I was addressing the Auckland Rotary Club when it came to the Q&A a member asked if I could ask just one interview question, what would that be? I quickly replied that I hope I am never in that position.
However, I must say, this question did give me cause for some fast thinking on my feet. Before I give you my answer, I would like to address job interview questions in general.
Think of some of the standard interview questions you have asked over the years. Of all the hundreds of questions asked, I bet you could neatly cluster them into just three overall questions:
When it comes to hiring new talent, there are two areas in the hiring process that I see recruiters failing to address on a regular basis.
Many recruiters understand these two sins but have made it their policy not to address them, to keep the status quo.
My first beef is the failure of not advising candidates at the point of application the intended remuneration for the job.
The second is a failure to communicate effectively with every candidate during and after the hiring process.
Failing to address these two simple and painless processes cost you time, good candidates and the ability to position your brand as one who values its employees.
We all agree that technology is moving at the speed of sound and impacting every corner of our lives, even searching and applying for a job. This begs the question, “What technologies will make the most impact on your recruitment process this year?” Budget time is looming, so as you kick into the new year, think about allocating budget for one, some, or all of my big four suggestions.
About to hire a new employee? How will you assess their suitability for the job? After over 15 years of personal observations, most hiring managers go into the hiring process without any framework of assessment. For those of you who are guilty of hiring by the ‘seat of your pants’, let me give you a few helpful pointers to get you more structured.
Before starting the hiring process, you need to evaluate the competencies required for the job. A competency is a set of behaviours (learned or innate) that demonstrates a job applicant or current employee has the abilities, knowledge, skills and personal attributes to be successful on the job.
Problem-solving has a long history of research dating back to the American Military in World War 1. General mental ability tests were developed to identify the suitability of recruits for officer training. A proliferation of research over the last 100 years has validated general mental ability as the best predictor of future job performance, no matter what the job role. This simple, one-off test has a validity factor of around point 52. In this week's podcast, I stress the importance of conducting a 'problem-solving' test on your finalists in your current hiring project. It's simple to do and very inexpensive. But best of all, it is highly productive of future job performance.
The use of video interviewing has become a standard practice for many organizations, allowing them to automate their recruiting process. On-demand Video Interviewing is another method of evaluation that is used by many recruiters. On-demand video interviewing is known by several alternative names such as, one-way and pre-recorded. This type of interviewing is gaining great traction as it saves time, standardises the interview process and can evaluate candidates much earlier in the selection process. No matter what size organisation you are, on-demand video interviews will cut administration and speed to hire on a large or small number of candidates.
Many of you would be aware of the Dr Murray fiasco. He was CEO of the Waikato District Health Board and ran up large unapproved expenses.
Past behaviour reflects future behaviour, so my burning question to the Board of Directors, "Did you talk to the Chairperson of his two previous health positions?"
The importance of doing a diligent reference check, at least three previous managers, is a given for ANY hire.
Technology has made reference checking faster, easier and more predictive. Check out http://www.assess.co.nz/reference-checking
Don't forget to rate and review our podcasts (iTunes). For those of you who use Spotify, we are now on their new podcast feeds.
Why do employees - hired by the same methods, doing the same job, and managed by the same person - perform so differently? Dependency on the traditional one-on-one unstructured interview is a prime reason.
Besides being the most expensive tool (management time) in the selection process, the unstructured interview is also the least valid - between .05 and .15 - so at best you'll get it right one out of every six interviews. The structured interview jumps validity to between .40 and .60 - much better, but still the toss of a coin.
Here is a link to the transcript:
http://www.assess.co.nz/articles/Interview_TraditionalHiring.pdf
Candidate communication is what I want to get on my high horse about. It is not only my daughter's recent experience, but bad candidate communication is one of the pet peeves of job seekers everywhere. Apart from it being just bad manners, it surely must reflect badly on the brand image of the said organisation.
Bad candidate communication can also cost you good hires. Chances are your candidates are applying for several roles so that an outstanding person will get snapped up quickly. In my daughter's experience, she had also put another two 'irons in the fire', she will likely be successful, and a big loss to the fore mentioned the company.
I am not suggesting you make instant hiring decisions based on the first person that walks in the door. Nor do I want you to be pushed into a recruitment decision by candidates that try to blackmail you into making an appointment as they have another job offer they must accept or turn down tomorrow.
Get a transcript at HERE
Often, our clients have raised the question of where, or in what order, should the components of the selection process be used. For example, is it best to apply the Fit Job Assessments (psychometric testing) up front, or on the final candidate? What about reference checking, before, or after the main interview? Moreover, what about that main interview? Where is the best position in the hiring process for that?
There is no one “correct” process. Type of job role, numbers of applicants, available openings, and internal recruiting staff workload are some issues that will impact on your selection structure.
At the start of the selection process, you will be concentrating on “screening out”, in other words rejecting candidates that don’t fit your job vacancy. It is important that you base these rejection decisions on the specifics of the job and that you treat every applicant the same way. The fundamental rule in screening job applicants is to use the most accurate and least expensive method at the earliest point in the process.