The functions of human resources personnel are organizing, planning, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting as well as budgeting of those who actually perform the operative functions of the human capital department in addition to maintaining and enhancing the organization’s human resources through the implementation, and evaluation of employee relations besides human resources policies, programs, and best practices.
Human resource personnel are tasked with the development of strategic solutions which meet all the labour force trends as well as workforce demands. Indisputably, the staffing executive in any industry fundamentally manages the recruitment and selection processes. Contrariwise, a personnel manager is first and foremost responsible for decisions correlated to corporate branding as it relates to conscripting and retaining talented workforces while ensuring the process is over and above board.
Consequently, the interviewer and the interviewee should be well prepared for the better interviews process. However, the interviewer is the one who is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that the organisation gets the right candidate for the job advertised.
Therefore it is for this particular reason that the interviewer ought to take the interviewing process seriously. Subsequently, the person giving an interview should be sufficiently prepared by learning ways and methods of conducting an efficient and effective interview. Incontrovertibly, the interviewer needs to ask great questions that keep the candidates alert, thereby allowing the recruiter learn more about the prospective employee.
Any organisation depends on their interviewees’ ability to attract and procure the best candidate for the advertised position. Nevertheless making a good hire is not exactly a walk in the park. The real task is not in sorting through resumes as well as selecting a few candidates to form a large pool considered to be the best for the organisation but rather conducting a job interview that distinguishes between who the applicant wants you to see and who is actually sited in front of the interviewing panel.
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Five keys to helping you conduct better interviews :
Therefore, it is for these particular reasons that we will delve on the steps to conduct better interviews that one requires in making the ultimate right decision. Subsequently, the following are the key components of making sure the process will be successful.
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Do your homework:
Every interviewer ought to have studied the candidates one is about to interview and subsequently becoming familiar with their application documents that the applicant could have submitted to your organisation for consideration of the advertised position.
Indeed This process might give one vital clue that will help you learn more about their personality and whether they are in line with your organisational policy. It is also beneficial to do one’s homework in advance so as not to waste valuable time perusing through the documents during the interview process.
This helps one prepare questions or clarifications on their expertise, knowledge background, as well as spend the interview process finding out more about the actual and real applicant vis-à-vis the candidate presented on paper.
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Don’t be prejudicial
More often than not people tend to base their opinion on an individual based on their appearance during their first encounter, or the very first impression. These prejudicial tendencies should be avoided at all costs.This is due to the fact that such tendencies tend to clouds our heads, limiting our objectivity and sound reasoning depending on our impressions of our perception whether positive or negative.
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Study their Behavior
Rather than rushing to judgment, the interviewer should focus more on studying behaviour by asking behavioural questions that require the interviewee to delve and share on their background in addition to experiences to define how they did use skills relevant to your particular position in their past experiences.
Since most applicants resume is filled with phrases that portray them as team players, organised, gender and culturally sensitive, Multi-Tasking, critical thinkers, sound decision makers and Leaders, by asking questions that compel the applicants to talk about their traits allows one to ascertain whether they actually possess the highlighted traits.
Asking plenty of these questions during the interview process and scoring the candidates on the efficiency of their respond and their body language will automatically aid in getting the truth.
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Change Things Up
It is also necessary to change up things asking the interviewee questions that have no correct or wrong answer. The questions could be why one thinks the sky appears blue or why flowers are coloured and the grass has a green colour.
The questions could even be why bats are blind. Although this questions might have nothing to do with the job applied for, they are supposed to judge your applicant abilities on how well they respond and if they are diverted from the normal routine questions or not whether they are focused and also how well they can handle unexpected situations.
A good answer indicates that the applicant can extemporize as well as be able to handle any unpredictable situations. However, if they tend to stumble or appear very confused and are completely tangled, this is a clear indication that the candidate might not be able to work well under pressure.It is critical to note that purpose of such questions is to measure the applicant’s reaction to tricky situations.
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Maintain a Consistent Evaluation Process
In fact, the interview process is never over after one on one job interview; one needs re-examine the answers to each question and score the responses against a guide that facilitates the interviewer to make sound judgments. By developing a set guide lets one to justly judge each applicant’s answer and decide on an individual who fits your organization’s requirements.
Five steps for better interviews that are vital and paramount :
In conclusion, the following five steps are vital and paramount in ensuring that one conducts the better interviews for the mutual benefit of the organisation and the applicant.
Step 1 for Better Interviews : Ice Breaking
Indubitably some interviews go wrong simply because candidates become nervous inevitably make one lose some really great hires in the process. Since this happens at the start of an interview process one should welcome the candidate, greet them warmly while chatting with them briefly to facilitate them relax by asking them very general questions about things like the weather, maybe even whether it was difficult to find the offices which were the source of their information about the position or even about traffic.
Step 2 for Better Interviews : Summarise
One should briefly describe the functional areas of the job, the kind of personnel the organisation in tends to hire. The interviewee should also prepare the candidate by offering them a framework of how the interview process will proceed as well as a summarised job description in order to prepare them psychologically. At this point, it is vital for one to provide as much information as one can be clear about what applicant can expect.
Step 3 for Better Interviews : Communication
In any human interactions, clear and concise communication is pivotal for the unequivocal feedback for that reason try to limit distractions, giving the candidates time to respond hence ask your questions and then listen actively.
The questions asked should be relevant to the position as well as covering the interviewee’s work experience, education, knowledge in addition to any other significant interrelated topics to the position. Indeed by spending the majority of one’s time listening instead of talking while avoiding trying to market the job to an applicant when you should be trying to find out if they good fit the position is ill-advised.
Step 4 for Better Interviews : Probe experience
In probing experience as well as finding out the applicant’s strengths and weaknesses can be a taxing. However one should be tactful during this step since it required some digging to get the actual story and it helps in understanding your prospective employees’ personality as well as their Strengths Weaknesses and the cost and benefit analysis.
Consequently, it is the best predictor of future behaviour is incontestably past behaviour and at this point, by delving the applicants SWOT analysis will be indicative of what to expect. Therefore one should ask questions that probe the interviewees’ experience and questions that require your applicants to mention some of their strengths as well as weaknesses.
Step 5 for Better Interviews : Conclude the interview
In conclusion, the interviewer ought to give the applicants an opportunity to provide any further information that she or he feels is necessary for the interviewing panel to make a decision. At this step, let the applicant ask questions about your organisation or any other relevant information about the position and the job they have applied for.Finally, thank the candidate for their interest in the job and their desire to want to work for your organisation letting them know when they should expect to hear your organisation.
Liked this post? Check out the complete series on Interviews
