Effectively manage a personnel selection interview

Introduction

There is a wide range of literature on the subject and countless training courses. Yet many people involved in staff selection processes find it difficult to answer questions such as:

• How can you check if the candidate has the desired technical knowledge if you do not have that knowledge?
• How to ascertain what really motivates a person to accept our offer? Do you find the role, the salary package or simply “must” leave the current job interesting?
• How to verify that the candidate is resilient, i.e. has the ability to overcome difficulties and pursue new and ambitious goals?

This training course can help you answer these and other complex questions, reducing the risk of hiring the wrong candidate.

Aims

Help participants to improve the management of the interview and the process of personnel selection, through techniques and tools helpful to identify suitable candidates and reducing the risk of errors.

Who should take this course?

This course is of fundamental importance for people who are involved in the personnel selection process and intend to learn the techniques to ask questions for effective and efficient management of the interview.
The topics covered concern all the corporate roles involved in the selection process: managers, recruiters and human resources professionals are just some of the people involved.

Contents

Who is involved in the selection process?

• What role do we need to cover?
• Who are we looking for?
• Who are the colleagues involved in the selection process?
• What are their priorities?

What tools should you use to identify suitable candidates?

• What is the job profile and why use it
• Structure of the job profile
• Prepare and share the job profile with the other people involved

The questions we need to ask ourselves, and your colleagues, before the interview

• Do we really need to hire one more person?
• What are the three main things we are looking for in the candidate?
• What are the characteristics that would immediately make us reject a candidate?

Before the interview

• Are you able to ask questions effectively?
• Open and closed questions
• Open and semi-open questions: differences and formulation techniques
• Clarification, comprehension check and paraphrasing
• Preparing the interview guidelines and structure

Managing the interview

• The story: the key that opens even well-closed doors
• Using open questions to get the information you need
• Asking open questions to ascertain the motivation in the candidate
• Using closed questions to identify the relevant information
• Verification and paraphrasing to share facts and knowledge
• The questions to find out if you are hiring a pessimist
• Because on some occasions you’d better not to ask … “why”
• Techniques to find out if the candidate owns the knowledge unknown to you
• Because, on specific circumstances, you should give up your chair to the candidate

To avoid the common mistakes in a selection interview, you should…

• … leave the mirror at home
• … pay attention to the liking bias
• … be aware that stereotypes and prejudices are your worst enemies
• … not hire a candidate just because you both have so much in common
• … be aware that critical thinking is your best friend

After the interviews

• Prepare a summary about the different interviews
• Provide your colleagues with a table to compare the candidates’ profiles
• Be prepared to manage the negotiation in case of differences of opinion about the candidates

What about the learning material?

• Course slides
• Exercises
• Articles about personnel selection interview
• Cartoon strips
• Recommended movies and books

Teaching method

This course has been designed and structured to promote complete immersion in the topic and the individual experience.
The participants will face situations through exercises and video clips that reproduce moments similar to the ones they face daily.
Would you like to know more about the teaching method? Click here.

Final test and certificate

At the end of the course, participants take a test; after passing it, they can download their certificate of attendance.

Duration

8 o 16 hours:

• 16 hours if the course takes place entirely in the classroom;
• 8 or 12 hours if participants attend the e-learning course The power of questions before the classroom sessions, using the time spent with the teacher to practice and deepen the more complex topics.