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lnterviewing is one HR function that almost all managers are involved with at some point. Here are some tips for conducting interviews that identify the best candidates:

. Be prepared-Make sure the place where you interview is accessible and comfortable for you and the candidate. Read the candidate's r6sum6 and other paperwork ahead of time, to avoid asking for information that has already been provided. Prepare a list of questions, as well as infor- mation about the company's history, culture, and other details the candidate might be interested in knowing.

t Put the applicant at ease- A nervous or cautious job candi- eate !'!':ay not show his or her es. qua\itres. Express your appreciation tor the candr- date's time, and let the person know you're glad to meet him

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or her. Briefly explain what to expect during the interview.

. Ask about past behaviors- Talking about specific events makes it harder for a candidate to focus on guessing what the interviewer wants to hear, and the answers give clues about what the candidate will do in new situations. For examPle, depending on the type of job, you might ask, "Ptease telt me about a time when you received a customer comPlaint and how you handled it," or "This job involves tight dead- lines; could you tell me about a time when you faced a dif- ficult deadtine?"

. Listen-fhe interview infor- mation is only as good as the interviewer's ability to gather it. Let the candidate do most oi \he ta\krng, and par; atten- tion to what is being said and not said. lf a candidate sounds vague or too good to be true,

ask follow-up questions to gather details.

. Take nofes-As much as you can without distracting Your- self or the candidate, jot down notes to remind you of keY points. Also schedule 5 or 10 minutes after each interview for writing down your impressions.

r At the end of the interview, make sure the candidate knows what to expect next- for example, a phone call or additional interviews within the next week.

Sources: U.S. Department of Com- merce, Minority Business Development Agency, "Tips on How to SuccessfullY tnterview Job Candidates," November 17.

2009, raruw.mbda.gov; University o{ South

Carolina Division of.Human Resources, "Tips on lnterviewing University Job

Applicants, " http://hr.sc.eoi.r, accesseo' March 23,2010; and Dun & Bradstreet, "How to Conduct an E{iective Emp\oyee lnterview," Small Business Solutions, http:l/smallbusiness.dnb.com, accessed March 23,2010.

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Preparing to lnterview Organizations can reap the greatest benefits from intervierving if they prepare care- fully. A well-planned intervierv should be standardized, comfortable for the partici- pants, and focused on the job and the organization. The interviewer should have a cluiet place in rvhich to conduct interviervs r.vithout interruption. This person should be trained in how to ask objective questions, u'hat subject matter to avoid, and how to detect and handle his or her own personal biases or other distractions in order to fairly evaluate candidates.

The interviewer should have enough documents to conduct a complete interview. These should include a list of the questions to be asked in a sffuctured interview, with pienty of space for recording the responses. When the questions are prepared, it is also helpful to determine how the answers will be scored. For example, if questions ask how interviewees would handle certain situations, consider what responses are best in terms of meeting job requirements. If the job requires someone who motivates others, then a response that shovrs motivating behavior rvould receive a higher score. The interviewer also should have a copy of the interviewee's employment application

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178 PART 2 Acquiring and Preparing Human Resources

L*7 Explain how employers carry out the process of making a selection decision

and r6sum6 to revierv before the interview and refer ro during the intervierv. If pi,- sibie, the interviewer shouid also have printed inforrnation abour the organi:.li:-:, and the job. Near rhe beginning of the intervieu', it is a good idea ro go o\rer rhe :. : specifications, organizational policies, and so on, so that the interviewee has a c1e:::: understanding of the organization's needs.

The inten'iewer shor-rid schedule enough time to revieu,the job requirements, J:,, cuss the inten'iew questions, and give the interviewee a chance to ask questions. T; close, the interviewer should thank the candidate for corning and pro,,'ide information about rvhat to expect-for exanple, that the organization *,ili contact a {eu, finalists rvithin the next two weeks or that a decision will be rnade by the end of the week.

Seleeticn Seeisisns After revier.ving applications, scoring tests, conducting interviews, and checking ref- erences, the organization needs to make decisions about which candidates ro place in nhich jobs. ln practice, most organizations find more than one qualified capdiiiate to fill an open position. The selection decision typically con-rbines ranking based on objective criteria along with subjective judgments about which candiclare rvill make the grea rest contribr r tion

How Organizations Select Employees The selection decision should not be a simpie matter of u'hom rhe supervisor likes best or lvhich candidate u'ill take the lowesr offer. Also, as the "HR oopsr" box emphasizes, job candidates, confidence does not necessarily mean they are compe- tent. Rather, the people rnaking the selection shouid look for the best fit betu'een candidate and position. ln general, the person's perforrnance rvill resr-rlt from a combi- nation of ability and motivation. Often, the selection is a choice an'rong a ferv people who possess the basic qualifications. The decision makers therefore have to decide lvhich of those people have the best combination of ability and rnotivation to fit in the position and in the organization as a r,vhole.

The usual process for arriving at a selection decision is to gradually narrow the pool of candidates for each job. This approach, called the multiple-hurdle model, is based on a process such as the one shorvn earlier in Figure 6.1 . Each srage of the process is a hurdle, and candidates u'ho overcome a hurdle continue ro the next stage of the process. For example, the organization reviews applications and/or r6sum6s of all can- didates, conducts some tests on those who meet minimum requirements, conducts ini- tial inten'iervs rvith those who had the highest test scores, follows up wirh additional intervielvs or testing, and then selects a candidate ftom rhe few who survived rhis pro- cess. Another, more expensive alternative is to take most applicants through all steps of the process and then to review all the scores to find the most desirable candidares. With this alternative, decision makers may use a compensatory model, in which a very high score on one type of assessment can make up for a low score on another.

Whether the organization uses a multiple-hurdle model or conducts the same assessments on ail candidates, the decision maker(s) needs criteria for choosing among quallfied candidates. An obvious strategy is to select rhe candidates who score highest on tests and interviews. Horvever, employee performance depends on moti- vation as r'vell as ability. It is possibie that a candidate who scores very high on an ability test rnight be "overqualified"-that is, rhe employee mighr be bored by the job the organization needs to fill, and a less-able employee might actually be a better fit. Similarly, a highly motivated person migl-rt learn sorr-re kinds of jobs very qr-rickly,

Multiple-tlurdle tulodel Process of arriving at a selection decision by eliminating some candidates at each stage of the selection pr0c ess.

Cornpensatory Model Process of arrlving at a selection decision in which a very high score on one type of assessment can make up for a low score on another.

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