INTERVIEWING? TRY BEHAVIOR-BASED INTERVIEWING!!

INTERVIEWING? TRY BEHAVIOR-BASED INTERVIEWING!! When you are faced with a hiring decision it is always a challenge to hire the right person.

• How do I interview so that I hire the best person for the position?

• What can I do to ensure I am hiring a person who will perform the job satisfactorily or better?

• Why should I hire one applicant over another?

Actually there are no guarantees that you will hire the best person out of your interviews. However, there is a way to increase the odds of hiring the best qualified candidate.

Behavior-based interviewing!

• What is it?

• When do I use it?

• Why use it?

• How do I use it?

First, let me explain:

WHAT: Business Professor Herbert G. Heneman III of the University of Wisconsin defines behavior-based interviewing as, "A thorough, planned, and systematic way to gather and evaluate information about what candidates have done in the past to show how they would handle future situations." The assumption is that candidates who have demonstrated a particular behavior in a particular situation will repeat that behavior when faced with a similar situation.

WHEN: If you can accept "What" as fact, "when" becomes "as you prepare for your next hiring experience".

WHY behavior-based interviewing?

• You have objective data on the needs of the position before you interview.

• You have consistency in questioning each applicant.

• You have documentation that will explain the What, When, Why, and How, of your selection process.

• This documentation is very important when explaining any LEGAL challenges to your hiring decisions.

HOW: Identify the:

1. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs):

   • The attributes required to perform a job; generally demonstrated through qualifying experience, education or training.

   • Skills---to perform the mental or motor activity that contributes to the effective performance of a job task.

   • Abilities---aptitude or competence, the skill or proficiency needed to perform such tasks.

2. Core competencies, the KSAs critical to successful job performance (based on an analysis of the job and the incumbents).

3. Questions that focus on the key competencies of the job and phrased as such:

   "Think of an occasion when you ..." and then describe the occasion and how you handled it. Then follow-up with, "What was the result?" You can use this approach to learn about values, work intensity, relationship skills, problem solving, management skills, people skills, etc.

4. Develop benchmark responses, poor, average, or good answers that you are looking for prior to the interview. A scoring method can be used, example: poor = 0, average=1, and good=2. Use this as an evaluation list of each interviewee.

5. Ask each interviewee the same questions.

6. Take notes during each interview. Record each interviewee's responses.

7. Compare each interviewee's responses to your prewritten list of responses.

8. Compare your evaluation/scoring responses with participating interviewers.

   then

9. Select the interviewee that has the highest total number.

Behavior based interviewing is a time-consuming process and is being used more and more as part of the selection process.

By using this information you are on your way to hiring the best candidate for your business.

Need help? Contact your Human Resource and Payroll departments.

Contact Pinnacle PEOfor more information on Behavior-based Interviewing.

You may also download our Free HR Metrics Kit: it offers Quick must-know tips on best practices and implementation for your company.

Free HR Metrics Kit