Ways of Conducting Effective Interview - Research Paper Example

Interviews usually consist of four basic steps. They include:

• Planning the interview
• Questions to be asked/ or not to be asked
• Conducting the interview
• Post-interview

Planning the interview

Planning the interview involves those arrangements which need to be done before the interview. They include outlining the relevancy of candidates as per the job criteria which means that the matching principle must be applied. The potential candidate must be matched against the requirements of the job. This step leads to the third step which is recording and summarizing the information of each candidate. Once the information for each candidate has been recorded, appointments of date and time for interview should be scheduled. After these steps are done, relevant potential candidates are notified about the interview time, date, and place. Questions which are to be asked should be as short as possible. The questions should be framed in such a manner that they have a good mix up of both close-ended as well as open-ended questions.

The questions should be specific, free from bias and ambiguity. It is necessary to draw a line between those questions which should be asked and those which should be discussed. While conducting interviews, it is advisable for interviewer to give time to the respondent to answer the questions and be a good listener. Interviewees are also supposed to be calm and confident during the interview. It is not at all necessary to panic or get worried. (Cuomo, n.d.) Most of the interviewers waste a lot of time in filing out the applications or resumes.

In some cases, it takes thirty to sixty minutes to do so. Therefore, it is necessary to shorten the applications. In order to cope up with this issue, interviewers need to allow technology for speeding up the process. Applicants can be asked to fill out their information on the company’s site. (Bridgewater State University, n.d.) At the beginning of the interview, both interviewee and interviewer should have a little conversation so as to relax the environment from any stress and nervousness. It is necessary to ease up the atmosphere so that there is no reluctance and hesitation between the two parties. 

Some casual conversation is essential to relax both, the interviewer and the interviewee. Applicants should be asked only relevant questions and unnecessary conversation must be avoided in order to save time. (Long, n.d.)

 Post Interview

Post-interview steps include:

• Recording the observations of applicants
• Narrowing down the field of the applicant
• Checking the references of each applicant
• Making the decision of hiring
• Notifying the selected and unselected candidates

The above-mentioned steps are quite self-explanatory and depict the overall procedure of steps that must be taken after the interviews are conducted. The hiring decision is the most important step in all of the above-mentioned steps and therefore requires careful consideration so as to make unbiased and impartial decisions. It is especially important to note that the communication to the unselected candidates should be made with more care. The communication must ensure the likely grievance and provide them more courage to apply for other positions as well in the future.

Preparing Effective Job Description

The job description helps in hiring the most competitive, flexible, reliable, bright, and multifaceted employees. For this reason, it is necessary to prepare an effective job description. The process of preparing a job description includes the following steps:

• Gathering relevant people for the task
• Performing the job analysis
• Preparing job description
• Periodically, reviewing the job description
• Utilizing the job description as the basis for EDP or Employee Development Plan (Heathfield, n.d.)

The above-mentioned steps are required for the entire process of the job description but in essence, writing a job description also requires certain components.

Components of Job Description

Writing a job description is the foremost requirement for hiring the best available candidate but there are some major steps in writing an effective job description. Writing an effective job description requires the following vital components. A good job description is incomplete if any of these is missing.

• Title
• Summary of Job
• Job tasks, authorities, and responsibilities
• Required qualifications and education
• Working conditions
• Supervision
• Benefits and Salary (Dobbins, n.d.)

The above-mentioned constituents help in organizing the job description. In the job description, the title is referred to as the job position which is available. Summary of job refers to the further and brief explanation about the job. Then there comes the most important part which includes responsibilities, authorities, and job tasks. This section determines the requirement of the relevant job position. After that, the required qualification and education are mentioned which incorporates the condition of the relevant job position. Working condition is another important part which is covered under the head of working conditions. Supervision determines under whom this position will be supervised. Salary and benefits include the package by which an applicant decides if he wishes to apply for this job or not as it is most often the major criteria of decision making for employees.

Conclusion

The last section of this article highlighted the points which can assist in formulating a proper job description for the employees.