want to leave?)
Please describe your relationship with your coworkers, manager, clients or customers.
What did you achieve there through your efforts?
Where do you see yourself in five to ten years?
The rest of the questions can flow from the job description, such as:
We use this hardware/software. How would you rate your skills on them?
As an Officer/Manager how many people have you handled in the past?
Do you prefer working as a team member or as an individual?
What management style do you prefer from your Officer/Manager?
What is your own management style?
Look at the other aspects of the job description whether it is making cold calls, or multitasking under pressure and get specific with questions about the prospect’s competency in those tasks. Remember, all this work is done before the prospect even enters our place of business.
Tell me about yourself.
What are your most significant accomplishments?
What adjectives best describe you?
What attracted you to this line of work?
What skills would you like to acquire to move ahead?
What did you do in your most recent (or current) job?
What did you like most about the work you were doing?
Why did you leave? (Or why do you want to leave?)
Please describe your relationship with your coworkers, manager, clients or customers.
What did you achieve there through your efforts?
Where do you see yourself in five to ten years?
The rest of the questions can flow from the job description, such as:
We use this hardware/software. How would you rate your skills on them?
As an Officer/Manager how many people have you handled in the past?
Do you prefer working as a team member or as an individual?
What management style do you prefer from your Officer/Manager?
What is your own management style?
Look at the other aspects of the job description whether it is making cold calls, or multitasking under pressure and get specific with questions about the prospect’s competency in those tasks. Remember, all this work is done before the prospect even enters our place of business.
Step-4 : When the interviewee comes in, take a
close look at how he/she is dressed. Not everybody wears business attire;
however that can give us the first impression about the candidate. Its a lot
easier for a prospect to dress down than to dress up. Greet the interviewee
firmly with a warm hand shake. Ask if he/she has an extra resume. It’s a good
test to see if he/she’s prepared.
Step-5 : Be conversational. We are not an
interrogator. Warm up with the generic questions. Then offer a brief
description of the company, the position and the benefits. We can then ask the
prospect specific questions about our company to see if he/she’s done her
homework. If our business has a website and we find that our interviewee has
not even taken the time and trouble to grasp the company’s essence by looking
it up online, pass on him/her. This is either a lazy employee or one who is
computer illiterate. Then follow with the questions that are specific for the
position, including the most important, “Why should we hire you?”
Step-6 : Put the interviewee under stress. Ask
questions like,
“What are your strengths and weaknesses?”
“Where could your job performance most improve?”
“What did you like least about your boss?”
“When in the past was your work been criticized?”
“Why?”
“How did you handle it?”
While asking questions like this, pay close attention to eye contact and body language. Examine our own gut reaction to this person. Do we like the way he/she handled this questions?
“What are your strengths and weaknesses?”
“Where could your job performance most improve?”
“What did you like least about your boss?”
“When in the past was your work been criticized?”
“Why?”
“How did you handle it?”
While asking questions like this, pay close attention to eye contact and body language. Examine our own gut reaction to this person. Do we like the way he/she handled this questions?
Step-7 : Give the prospect an opportunity to ask
questions. Note if the questions are more about the company benefits and
vacation time or more about the nature of the work itself. By encouraging
questions, we'll have an opportunity to watch our prospect’s thought process.
Step-8 : There are topics to avoid, some of
which can get you into anti-discrimination trouble, such as religion, sexual
orientation, weight, medical condition or disability. However its worth asking,
how somebody unwinds when work is done.
Step-9 : Finally, make sure that we follow up with either a letter or a call from
our side about the results of the interview. It’s a matter of simple courtesy.