Interview for the Position of Human Resource Trainer - Essay Example

Interview Package Student Name: Course Name: Course Title: Abstract The prime objective of this interview is to select the best candidate to fill the position of human resource trainer and Coordinator. The exercise will be aimed at coming up with that individual who carries majority if not all the desired characteristics and qualifications necessary to execute the duties charged to this position. The interview preparation will start by analyzing the desired duties that the job holder will be expected to execute. This will then guide in determination of the traits and competencies to seek from the applicants. This will involve both the personal strengths and professional qualifications. The interview questions will be prepared based on the information that has to be extracted from the applicant. Then a choice of the venue for the interview and the stipulated date will be made. When all preparations are made, the short listed applicants will be contacted and briefed on the details of the interview. The actual interview exercise will then be conducted and a summary of the information of each interviewee properly documented. This information will then be used to do the final analysis where each applicant will be gauged upon the information gathered from him/her. The applicants will then be ranked and the best will be given the job. All the individuals will be notified of the outcome of the interview as a matter of courtesy and appreciation for showing interest in the position. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Table of Contents 3 1.1Behavioral Criteria 4 2.0 Interview Preparation 5 2.1 Questions 5 2.2 Informing Candidates 5 3.0 Interview Introduction 6 4.0 Interview Conclusion 6 5.0 Non-verbal Cues 6 6.0 The Interview Guide 7 6.1Experience Review 7 6.2Qualification and Membership 8 6.3Referee 8 Reference list 9 8.0Appendices 10 1.0 The Position: Human Resource and Training Coordinator 1.1Behavioral Criteria (a) Team Building The need for people to work in teams calls for a person who can unify people of different backgrounds and beliefs to work as a unit. This position involves dealing directly with people and thus the incumbent needs to have traits that help him/her to maintain good work teams as much as possible. People who listen keenly and clarify issues find themselves making good working relationships within the people they supervise. They have that capability to attend to issues of all parties however trivial (Edinger & Patterson). (b) Leadership The candidate of this position needs to possess very strong leadership skills. This is largely due to the fact that he/she will be called upon many times to give direction to the people under his/her supervision. A person charged with the duty of person supervising others or expected to offer facilitation will be required to carry exceptional leadership traits if he/she will succeed in that assignment (Fiedler, 1967). (c) Influencing The incumbent must hold some skills to be able to convince others to some form of behavior though a medium of reasoned discourse. People with great capability of influencing others in the work place either positively or negatively will have some inbuilt traits that are evident within their making. Such can be exemplified by the manner in which they respond to situations or interact with others (Janz etal 1986). (d) Flexibility Universality is integral for this position going by the numerous duties under the position. The candidate will be dealing with persons skilled in different areas and hence will require great understanding of the operations of people of varying training and specialization. People who have great ability to adopt to new, complex and challenging situations are identifiable by their ability to absorb pressure and remain calm in heated or challenging debates (Walker, 1992). (e) Communication skills Communication passes message and clarifies issues (Schlenker 19800. The holder of this position will be expected to do both of these duties hence ability to communicate well is a trait that cannot be compromised. 2.0 Interview Preparation 2.1 Questions It is always important for the interviewer to structure the questions way ahead of time. This increases consistency in information extracted from the applicants and this helps to undertake an impartial analysis. It has also been noted that using the same questions to gauge all applicants reduces the chances of bias (Dessler 1991). The questions to be used for this interview in the order they follow are contained in appendix B. 2.2 Informing Candidates Applicants need to be fed with information with regard to the location, time and any other requirement for the interview. This should be done in good time to allow the applicants to prepare well. The location of the interview should be carefully selected as it talks volumes about the organization (Stone 1998). For this particular interview, candidates will be contacted three days prior to the interview date. They will be given two options for the time they prefer to attend the interview. The venue will be clarified in this case will be Myer shopping centre. 3.0 Interview Introduction Welcome to our Company and much appreciation for having time to come and talk to us. We will guide you tell us some vital information concerning you. We would like you to feel comfortable and you are free to seek clarification on any issue you feel like. 4.0 Interview Conclusion It has been pleasure having you in this interview. We have sincerely appreciated your cooperation and input throughout the discussion. We will be contacting you shortly to inform you of the outcome. 5.0 Non-verbal Cues Non-verbal cues or behaviors can be taken to mean those inherent attributes of a person that cannot be expressed by word of mouth (Schlenker 1980). These attributes can only be captured in an interactive scenario by paying attention to the manner in which an individual carries himself/herself and the way that person develops and presents ideas in an open conversation. Job interviews are highly interactive processes, and thus the non-verbal attributes of an applicant cannot be ignored. In fact, their ignorance has been pointed out to amount to rating bias (Baron 1987). The social skills of an applicant and the ability to create good interpersonal relations are some traits desirable by many interviewers. Studies have shown that non-verbal cues rank higher than the verbal capabilities in assessing the candidate’s interactive capability (Harriot 1981). The next area of interest after ascertaining the importance of non-verbal cues is determination of the cues to look for. Scholars have divided these cues into two categories. These are dynamic cues and static cues (Edinger & Patterson 1983). According to this classification, the dynamic cues include eye contact, maintenance of speech tone, use of gestures, smiles and even the amount of time the applicant spent responding to the panel’s questions. Static cues on the other hand refer to matters related to the candidate’s age, gender, dressing code and the general physical appearance. One may ask how these non-verbal cues will assist the interviewer in judging the applicant. Studies have proved that there is a high correlation between the non-verbal cues and the candidate’s motivation to work (Landy & Trumbo 1980). This implies that these attributes if objectively analyzed can guide the interviewer assess the extent to which a particular applicant can fully dedicate his/her effort at the work place if selected. 6.0 The Interview Guide This is a summary of the areas on which the interviewer will seek information. Although not much effort has been dedicated to studies of hoe well interviews should be conducted, a standard structure of evaluation is integral (Ulrich & Trumbo 1965). 6.1Experience Review This will involve time spent on a similar position and credentials attained. It will also incorporate past engagement in a similar organization or an entity in the same industry. Lessons learnt by the candidate would help him/her settle down quickly and may bring new skills to our company. 6.2Qualification and Membership This section pays attention for the type academic training the candidate has gone through and how it relates to the responsibilities of the job position. Membership refers to subscriptions and certifications by professional bodies. 6.3Referee Referees will assist in gathering more information regarding the applicant’s capabilities at the work place and how well he/she is able to uphold ethical standards. It will also be crucial to establish the circumstances and reasons for which the applicant left previous employment. Reference list Baron, RA 1987, ‘Interviewer’s moods and reactions to job applicants’, The influence of affective states on applied social judgment,. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Vol.17, pp.911–926 Dessler, G 1991, Personnel/Human Resource Management, 5th edn, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Edinger, JA & Patterson, M L 1983, ‘Nonverbal involvement and social control’, Psychological Bulletin, Vol.93,pp. 30-56. Fiedler, F 1967, A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness, McGraw-Hill, New York. Harriot, P 1981, ‘Towards an attributional theory of the selection interview’, Journal of Occupational Psychology, Vol.54, pp.165-173. Janz T, etal, 1986, Interviewing, Allyn and Bacon Publishers, Newton, Massachusetts. Landy, FJ & Trumbo, DA 1980, Psychology of work behavior (Rev. ed.). The Dorsey Press, Homewood, IL. Schlenker, BR 1980, Impression management. CA: Brooks/Cole, Monterey. Stone, RJ 1998, Human Resource Management, 3rd edn, Jacaranda Wiley, Brisbane. Walker, JW 1992, Human Resource Strategy, McGraw-Hill, Singapore 8.0Appendices A. The Advert Sonaxels Company Limited Human resource and training coordinator based in head office contract type: permanent Who we are Sonaxels Company is a medium sized private company that manufactures soft drink with operations history extending thirteen years. Since June this year we scaled up our operations to a tune of 20% due to improved customer demand. This has seen a sharp increase in the number of our work force majority of whom requiring further training and facilitation. The training programme requires a coordinator to facilitate its execution. The role The successful applicant will be charged with the responsibility of organizing all the training sessions to the workers. The person will interpret all the policies of our company and ensure proper adherence to procedures and practices. The person will oversee the recruitment process of the staff and coordinate the induction activities. The incumbent will formulate the training calendar and monitor the training cycle. He/she will then keep and maintain records of the training process. He/she will also advise the management on staff progress and air their concerns. what we are looking for Postgraduate qualification in human resources Past experience of at least 4 years in human resource leadership Excellent interpersonal and communication skills Ability to form good relationships with people Ability to solve complex human resource problems To apply Interested candidates should send their application and resumes to: recruitment@sonaxels.co.org closing date for application is 30th August, 2012. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted B. Interview Questions (a) Why should we hire you? (b) Describe your previous employer (c) What is that that you previous employer did that you wish all employers did? (d) What value will working with us add to you? (e) What goals do you plan to attain in the next three years? (f) Do you meet the qualifications to handle the assignments of this position? (g) Describe a situations you made crucial decisions without consulting your boss (h) Have you ever supervised a group of people? (i) What lessons did you learn? (j) Did you ever recommend firing a worker? (k) How best did you motivate your subordinates? (l) How did you deal with workers who were slow learners? (m) Did you ever come across conflict between workers you supervised? (n) How did you deal with the situation? (o) How often did workers consult one another on technical matters? (p) How often did they consult you? (q) Did you consult them yourself? Read More

 

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