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Interviewing

The Job Applicant
If you don't know exactly what you are looking for, you'll probably never find it. At the very heart of the ability to do an effective job interview is excellent knowledge of the job duties, the skills, the experience and the aptitude that are necessary to perform the job well. The total cost of a poor hiring decision is more than lost time and money.other byproducts include low efficiency, poor morale, high absenteeism, and frequent turnover.

Interview - Preparation
Review your job description and extract 6-10 major tasks of the job. From these major tasks identify the most important qualifications for the position and then determine how you will measure those qualifications through the interviewing process.

As appropriate, consider questions that elicit the following: motivation, related job experience, team player, ability to learn, technical skills, related job experience, attitude, availability, flexibility, ability to communicate, and cooperation.

Once you have decided on 10-15 general and specific job-related questions you plan to use in the interview transfer these questions to an interview form. This assures that all candidates are asked the same questions and provides you a means of rating candidates and taking notes.

Before interviewing, identify any problems you have had with the position and develop screening tools to address those concerns. If certain aspects of the job cause people to leave, mention them during the interview, as it's better the person refuse the job than to start and quit.

Set your minimum limits, and then consider them carefully. For example: Is high school education mandatory for satisfactory completion of duties? Will you consider similar job experience or training instead? Be sure your minimum standards are based on true need.not bias.otherwise you may lose the opportunity for a qualified, stable employee.


Guidelines For Interviewing
1. Determine what skills, experience and aptitude are necessary to perform the job well by referring to the job description (prepared prior to recruiting and interviewing).

2. Identify the most important qualifications from 6-10 major tasks
of the position and determine how you will measure those qualifications through the interview process.

3. Develop 10-15 job-related questions to ask during the interview. Avoid any questions related to: race, creed, national origin, color, sex, religion, physical or mental disability, marital status, age, or political ideas (state, county or city government).

4. Transfer these questions to an interview form. This provides a means of consistently asking the same questions of all applicants and provides space for rating candidates and taking notes.

5. Try to make the applicant comfortable in order to elicit more and better information.

6. Start with easy, non-threatening questions to put the person at ease.

7. Use open-ended questions that allow more thought and input from the applicant. Allow silence in order for the candidate to formulate an answer. Avoid prompting the applicant to the correct answer.

8. Subtly control the direction of the interview by using mirroring and rephrasing techniques. Listen at least 50% of the time and look for discrepancies between words and behaviors.

9. Consider having more than one person interview as this increases the chances for hiring the right person.

10. Check references and verify past employment dates of applicants

The Interview

The interviewer's job is to maintain subtle control of the interview while:
1. Eliciting the behavior that will help make a hiring decision.
2. Carefully observing that behavior.
3. Interpreting how the behavior relates to the requirements of the job.

Assessing the applicant's ability to do the job is the most important objective of the interview. However, the successful interview should also give the applicant information about the job and working conditions in the company. It should also create goodwill in the applicant toward the job and the company, even if the applicant is not hired.

Caution

Interviewing is hard work! Watch out for "halo effects." This happens when you allow a prominent characteristic to overshadow other evidence in an interview. To avoid this, pay close attention to everything the applicant says, and then make careful, independent ratings of the applicant's response to each question.

Don't dwell on the negative. Placing greater emphasis on negative information than on positive information defeats the purpose of the interview and again can result in a snap decision or judgment.

It is your responsibility and in your own best interest to keep the applicant from volunteering information which has no bearing on the selection process. If an applicant volunteers information about a spouse, kids, religion, etc., STOP the flow of information, courteously explain your reason for interrupting, and assure the applicant that your company does not base its hiring practices on that particular subject area. If this person does not get the job, s/he can file a complaint saying that you learned during the interview, for example, that she was divorced, with children, and you refused to hire her for that reason. If discriminatory information is inadvertently revealed during the interview, do not tell others or enter this information anywhere on your application or evaluation forms.

Avoid leading questions such as, "You left school to go to work?" It is easy for the applicant to answer, "Yes," even though the real reason might have been expulsion.

Consider having more than one person interview your applicants. People often tend to hire people like themselves because they feel comfortable with them. In reality, businesses thrive more on diversity because different skills, ideas and points of view strengthen an organization. Another option is a "group or panel interview" in which several people interview each applicant at the same time, taking turns asking questions.

Be attentive and try not to show feelings to responses given, other than to acknowledge. Try the mirror technique where you restate the last part of the answer as though it was a question (example: "and then they told you, you were fired?"). Mirroring is especially useful because it asks a question without revealing the interviewer's bias regarding the answer. Look interested as though you would like to hear more. If that does not work, simply request more information by saying something such as, "Tell me more about" or "What happened then?" When you are unclear what the applicant is saying, try rephrasing what you think you heard to make sure communications are clear. After interviewing BE SURE TO CHECK REFERENCES and use any legal job-related testing you have.

Interviewing and Hiring People with Disabilities

People with disabilities are the nation's largest minority, and the only one that any person can join at any time. If you do not currently have a disability, you have about a 20% chance of becoming disabled at some point during your work life. People with disabilities cross all racial, gender, educational, socioeconomic, and organizational lines. Companies that include people with disabilities in their diversity programs increase their competitive advantage. People with disabilities add to the variety of viewpoints needed to be successful and bring effective solutions to today's business challenges. The American economy is made stronger when all segments of the population are included in the workforce and in the customer base.

Accommodating Persons with Disabilities

Hiring the right person for the right job starts with conducting an effective job interview. As in any interview, you are interviewing a person with skills and abilities to determine if that individual is the best fit for your job opening. The following guidelines ensure that persons with disabilities are afforded a fair and equitable opportunity to present their job qualifications.

Preparing for the Interview

1. Your company's application and interviewing procedures should comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA prohibits disability-related questions or medical exams before a real job offer is made.

2. Make sure your company's employment offices and your interviewing location(s) are accessible to applicants with mobility, visual, hearing or cognitive disabilities.

3. Be willing to make appropriate and reasonable accommodations to enable a job applicant with a disability to present himself or herself in the best possible light. When setting up the interview explain what the hiring process involves and ask the individual if he or she will need reasonable accommodations for any part of the interview process. For example, if a person who is blind states he or she will need help filling out forms, provide the assistance; provide an interpreter for an applicant who is deaf, if he or she requests one; provide details or specific instructions to applicants with cognitive disabilities, if this type of accommodation is required.

4. Do not let a rehabilitation counselor, social worker or other third party take an active part in or sit in on an interview unless the applicant requests it.

5. Make sure that all questions asked during the interview are job-related. Speak to the essential job functions regarding the position for which the applicant is applying, as well as why, how, where, when and by whom each task or operation is performed. Do not ask whether or not the individual needs an accommodation to perform these functions, because such information is likely to reveal whether or not the individual has a disability. This is an ADA requirement to ensure that an applicant with a disability is not excluded before a real job offer is made.

Conducting the Interview

1. Relax and make the applicant feel relaxed. Don't be afraid of making mistakes. At the same time, remember that candidates (particularly those applying for professional positions) are expected to assume an equal share of the responsibility for making your interaction with them successful.

2. Do not speculate or try to imagine how you would perform a specific job if you had the applicant's disability. The person with a disability has mastered alternate techniques and skills of living and working with his or her particular disability. If the applicant has a known disability (either because it is obvious or was revealed by the applicant) the employer may ask an applicant to describe how he or she would perform a certain job function if it is an essential part of the job. In addition, the employer may ask the individual if he or she needs reasonable accommodations and if so what type of accommodation. Remember, all questions should be job-related and asked in an open-ended format.

3. Concentrate on the applicant's technical and professional knowledge, skills, abilities, experiences and interests, not on the disability. Remember, you cannot interview a disability, hire a disability or supervise a disability. You can interview a person, hire a person, and supervise a person.

4. Disability related questions and medical examinations are prohibited under ADA at the pre- employment offer stage. After a real job offer is made, the offer may be conditioned on the results of disability related questions and/or medical examinations, but only if the examination or inquiry is required for all entering employees in similar jobs and only if all medical information is kept confidential. Disability related questions and medical examinations at the post-offer stage do not have to be related to the job. However, if the offer is withdrawn, the employer must show that the individual could not perform the essential function of the position or would pose a direct threat.

5. If testing is part of the interview process, make sure the test does not reveal information about physical or mental impairments (i.e., make sure it is not a medical examination.) Other tests which demonstrate the applicant's ability to perform actual or simulated job tasks are permitted under the ADA. Inform the applicant before the interview that a test will be part of the interview process. The applicant can then request an accommodation such as a different format for written tests.

6. If you are not prepared to make a commitment to hire her or him immediately, the usual reasons given to applicants who are not hired at the close of the interview apply: "Thank you for coming in, we will notify you in a few days of our decision," "It will be necessary for you to talk with the supervisor in charge of that unit," "The boss isn't available today," and so on.

Download Applicant Evaluation Form Here