Finding the right person for the right job is critical to business success.
Traditional hiring practices focus the interviewer on an applicant's demeanor, personal appearance, and skills not who they actually are.
Job performance good or bad hinges on how well the individual's personality meshes with the job.
Make sure you, the interviewer, understand the key elements of the job.
Develop a simple outline that covers general job duties.
Identify the behaviors, knowledge, motivations and qualities incumbents need to have to be successful in the job.
The best interview follows a structured process.
Each applicant is asked the same questions and is scored with a consistent rating process.
A structured approach helps avoid bias and gives all applicants a fair chance.
The best ways to accomplish this is by using behavioral based questions, situational questions and roleplays.
Behavioral-based questions are used to evaluate the applicant's past behavior, experience and initiative such as:
* Describe an incident where you went over and beyond the call of duty.
*Tell me about the time you reached out for additional responsibility.
*Tell me about the largest project you worked on.
Situational-based questions evaluate the applicant's judgment ability and knowledge.
The interviewer first gives the applicant a hypothetical situation such as: You are the manager of a publishing company.
One of your employees has just told you that he thinks another worker is padding hours on their time card.
* What should you do?
* What additional information should you obtain?
* How many options do you have?
Sample role-plays can be used during the interview process to determine the skills and personal charisma of people during stress.
For example, if you are interviewing a customer service representative, you can use a role-play to see how this person can manage an irate customer.
Many businesses are turning to behavior assessments and personality trait testing tools as part of their hiring process.
Before embarking on a search for the right tool, employers and managers need to be clear about what behaviors and personality traits have made existing job assignments successful.
Jane Boucher is an author and professional speaker with offices in Reno and Ohio.
Reach her at 775-853-0226, 937- 416-9881 or janeboucher@mail.com.
Her web sites are www.janeboucher.com and www.janeboucher.org.
