5 Must Do’s for Hiring Managers in Today’s Job Market
Since I spend a significant amount of time providing advice that help those seeking employment, I thought in this article, I would reference some useful tips for hiring managers to help with effective decision making when screening candidates.Just as important as it is for an interviewee to put his or her best foot forward, so too is it critical that a hiring manager representing the company and make a positive impression. The interview process will help the candidate and the company to determine if there is a solid fit from a personality and skill set perspective, and could very well contribute to a hiring decision that promotes longevity.
How can you, as a hiring manager, tell if the candidates you are seeing represent a potentially smart hiring decision? While nothing in life is guaranteed, there are things you can do as the candidate screener to facilitate smart selection decisions. Consider the following:
- Conduct a behavioral-based interview session. What is this you ask? This type of interview provides a more objective set of facts to make employment decisions than other interviewing methods. During this process, candidates are asked to provide examples of how they might handle a situation. Some questions will require real life situations, while other questions will have the candidate respond to hypothetical situations to gauge potential reactions.
- Ask targeted questions. Rather than simply asking a candidate the classic open ended “Tell me about yourself,” the interviewer should focus on a candidate’s ability to provide details of specific incidents. In this way, he or she can gather a more comprehensive understanding of the candidate’s true character.
- Ask Probing Questions: Hiring managers should ask probing questions about a situation to prevent candidates from being anything but honest. Follow up questions include “So what led you to that decision?” “How did you decision impact the rest of the project?” “What did you do to alleviate conflicts?” As more and more questions are asked (and some are repeated in a different way) anything but the truth will quickly come to light.
- Be prepared. Have a copy of the person’s resume; review the resume briefly before the candidate arrives; formulate questions that you would be interested in knowing about the candidate; review the job description to evaluate connections between essential functions of the job and what you see on the resume. Consider what you want to learn about the candidate during the interview process.
- Make the candidate feel at ease so he/she opens up to you during the interview process. Pick a neutral place where the candidate feels there is more of a level playing field. Offer the candidate something to drink. This will elicit positive and honest responses during the process.
In a buyer’s market, it is still critical to make a good impression on the star players when you are ramping up your team. Remember that the interview process goes both ways!
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This blog's author, Debra Wheatman of Careers Done Write, provides executive career services including resume and cover letter preparation, job search / interviewing strategies and professional branding including how to effectively use LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media in your career.
Visit CareersDoneWrite.com to learn more about how we can put your career in gear with interview catching resumes and professionally written career documents.