Interviewing Skills

Course Overview

Successful recruitment is about finding the right person for the job. This means finding the person who has that unique mixture of first-class abilities and is a good cultural fit.

Although simple enough it is often challenging to select the right candidate, especially in a competitive market.

This workshop is designed to equip anyone involved in the interviewing and selection process with a range of skills and techniques they can use to conduct recruitment interviews which are effective, within the law and fits with your company culture.

This programme will enable delegates to:

• Use effectively behavioural, competency-based interviewing - where the most reliable
• Indicator of future performance is evidence of past behaviour
• Identify the essential criteria and experience you require with the job and person specification and to evaluate if the candidate meets this
• Establish what to look for in a CV - highlighting areas that need clarification at the interview
• Prepare for and structure the interview and manage the time available
• Identify what questions to ask to understand the candidate’s experience and get them talking
• Sell your organisation’s benefits and on-board the right person quickly
• Work within the legal framework – things you can / can’t ask and the legal pitfalls to avoid
• Managing bias
• Manage ‘tricky’ questions that the candidate might ask
• Give your feedback after the interview, including your recommendation on hiring

Who should attend?

• All people who are involved at any stage of the interviewing and selection process
• Those managers who are out of practice and require a refresher to their interviewing skills
• Younger managers and employees who are likely to be involved at a future stage as an observer or additional assessor

Course Structure and Methodology

A set of slides are provided to delegates as a ‘take away’ some of which are for further background reading as the actual course delivery is provided through:

1. Facilitated discussion and Q&A
2. Slide content and walk through of best practice and tips
3. Group and facilitator feedback on specific leadership qualities
4. Coaching

Content Overview

Behavioural, competency-based interviewing

• Challenges, objectives, cost of mistakes
• Preparation and what are we looking for?
• Using the job and person specification
• Covering letters and CVs

Questioning skills

• Those you can and can’t ask
• Using the STAR questioning structure to get real examples of previous experience
• Legal pitfalls to avoid
• Common perception errors and how avoid to avoid them

The Interview meeting structure

• Room set up and using suitable body language
• Structure and managing the time
• Welcome
  • setting the climate
• Acquire
  • ‘high gain’ questioning and listening
  • cultural fit - questions /tests to check this
• Supply
  • sharing information, selling the benefits of your company
  • answering their questions
• Part
  • a professional close
  • what next?
• Practical
  • Structured practice sessions with observers and feedback on key learning points
  • Panels and working with others
  • Common mistakes and ground rules to help
  • Making good objective decisions

Close and personal actions to take away