How to Conduct a Job Interview - Essay Example

Daniel Ristovic Dr. Lewis ENGL 1158-09 16 November How to conduct a job interview The world today has all of us running after meeting the merit, criteria and eligibility for various purposes, mostly jobs. Initial procedure may require deposition of essential credentials including the documents, degrees, attestations etcetera but the best procedure to evaluate skills most utilized in any job is to conduct an interview. The interviewer can then see if the candidate falls in the category of a verbose, efficient and influential professional best suited for the position. Before conducting the interview it is important to be knowledgeable about the position vacant for hiring. A thorough job description has to be made and carefully analyzed. If need be the ex-official should be inquired as to the nature of the job. There are many factors about which the higher executive committee is oblivious about but maybe tantamount to that particular official candidate. Therefore every minor detail should be opened and carefully studied including nature of tasks, number of hours served, incentives, demerits and targets. After conducting this thorough research the interviewer is subjected to develop a summary also known as a job description proposal to be sent for publicizing towards expecting candidates. This job description needs to be witty and vivid regarding the eligibility criteria for the candidates. It should be devoid of fuzzy words and incomplete details. The position should be thoroughly explained including the negative details. The candidate should not be tried to be kept in the dark. All merits and demerits should be specifically quoted. All the policies and strategies from the authoritative board should reflect acute acumen and a witty approach. Exactly everything should be devised by keeping in view these minimum eligibility guidelines and a merit quota should be decisive of the throne. The strategies differ for public and private sectors which are mostly stocks for the latter and general social factors for the former. All the strategies should target perfection on behalf of all of the departments or segments along with pure monetary based ambitions. After the job description has been carefully designed, it should be handed put to the most efficient media routes and later the company should start accepting resumes. The three most common types of interview involves a: Telephonic interview: Usually conducted for candidates inhabiting different localities or area of domicile. One on One interview: The most traditional type of interview conducted in front of the official of the company. Group Interview: The candidate is subjected to questioning in front of the whole panel of representatives who then decide if the person is the perfect candidate for the position. This type of interview is the most intense and usually conducted for important job positions that require highly qualified professionals. However, nowadays the traditional interview has been largely replaced by a rather untraditional form known as the video chat. Not only does this provide release from the inconvenience of travelling and line interruptions but a person can easily deliver the interview from his abode and be relaxed about it the whole time. This form of interview is conducted with the support of a large technical team which makes sure it is conducted without any interruptions. Information and communication technology has knitted the world together so closely that it is now called a global village. Everything is just a click away. People from far ranging islands and across seven seas are better communicated than ever in history. As far as globalization from the paradigm of business and custom studies is viewed then it has remarkably strengthened the process and aided in its pollination. It is the vector which carries vital information across borders and across waters. ICT has merged communication with information. New technologies such as Skype and other social media have helped in dealing important cross cultural business pacts utilizing the acumen from all over the world; this process of globalization is propagated. The economic markets are set and stronger trade is brought to life. Even if critics think otherwise, globalization has or at least is trying to unify the masses by setting common standards and common goals. Then there is the Panel Interview which requires the candidate to move from one interviewer to the other. In the end the results from individual interviewer are summarized into one and presented to the candidate. This type of interview is usually conducted to establish a leader. If the person has the following qualities he is usually accepted for the position: 1. Intelligent or innovative stimulation to generate new ideas and empowerment 2. Charismatic Influence to overcome resistance to change, 3. Personal incentives and ambitions to motivate and drive the followers. In the selection process morality based incumbency should be given due emphasis. It has been clearly stated in all books pertaining to management and ethical approach that illegal indulgence is harmful for the company’s well being and survival. It should be formulated in its policies for all such ill vices such as negotiating with political derived prejudice and giving way to progeny other than a merit based selection course, to be negated are eradicated in from the very roots. All such indulgence should be punished and reprimanded but care should be taken that the whistle blowers are contained to avoid notoriety, legal suits and black listing. Therefore all hiring policies should all be free from corruption and nepotism. Bribery should be strictly reprimanded and all the lodging should be completely on merit. This will help in speeding up the progress of the company as more and more efficient people are hired and working towards a common goal. The company’s overall reputation is buffed and revenues are accrued. (Dale. p 56) The mostly used outline of the general interviewing process in therefore: First step is planning to establish the profile of person being interviewed. Consulting the Human resource staff is crucial in this step as they provide a banking source of personal information, for example: age, first language, country of origin etcetera. The Second most important step is breaking the ice in case the environment becomes uncomfortably silent and making the person feel comfortable with the interviewer. The better endorsed the conversation the better the more productive will be the interview. Next is the third step which involves efficient extraction of information. Questions should come in four categories: Creative thinking, problem solving, fact-finding and behavior- related. “Fact-finding questions seeks to identify the candidate’s experience, skills and credentials. Some examples: How large was your team at your previous employer? What were the working conditions like? What did you like or dislike about the environment? Can you describe your Excel skills? – Creative thinking questions are broader queries that ask the candidate to demonstrate a grasp of wider business trends. Some examples: Where do you see the industry growing? What are the pitfalls ahead for our business? – Problem-solving questions ask the candidate to solve problems. Examples include technical, skills-oriented puzzles where you ask the candidate to solve a technical conundrum or task. Other questions might concern processes, such as: “You see that project/product X is behind schedule, how would you accelerate the team?” – Behavioral questions, which many experts say are the most important, get at how an employee acts in certain situations. Some examples: Describe a situation when you made a major mistake — how did you react? How did you defend your position? Or, when you feel like management has made an unfair decision, how do you react? How do you handle a crisis situation? What do you consider to be a crisis?” (http://guides.wsj.com/management/recruiting-hiring-and-firing/how-to-conduct-interviews/) Fourth step is briefing the person about arrangements, such as company info, salary and goals of the company. Fifth step is evaluating the resume again and finishing the interview. Notes should be taken during the interview and important qualities of the candidate should be highlighted. The post interview phase is basically composed of steps four and five. The personality and intuition of the interviwer is of prime concern. In this case, temperament management and career orientation pose problems. Lack of strong decisive powers also need a little improvement. Tendency of improvements and self appreciation are far too out grown which often lead to self deceptive measures. 1) Taking the initiative: Taking everything under control is the first and foremost stance of the interviewer. In case of a problem or a threat, the interviewer and the Human Resource should impulsively assume authority and take everything from policy making of the interview procedure to implementation in their own hands. This is definitely the reason he was hired in the first place, to lead, to act as the control system, to act as the brain and check the candidates for the betterment of the company as a whole. Every task for a smooth execution requires check points which take care to avoid any unfavorable circumstance from happening and in case it does happen due to whoever’s negligence, to control it from proliferating further. 2) Accepting responsibility for mistakes: To err is human but acceptance of a mistake is the hardest part. This acceptance is the necessary requirement for interviewer to assume his authority. It conveys the signal that admitting a mistake is not wrong in fact it signifies a strong character that tolerates no room for mistakes without amendments. There are individuals who assume that confessing they were incorrect displays weakness or ineptness. The risk of this notion, particularly when its believed by people folks with chairs or ranks associated with an authoritative command, is that it hinders the prospects by directly defending their very poor options, in the end it does not matter if they acknowledge their mistake in their subconscious but fail to admit it. These kinds of operators finish up positioning untrue blame on other people as a way to prove the supremacy of their own characters. They point fingers to somebody else that are in no way responsible or didn’t carry out the blunder but their mere association to the general project puts them in jeopardy. This wrongly perceived approach will be observed by them so that they can save deal with, or prove they are worthy of their authority or so that they can retain admiration for this deceitful cleverness. Regretfully, they will not obtain any of the fantasized things. Actually, they will obtain the complete reverse by destroying the organizational environment and giving birth to whistle blowers. 3) Perseverance: Perseverance, passion and control are the keys to conducting a perfect interview. Sometimes things may get out of hand but the interviewer needs to maintain his composure. Every personal development plan incorporates these as the minimum requirements for and effective growth and learning procedure. Any leader can have to be up against unexpected troubles, hurdles or perhaps circumstances set up either deliberately or by chance, in order to avoid the team from attaining their targets. An established interviewer will certainly analyze all the circumstances from the trouble, look for a potential answer as well as set forth to implementing approaches in order to encourage the team toward a determined leap over the barrier as well as proceed on the road to productively obtaining the set team targets. If the head is devoid of the requisite stamina manage to persevere any time met with troubles, all the affiliates acknowledge him as a particularly very poor head as well as the chances of accomplishing targets are generally sleek. Thus, determination can be an important characteristic or perhaps attribute of an excellent team head capable of collective endeavors towards accomplishment. It is to be mentioned here that the person conducting an interview is mostly an established persona working in any of the higher offices. 4) Planning organizing and setting objectives: Planning and objective stipulation are of vital importance for the entire procedure. Insight along with careful decisive capacities is eminent to lay out the directive principles of motivational policies for candidates. Everything from moral up built to principle manifestation is underlined by the leader who takes into account every single detail from the core to the crust. 5) Delegating tasks to the people with the right skill set: The interviewer should be alive to the talents and abilities of all the candidates he reviews. Every line of action and response should include a careful observation of the core abilities. Tasks should be handed to those workers who possess the requisite skill set. Giving a task to the ill-suited person will bring down the entire project and this action will definitely counteract the individual as well as the company benefit. 6) Persuading and motivating: A good leader keeps the morale of his team high by highlighting various incentives and key targets achievements. Moreover different platforms are brought to light that can effectively trigger psychological growth and satisfaction of the employees thereby rooting for a greater and much target oriented result. Not everybody is capacitated to conduct a job interview and that is why in order to have a successful interview the person in charge have to choose the correct type of interview and should have these minimum qualities as outlined before. Periodic assessments and quality control tests should be performed after the candidates are accepted. Some companies conduct annual evaluation and grants compensation to the people who meet the target. Incentives and bonuses should be highlighted more often and exemplified. Honor employees should be highlighted to keep the general morale high and keep alive the sense of achievement among the workers. The people management strategy is unique to every company and in accordance with its organizational culture, policies, labor potential and financial solidarity. The endeavor should be towards success by keeping pace with the subordinate units, making sure of their satisfaction and morale level. If the compartmentalized units are healthy then the overall company or business thrives and if the units are deteriorating with hidden grievances and regrets then everything is in eternal jeopardy as the labor cannot be removed without collapsing the structure and new labor cannot be hired without proper recruitment and assurances. Therefore care should be taken in order to meet the level of satisfaction. REFERENCES: Dale, Margaret. The Essential Guide to Recruitment: How to Conduct Great Interviews and Select the Best Employees. Kogan Page Publishers, (2006). Print. http://guides.wsj.com/management/recruiting-hiring-and-firing/how-to-conduct-interviews/ http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225960 Read More