INTERVIEWER’S HANDBOOK

BASICS for Managers CONDUCTING INTERVIEWS

As definitions of management have changed, the role and definition of the managerial coach has likewise changed. It is no longer sufficient to have business and managerial savvy or skill sets that may prove to be dated. It is now necessary for coaches to also understand business work groups, integrated product teams, virtual employees and the ways businesses are re-structuring to meet market demands.

The coaching task is increasingly complex and challenging partially due to increasing requirements from businesses for greater employee output with declining resources. The task is also impacted by competition from companies that out-place jobs to domestic or off-shore companies, or both. As a result coaches are challenged understand ways to manage business resources, systems and processes that were never designed for these new demands. Coaches must now help managers to learn and settle in to the new roles and responsibilities required by businesses.

Interviewers Handbook , is one of the Essential Management Skills modules offered by Mentorsys. These modules are resources for managerial coaches when working with both new and seasoned managers.

Interviewers Handbook is written for coaches to use in part, or as a workbook. It is intended as a guide for coaches who may be new to business coaching. It is also written in a manner that directly addresses and tasks the manager. Please use this method as a guide, and feel free to adapt the words to your particular coaching situation.

Introduction
Most managers are not prepared for issues that arise in the process of interviewing and selecting job candidates even though effective means of personnel selection have been available for years. It is a fact that the vast majority of companies in this country entrust their selection to personnel and management people who are largely untrained in the interview process (Fear, R. A., and Chiron, R. J., 1990). The results are predictably haphazard and indiscriminate. One professional described the situation: “It never ceased to amaze me that ‘scientific’ chemists, engineers and managers were perfectly willing to accept and participate in sloppy, unthoughtful, slovenly selection procedures.”
Hap-hazard selection still exists and is largely the result of many managers having little understanding of what poor “selection procedures” are costing their companies.

Costs of hiring and maintaining a poorly qualified entry-level worker over, a 3-month probation period, range between $7,000 and $10,000. These costs accelerate with higher-level applicants (who are anxious to prove themselves). Such “proving” requires at least one year. It is with these populations that this handbook is concerned.

Through experience we have learned the best ways to predict how a person will perform. This is by evaluation of how he or she has performed in the past. Although it is possible for individuals to grow and develop in ways that modify behavior, few people completely overcome the effects of behaving in ways that long years have produced in them.

If a person has worked hard since teenage years, that person is likely to work hard for a new employer. Likewise, when a person has a history of adapting to new and changing situations in previous job experiences, it is likely that person will be able to make adjustments required in a new job. Moreover, if the candidate has been able to remain with previous jobs for a reasonable period of time, then he or she is quite likely to remain with a new employer for a similar time period.

Finally, when candidates have demonstrated an ability to get along with people in previous jobs, extracurricular activities in school, or in activities outside of work or school, they are very likely to get along well with people in their place of employment.

“There’s no off-season anymore.”
Nolan Ryan
Texas Rangers’ pitcher and
World record holder for no-hitters