Effective Interviewing Tips

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Prior to the Interview:

• Familiarize yourself with the job description and core capabilities
• Decide what you’re looking for in a successful candidate
• Determine who should be involved in the interview
• Screen and familiarize yourself with the resumes and applications

Look at:

o Work history

o Length of previous employment

o Reasons for leaving past positions

o Contradictions

o Time gaps in work history

o Multiple, rapid job changes

· Prepare an interview worksheet with questions written in advance

· Be clear with the candidate as to location, directions, time and who will be involved in the process

· Provide appropriate surrounding that are private and will eliminate distractions and interruptions

During the Interview:

• Give expectations and provide general information
• Use open-ended questions and the funneling technique (start general and get more specific)
• Give the candidate time to respond
• Make all questions job-related
• Similar questions should be asked of all candidates
• Take notes focusing on the candidate’s reported behavior; what (s)he said, thought, felt, wanted to do and did.  Do not document theories, conclusions or identifying information that could be interpreted as discriminatory.

Closing the Interview:

• Summarize what has been covered
• Emphasize the candidate’s most important qualifications for the position
• Ask the candidate if (s)he would like to offer anything else concerning the qualifications
• State when a hiring decision will be made
• Ask the candidate what (s)he thinks about the position and his/her interest in the position

Questioning Techniques

Open Ended Questions

· Provide more information about the candidate

· Give examples of how well the candidate thinks through a question, organizes a response and uses verbal communication

· Gives you time to listen, to analyze the response and to prepare follow-up

· Examples:  How? Why? Tell me about … What?

Situation Stories

• A situation story is an account of any experience in which the candidate might have demonstrated what you are looking for
• Shows problem-solving/decision-making skills
• Example:  Tell me about one of the most difficult decisions you made and what happened as a result.

• Look for what the candidate did and the process the candidate used
• Look at how successful the candidate was
• Look at the skills the candidate demonstrated in dealing with the situation

Success Stories

• A success story is a situation story with a positive ending.  It is the candidate’s opportunity to tell you something that (s)he did well.
• Examples:  Give me an example of some recent work you did that was of very high quality.  Tell me about a particularly difficult situation that you were successful in addressing.

• Look for skills, personal characteristics, and motivation.

Ask for Outside Perspectives

• Ask the candidate how (s)he think other people might view him/her
• Examples:  What might your current director tell me about the quality of your work?  How would your best friend describe you?

• Look for how the candidate describes himself/herself

Ask Self-Evaluation Questions

• Ask a candidate to describe/evaluate/rate him/herself
• Examples:  How skilled are you in performing _____?  How would you rate your skills?

• Look for supporting statements and relevant experiences

Ask Preference Questions

• Likes and dislikes about previous jobs and experiences
• Example:  What do you like/dislike most about your current work responsibilities?

• Look for how well the candidate will “fit” with the job, team, college.
• Look for how well the candidate’s likes and dislikes match the requirements of the position.

Equal Employment Opportunity Interview Guidelines

Subject	Lawful*	Unlawful
Address	Applicant’s place of residence	Inquiry as to whether candidate owns home, rents rooms, or lives with relatives. Inquiry into duration of current or previous addresses.
Age	Are you over 18 years of age?	Inquiry about age or date of birth
Arrest Record	Inquiry as to whether candidate was ever convicted of a crime	Asking an interviewed candidate is (s)he has ever been arrested
Birth Date	None	Requirement that candidate submit birth certificate, naturalization or baptismal record. Requirement that applicant produce proof of age in the form of a birth certificate or baptismal record.
Citizenship	Asking whether the candidate is a citizen of the U.S.  If not a citizen of the U.S., does candidate intend to become one?  If not a citizen of the U.S., has the candidate the legal right to remain permanently in the U.S.?  Does the candidate intend to remain in the U.S.?  Requirement that the candidate state whether (s)he was ever interned or arrested as an enemy alien.	Asking candidate of what country (s)he is a citizen.  Inquiry as to whether candidate is a naturalized or a native-born citizen; the date when candidate acquired citizenship.  Requirement that candidate produce naturalization papers.  Inquiry as to whether candidate’s parents or spouse are naturalized or native-born citizens of the U.S., the date when parents or spouse acquired citizenship.
Children		Ages of children, plans to have children in the future, child care arrangements, capacity to reproduce, advocacy of any form of birth control or family planning.
Disability		Inquiry as to whether the individual is disabled.  Inquiry about certain diseases for which candidate may have been treated.
Education	Inquiry into candidate’s academic, vocational, or professional education and the public/private schools attended.	Inquiry about year of graduation from high school.  Inquiry about the nationality, racial or religious affiliation of schools attended.
Experience	Inquiry into work experience
Gender, Sex	None	Inquiry as to sex.  Inquiry as to how candidate wishes to be addressed; Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms.?
Language	Inquiry into languages candidate speaks and can’t speak and write fluently.	Inquiry as to native languages.  Inquiry into how candidate acquired ability to read, write or speak a foreign language.
Marital Status	None	Inquiry as to marital status, name or occupation of spouse.
Military Experience	Inquiry into candidate’s military experience in the U.S. or in a State Militia or service in particular branch of U.S. service.	Inquiry into candidate’s general military experience.
Name	Have you ever worked for the college under a different name?  Is there any additional information relative to change of name, use of an assumed name or nickname necessary to enable a check on your work record?	Original name of applicant whose name has been changed by court order or otherwise, maiden name of a married person, or requiring prefix (i.e. Mrs.) to applicant’s name.  Spouse’s name.
National Origin Birthplace	None	Inquiry into candidate’s lineage, ancestry, national origin, birthplace, descent, parentage, nationality, or native language.  Inquiry regarding nationality or birthplace of candidate’s parents or spouse.
Organizations	Inquiry into candidate’s membership in organizations that (s)he considers relevant to ability to perform job.	Requesting candidate to list all clubs, societies, and lodges to which (s)he belongs.
Race or Color	None	Considering the complexion or color of the skin, hair or eyes; or any other questions directly or indirectly indicating race or color.
Relatives	Names of candidate’s relatives, other than a spouse already employed by college.	Names, addresses, ages, number or other information about candidate’s spouse, children, or other relatives not employed by college.
Religion or Creed	None	Inquiry into candidate’s religious denomination, religious affiliations, church, parish, pastor or religious holiday observed.

* Inquiries which would otherwise be deemed lawful, may, in certain circumstance, be deemed as evidence of unlawful discrimination when the inquiry seeks to elicit information about a selection criterion which is not job-related and which has a disproportionate burdensome effect upon the members of a minority group and cannot be justified by business necessity.

Interview Worksheet

Candidate:

Date Interviewed:

Skills and Knowledge

• Technical Skills
  
  
  
• Communication Skills
  
  
  
• General Knowledge

Competencies

• Teamwork
  
  
  
• Problem Solving
  
  
  
• Communication
  
  
  
• Real vs. Ideal Expectations
  
  
  

Experience

• Relevant Experience
  
  
  
• Quality of Experience
  
  
  
• Progressive growth
  
  
  

Job Suitability

• Skills match to position requirements