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Interviewing Applicants
Interviews are often as difficult for the interviewer as they are for the person being interviewed.
Preparation is the key to success
- Be clear about the skills and knowledge the role requires
- Ask the right questions to get the right information
- Understand the purpose of the interview is to gain as relevant much information as possible about the applicant in relation to:
- their skills and knowledge
- their "fit" with the type of work
- the people and the culture of the organisation.
Interviewing for Information
Understand the type of questions that assist you to gather the information you need:
Open-ended questions
Explore attitudes and draws out information as the applicant does most of the talking. Examples include:
- What do you know about our company and industry?
- What are your strengths and how might they relate to this role and our company?
- What do you see yourself doing in 3 years from now?
- What skills would you most like to develop?
Closed questions
Require yes/no answer. Examples include:
- Are you able to travel?
- Do you have a driver’s licence?
- Are you a member of a particular industry body?
Probing Questions
Used to clarify facts and uncover attitudes. Examples are:
- Why are you leaving your current position?
- Give me an example of when you had to deal with criticism? How did it feel?
- How do you work under pressure?
Behavioural questions
Designed to assess people's behaviour in particular work situations. Some examples are:
- Describe a situation at work where you were frustrated or upset? What did you do about it? What was the outcome?
- Give us an example of when you worked with a team of people where it was difficult to reach agreement on an outcome? Describe what happened? How did you resolve it?
- Have you had to deal with conflict at work? How did you handle it? What would you do differently?
Step 4: Conducting referee checks
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