Interviewing a Potential Employee - Case Study Example

Interview Package Criteria TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of contents ` 1 Abstract 3 Job advertisement 3 Interview session 4 Introduction 4 Body 4 Behavioural criteria 5 Accurate research skills/time management 5 Team leadership/Delegation 6 Organisational skills 6 Decisiveness 7 Computer technology proficiency 7 Professionalism/problem solving skills 7 Work standards 8 Interview preparation 8 Location 8 Questions 8 Interview Guide 9 The guide with Timeframe 10 Conclusion 11 References 13 Abstract In the Interviewing a Potential Employee, there is a great emphasis on the conducting of a comprehensive and thorough interview in a bid to select what is best for the organisation (2009). To select the best candidate for the job, an interviewer must dedicate his/her time in preparation for the interview as well as selecting the best criteria to use during the selection process. Other than considering the physical appearance of an interviewee, the interviewer should concentrate on the behavioural selection criteria since it is only through these criteria that the true personality and character of the interviewee emerge (Tuner 2004). The potential and will to work in the organisation are obtained through intelligent leading questions which analyse the characters and reactions of the interviewee to certain issues facing the organisation on a day-to-day basis like competence, work standards, dedication and creativity, just to mention a few. Job advertisement The said job is that of a marketing manager in a communications-trading firm. The main responsibilities include strategising on product offering, branding and developing marketing programs to the customers’ satisfaction. Others include developing and approving images, managing the customer relationship, researching on business opportunities in and outside the organisation and developing a marketing led culture in the organisation. The marketing manager is to report to the National Marketing Manager. In addition, the marketing manager should lead a team in a bid to develop marketing programs to benefit both the consumer and the business. Other than leading an internal team, the marketing manager is expected to work with internal and external stakeholders while balancing competing interest by developing the short-term revenue expectations as well as the long-term goals. The organisation seeks a self-driven, energetic and a positive minded individual for this position is expected to have relevant tertiary qualifications, excellent communication skills, and group leader, organised, time conscious and able to multitask. Interview session Introduction This session is set to take approximately one hour. The session starts with a brief introduction of both the interviewee and the interviewer with an outline and format of the session. The interviewer should explain which roles each member of the panel plays in the interview and give the interviewee time to get clarification on any unclear issue. Based on the interview of Linkedln’s marketing manager, the interview consisted the following (Jasra 2010). It is a common trend to start with an introduction statement to make the session cohesive and it mostly involves salutations and an introduction of the panellists, all by name and professions. This is followed by an explanation of the duration of conducting the interview, in this case being one hour. Body Interviewer: Can you please take us through your qualification as a marketing manager? Interviewer: Can you please take us through your experience as a marketing manager? Interviewer: Describe your most current position and responsibilities. Interviewer: Tell us why you chose this organisation. Interviewer: Tell me about a marketing project that you delegated on time and under budget. Interviewer: Tell me about a marketing project in which you coordinated a team of people to realise certain objectives Interviewer: Describe an instance in which you effectively managed a tight budget and proceeded to realise the objectives. Interviewer: Give me an example of a time when you had to make a split second decision Interviewer: Tell me one instance in which you effectively used an online marketing tool Interviewer: Discuss the biggest challenges facing a marketing manager today Interviewer: Tell me about an instance in which you were not satisfied with your marketing strategy and how you dealt with it. Behavioural Criteria The behavioural criteria of selection are based in the idea that future performance prediction can only be based on the past performances (Hansen n.d). This criterion seeks to find the attachment and employment decisions as compared to the other general interviewing methods that dwell on general information about the interviewee. This prevents scenarios where the interviewee responds to please the interviewer despite incompetence in practicality. For example, if the interviewee is asked on means of handling a certain task, the interviewer is bound to get many answers, some of which do not reflect the true characters of the interviewee. In a marketing manager’s interview, the following behavioural questions can be asked: Accurate research skills/time management Tell me about a marketing project that you delegated on time and under budget. This type of behavioural question seeks to explore the trait of time management and the reason for using it in the interview seeks to find out if the interviewee possesses accurate research skills and whether he/she can develop realistic and workable objectives that are cost effective. In addition, the question helps to evaluate whether the interviewee is able to formulate strategies for proper realisation of these objectives. Through effective utilisation of resources, an interviewer obtains traits like sound-judgment planning and managerial skills from the candidates. Team leadership/Delegation Tell me about a marketing project in which you coordinated a team of people to realise certain objectives This type of question seeks to find team leadership traits as well as coordination and delegation abilities from the interviewee. Since the marketing manager should be a team leader, through the answers from the interviewee, an interviewer can know whether the candidate is qualified to lead, motivate and inspire a marketing team towards achieving the business goals. Organisational skills Describe an instance in which you effectively managed a tight budget and proceeded to realise the objectives. The question seeks to find the traits of proper training and effective organisational skills (Tuner 2004). In addition, the interviewer is able to know if the marketing manager will be cost effective and how he/she will deal with constraints. These organisational traits are very important for a marketing manager since the consumer growth depends on the responsiveness of the marketing manager to realising organisational goals and projects’ objectives. Decisiveness Give me an example of a time when you had to make a split second decision The behavioural question seeks to analyse the candidate for a decisive character. The marketing manager’s role of influencing consumer behaviour must remain imperative irrespective of any compromise to prior strategy. If there are compromised strategies prior formulated, the marketing manager should act accordingly to ensure that other systems come in to realise the same goals. Computer technology proficiency Tell me one instance in which you effectively used an online marketing tool This behavioural question seeks to establish if the candidate possesses computer technology proficiency as well as innovation traits. The question also establishes the creativity of the candidate depending on the past performances. By answering this type of question, the interviewer analyses the candidate’s traits and use them to project on future performances by the selected interviewee. Professionalism/problem solving skills Discuss the biggest challenges facing a marketing manager today Through asking this question, the interviewer tests on professionalism and problem solving abilities. Due to the stiff competition among businesses, the marketing manager should display competence and understanding in the marketing manager’s position to effectively deal with the competition and emerge on top with a large customer holding. Work standards Tell me about an instance in which you were not satisfied with your marketing strategy and how you dealt with it. This question seeks to evaluate the performance of the candidate in terms of work standards. The interviewee must display high working standards and be in a position to detect underperformance and act accordingly (Haynes 1979). Interview preparation Location For the interview session to be effective, a thorough preparation is very important. The first step in interview preparation is setting up the venue, date and time within which to conduct the interview. To avoid errors, the interviewer should communicate these details to the candidates in writing (Braun 1995). Since the number of interviewees is usually high in most occasions, the period for conducting each interview should be sensible enough to accommodate this. Questions Any special requirement for disabled candidates should be in place to ensure their comfort as they prepare for the session. The interviewer should then go through all the candidates’ CVs to understand their contents as well as prepare questions in areas requiring further clarifications. Same set of questions for each candidate should be prepared for a structured approach of selection and evaluation. The interviewer should also create a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere for the interviewees and ensure there are no distractions throughout the session (McNamara n.d). The interviewer should start by introducing him/herself and the other members of the interviewing panel. The interviewee should receive an outline and format of the session as well as an understanding of each interviewer’s role in the panel. During the interview, questions arrangement should start from the more open ones to behavioural ones to elicit more information from the candidate. The interviewer should understand all the discrimination laws before conducting an interview. In addition, the interviewer should indicate the expected duration for the interview to prepare the interviewee psychologically as well as offer an opportunity to ask questions and obtain clarification on any unclear issue. Lastly, after one session is over, the interviewer should briefly take notes of each candidate as a reference during the selection process. Interview Guide To ensure fair and non-discriminative selection, the interviewer should consider certain interviewing guidelines. The first step is goal definition (Carlopio & Andrewartha 2008). Using these goals, the interviewer should identify the qualifications needed to achieve these goals. These qualifications must be distinctive: those already possessed by the candidate and those they are to learn on the job. Another step is the analysis process that entails questions classified as closed one that require direct answer, open ones that require explanations, focused questions, leading, behavioural and follow-up questions. These questions should be consistent and selection based on the answered contents (Bloom, Krabenhoft & Lamba 2006). The questions vary from recent direct work experience, job-related work experiences, educational experiences to job-related interpersonal experiences focused on the job dimensions. Lastly, the interviewer should not discriminate against gender, sex, religious beliefs, disabilities, past work traumas and race. Rather, the interviewer should be open minded and dedicated to reason and sound judgment. The Guide with Timeframe Introduction Candidate’s Name: Panel Members’ Names: 10 min Confirmation of CV and relevant documents plus welcome speech Personal questions 5 min Reason for choosing the company How the interviewee knew of the company Experience Questions 5 min Current or former employer Responsibilities In what ways did the interviewee benefit? In what ways did the interviewee loose? Education questions 5 min Professional qualification Formal education Other qualifications Behavioural questions 20 min Accurate research skills/time management Team leadership/Delegation Organisational skills Decisiveness Computer technology proficiency Professionalism/problem solving skills Work standards Final questions 5 min Self assessment questions Availability to commence work Conclusion 10 min A chance for interviewee to ask questions Analysis of interviewee according to the session Conclusion Prior preparations and adherence to a proper interview guide influences an interview’s success. Since past performances determine future performances, the interviewer should concentrate on understanding the true characters of the candidates by using the behavioural questioning criteria that measure the true capabilities of the candidates. The recording of each candidate’s details after each session helps the panellists in analysing the best candidate to offer the job. To avoid discrimination, the questions should not change since by doing so, some candidates may be favoured. References Bloom, N, Krabbenhoft, K & Lamba N 2006, Management Interview Guide, viewed 25 August 2010, < http://www.stanford.edu/~nbloom/ManagementInterviewGuide.pdf > Braun, S. A 1995, Helping managers become effective job interviewers, Viewed 25 August 2010, < http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/workforce-management-hiring-interviewing/550651-1.html> Carlopio, J & Andrewartha. G 2008, Developing Management Skills: A Comprehensive Guide for Leaders, Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest. Hansen, K. n.d, Behavioral Job Interviewing Strategies for Job-Seekers, Viewed 24 August 2010, < http://www.quintcareers.com/behavioral_interviewing.html > Haynes, S. N & Wilson C. C 1979, Behavioral assessment: recent advances in methods, concepts, and applications, Jossey-Bass, New Jersey. Interviewing a Potential Employee: How to Interview a Potential Employee, Viewed 23 August 2010, < http://www.job-interview-site.com/interviewing-employee-how-to-interview-an-employee.html> Jasra, M 2010, Interview of Linkedln’s Marketing Manger-Andrew Chang, Viewed 25 August 2010, < http://www.searchengineguide.com/manoj-jasra/interview-of-linkedins-marketing-manager.php > McNamara, C n.d, General Guidelines for Conducting Interviews, Viewed, 25 August 2010, Tuner, T. S 2004, Behavioral interviewing guide: a practical structured approach for conducting effective selection interview: past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour. Trafford Publishing, Victoria. Read More