The Recruitment Interview – A Waste of Time?

In general terms it’s pretty undeniable that the interview alone is a highly flawed recruitment tool, including occasionally even in the hands of an experienced recruiter. As such, interviewees at this level should be (or should make themselves) well placed to take full advantage. But take care. You could also come very unstuck, especially if the company uses a partial or full multiple assessment process, or behavioral interviewing techniques, with or without core competencies are measurement tools.

Why is the recruitment interview flawed?
The major reason, in my view, is that it is not really that hard for the socially skilled candidate to mask his or her flaws because they have “interviewed so well”.

As a former senior HR manager with arguably the world’s largest international bank, I lost count, in the early days, of the number of times one of my recruitment executives told me “what a nice guy! He’s just right for us.” If this was at a recruitment exercise where we weren’t using a multiple assessment process, then that sort of comment scared the pants off me.

What do they mask?
A socially skilled interviewee is of course usually a pleasure to interview. While they may well tell you very convincingly of their successes, and even comment on a few failures for good measure, as an interviewer you take their word for it at your peril. At interview they cannot demonstrate their inter-personal skills in a team environment, nor with colleagues, more senior managers nor lower level staff.

They also of course mask their technical skills level. For example, let’s say you’re interviewing candidates for the post of Production Manager. OK, you can talk with them about their experience to date, and (assuming you’re a line manager with production responsibilities, and not an HR executive), you may well get a certain level of comfort or, of course, the exact opposite.

OK, so what can we do differently?
No, I’m not merely going to drive you towards a multiple assessment approach, for that isn’t always necessary, nor is it always economically justified, especially in times of economic growth when good candidates call the shots, not you.

Have you tried a style that is commonly known as “Behavioral Interviewing”?

Essentially with behavioral interviewing we are attempting to prevent the candidate from waffling, or even fabricating, by having him or her recount a particular incident from their actual experience. They are forced to talk about something real, something which has happened in the past.

For example, I might ask: “Please tell me of a time in your work experience when you’ve been faced with a particularly negative attitude of one of your direct reports.”
What happens if they say they’ve never had such an experience, in which case I would ask them to recount any experiences they’ve had with poor attitudes from shop assistants or similar. Anyone who cannot provide such an example either comes from another planet or are not being truthful.

Their answer can tell us a lot about the way in which they might manage people, even the way in which they lead. It should tell us how well they understand behaviors, and the effect of negative behaviors on those around them.

In another scenario, we might ask: “Tell me of a time when you’ve had a particularly difficult problem to handle, how you approached it, and the resultant outcome.” There is so much we can learn about a candidate from such a question – their balance of analysis and creativity in problem solving, their communication skills, their leadership and managerial approach, their reasoning skills and so on.

This works best, perhaps unsurprisingly, when you are also measuring responses against a set of core competencies (described in a previous article of mine on here), but even without the benefit of competencies, you can still get far better value from the interview, than if you were conducting it on traditional lines.

It’s been quite some time since I interviewed in any other way, and of course the major benefit is that the vast majority of employees selected have stayed, have grown and are a terrific vindication of spending just that little more time and effort in the recruitment process.

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Michael is a British citizen, but long term resident of Asia (Hong Kong and Malaysia). After 25 years with a global banking leader, he headed up his own HR and Management consulting company, and today this successful business has branched out to include database/direct marketing aswell as Internet and Affiliate Marketing. For the former, contact is at http://www.skillnet-resources.com and for marketing businesses at http://www.makingdollars4u.com . We look forward to hearing from you.

Dressing for Success at Interviews

The first and most important advice you will get from this article is to dress your best for all your interviews, regardless of the dress code for the organisation.

For example for a guy, it’s a lot easier to remove your tie or jacket upon invitation from the interviewer, whereas it’s next to impossible to suddenly acquire a jacket or tie. The ideas that follow, come from many years of experience as a senior HR manager and more recently as a consultant with a thriving recruitment and executive search business.

I am frequently appalled by the lack of dress sense, and even courtesy, displayed by some candidates. I wonder how they can possibly expect to be taken seriously. Not so long ago, I interviewed a very well qualified candidate for a senior corporate position in a well known multi-national. I doubt his shoes had ever been polished, nor his ties dry cleaned. When I looked at his grubby finger nails, I determined straight away to close the interview without any further questions. He was taken aback and asked why so short. I told him, or rather, advised him what he needed to do to be taken seriously.

Here's what we advise trainees at our Interviewing Skills course:

♦ Wear a solid colour, conservative suit with a coordinated shirt or blouse, or of course, your country’s national dress if this is appropriate

♦ Wear moderate shoes and make sure they are clean and well polished.

♦ Make sure your hair is well groomed and neat; check your finger-nails, are they clean and tidy?

♦ Don't overdo the perfume, makeup, or after-shave, and use no more than a light fragrance

♦ Limit your jewelry

♦ Make sure to try on your outfit BEFORE the day of the interview if you’ve not worn it for a while. If shoes are new, probably not a good idea to wear, but if you do, make sure the price label is removed from the sole!

♦ Bring a portfolio, or briefcase, pad and pen

Tips:
1. Your clothes are your image, check the mirror and see what others see, better still ask a trusted friend or family member to advise you
2. It is better to be overdressed than underdressed
3. If it's too tight or too loose - don't wear it!
4. Girls, most male interviewers are NOT impressed (at least not professionally!) with a very short skirt – save it for the disco! That transparent blouse, yes we know the boyfriend likes it, but do you really want to let the (male) interviewer think you’re trying to impress him with your lingerie? You won’t impress, you’ll turn him off, professionally at least.
5. Guys, the medallion might be a hit with “the in-crowd”, but it’ll not impress an interviewer, lose it for the interview. Same goes for loud colours. Even if the tie was a present from Auntie, unless it is relatively conservative, save it for the next visit to Auntie’s house.

At my consultancy (http://www.skillnet-resources.com) we have whole training programme on Interview Skills – don’t hesitate to contact us if you’re interested in it being run for your company.

Core Competencies for Asian Companies

In an ideal world, each and every company would spend a great deal of time, effort and money to identify those traits, skills and attributes which together, as Core Competencies, make for a successful managerial or supervisory level employee within their company.

However, we don't live in an ideal world. We live in one where the majority of companies need to find ways and means of identifying and introducing human resource management and development practices which more than adequately meet their requirements, without breaking their budget.

To meet this need, I have designed for several local and regional companies, a set of Generic Core Competencies which can fit into just about any Asian company's culture with little or no customisation. Naturally, I’ve always made myself available to assist companies requiring some customisation and probably half have taken advantage of this.


Why should companies use Core Competencies?

By identifying those traits, skills and attributes which make for a successful employee, it becomes so much easier, and far more cost effective, to:

* Recruit and retain employees
* Appraise employees
* Train employees
* Develop employees
* Succession plan

Being easier and more effective translates into cost savings and increased profitability. When a company's HRM and HRD practices have a consistent measuring tool, they are able to significantly reduce subjectivity in HR decision making processes, visibly demonstrate fairness, have a common language which all employees can understand, and as a result create and maintain a highly motivated workforce.

Below are some examples of a few Generic Core Competencies. These are given here for illustration. The complete profile contains some twenty five Core Competencies, split among five Managerial Attributes. The full set has been arrived at after considerable research amongst local and regional companies across a wide range of industries. The definitions are not complete, but are provided to give an appreciation

The five managerial attributes are:
* Performance of Duties
* Management and Leadership Skills
* Decision Making Skills
* Communication Skills
* Personal Qualities

Competency Examples (just ten of twenty five)

Responsibility - Displaying maturity, reacting positively to constructive feedback, setting a good example, profit and cost conscious.

Leadership - An ability to share the corporate vision with the team, give clear and confident direction to the team, whilst taking a consultative and delegative approach, without abdicating responsibility.

Management of Resources and People - Knowing the skills, qualities and attributes of direct reports and using this knowledge to maximise output and gain through them the most effective use of material resources.

Judgement - Demonstrates the ability to evaluate behaviours, situations and opportunities and arrive at a sensible conclusion.

Problem solving - Possessing the ability to use both objective analysis and creativity in approaching solutions to problems.

Interpersonal Skills - The ability to create rapport easily and build relationships quickly. Having an awareness of the sensitivities of others and a diplomatic astuteness in responding to them.

Initiative and drive - The ambition to strive for achievement within the company seeking business opportunities and displaying an energetic pro-activity.

Co-operativeness and Teamworking - Shows a willingness to assist colleagues (within own department and outside it) even when personally under pressure.

Dependability - Can be relied upon to consistently support team colleagues throughout the organisation.

Creativity - Can see an issue from different perspectives and is able to provide a number of alternative solutions to problems which are practical as well as innovative.

Major Advantages
One of the major advantages of using Core Competencies across a framework of HRM and HRD activities, is the consistency they provide. What better than to:

* Recruit against the competencies
* Train against the competencies
* Select, develop and promote against the competencies
* Appraise against the competencies
* Use the competencies in manpower and succession planning

Not only is this approach extremely cost effective, it provides employees with a very clear picture of career progression opportunities and the confidence that their performance appraisals, training/development needs and suitability for promotion, are objectively assessed.

I do urge companies to take great care when introducing a competencies framework, to ensure that the attributes and definitions really do match the company’s culture and philosophies. Unless your HR department has the skills within to ensure that this happens, I strongly recommend that the company seeks professional assistance, from consultancies like my own.