Take Interviewing to the Next Level
By now you certainly know the value of offering alternative
work arrangements as a means of recruiting and retaining quality individuals.
You can’t get away from the articles telling you that people are
interested in balancing work and family and want to find more free time.
Would your organization be considered a pioneer in this
area? Have you taken the plunge and
hired people to telecommute or job share, or is fear of the unknown holding you
back? How do you know that the
person you hire will be effective working from home ~
Will be able to work unsupervised ~ Work well in a team?
The answer is simple: Behavioral Based Interviewing!
Yes, it is true, interviewing and selection will never be
an exact science. We will always be
putting ourselves out on the line somewhat when we make that hire.
But behavioral based interviewing will get you closer to going beyond
your gut and can help you feel better about any hiring decision you make,
including one for a position where the individual will be working from home.
The concept of behavioral based interviewing is based on
the premise that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.
To use this technique you just need to frame your questions so that the
candidate is required to give you real life examples.
For instance, if you are hiring for a position that will
allow telecommuting, you will want to know that the person can work
unsupervised. You can ask them
about taking initiative, prioritizing on their own, working without strict
guidelines. For instance:
Tell me about a time when you had a project to finish on a
strict deadline and little or no direction for how to get the job down.
What was the project? Tell
me about the circumstances. How did
you handle it and what was the outcome?
~ Or ~
Tell me about a time when you had too many things to do at
once. What was the specific
situation? How did you handle
prioritizing and what was the outcome?
You get the picture. The
key is to ask for a specific situation where the person would be demonstrating
how they exhibited or failed to exhibit the behavior that you are looking for.
And follow these guidelines:
-
Do
stay out of the “woulds”. If
the person starts their scenario with, “I would”, you know they are
speaking hypothetically rather than giving you a specific instance of past
behavior. Don’t let them get
away with it.
-
Do allow the person quiet time to think about their
answer. Your candidate was
probably all prepped for the basic “what are your strengths and
weaknesses” questions. But
you have just thrown them for a loop. It
can take some thought to come up with good examples, so give them the time
to think. And tell them that
it’s okay to take some time. They
may panic otherwise. Just
quietly say, “go ahead, take your time.”
And then be silent.
-
Do make sure that the candidate answers all parts of
the question. You want to hear:
Once you’ve mastered this easy interviewing technique
you’ll feel more confident hiring telecommuters or in-office employees!
Would you like more assistance in developing behavioral
based interviewing questions? We
will be happy to help you! Just email us for details. HR_Expert@Womans-Work.com
Kirsten Ross is mother of two sons and is
a Certified Human Resource Professional (SPHR) dedicated to helping women
achieve more life balance and to transforming the design of work.
Visit Womans-Work.com at http://www.womans-work.com
to search our revolutionary flexible work job board featuring more than 35,000
fresh work from home, part time, job share, flex time and telecommuting
opportunities, search for a job share partner or
read valuable career, life balance and family articles. You may also email
her at mailto:KRoss@Womans-Work.com
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