Top Tips for Interviewers

Just a couple of years ago, Bob Knight, vice president of Paul Homes in Cape Coral, was lucky to receive eight résumés when a position opened up. The building market was so hot then that there was always a chance that, after training, the new guy would move on to another job for a bit more money.

Now, when the rare position opens in his "leaner and meaner" business, or when he’s looking for a subcontractor, Knight gets as many as 50 applications and the chance to be very picky.

"In some industries, such as development and real estate, it’s definitely an employer’s market," says Cheryl Lynn Dratler of Resource Innovations Inc., a human resources and employee relations consulting firm in Fort Myers.

Dratler believes employers should look at the abundance of applications as an opportunity to find a great fit.

The key for employers is to ask the right interview questions. Gone are the days of, "Tell me your strengths and weaknesses." Now it’s all about the behavioral interview: asking open-ended questions that show how a candidate’s experience and behavior relate to the skills and character traits the employer is looking for.

"The only way you can predict how someone will work in your environment is to get information about what they did in the past," says Libby Anderson of EDA Human Resource Services in Fort Myers. "Humans repeat behaviors."

What your questions reveal
Instead of asking candidates to recite their résumés, ask interview questions that reveal insights about their ethic and character. Sue Murphy, association manager for the National Human Resources Association in Washington, D.C., has a few favorites: 

- Describe your favorite supervisor. Murphy says you can get an idea of candidates’ work styles with this request. If a candidate responds that his or her supervisor was kind, understanding and flexible, that could indicate that the candidate values a supervisor who isn’t very demanding. However, if he or she respond that his supervisor helped him understand why decisions were made and provided opportunities to grow, that could show he is looking for a mentor who will help him succeed and go further in the workplace.

-Tell me about a specific time you had to work as a team. "You really need to question what their role was, what their responsibilities were," says Murphy. It will give the interviewer a sense of how the candidate actually interacts with co-workers. The more common question, and the one that reveals almost nothing about a candidate, is simply, "Are you a team player?" The problem, Murphy explains, is that everybody will say, "Yes."

-Describe how you’ve handled a personal conflict. It is another question that can give you a picture of how well the candidate will get along with his or her potential co-workers—a key to morale and productivity.

While you’re brushing up on your interviewing skills, the job hunter might be at home perfecting his answers—before you even ask the question. Murphy says she keeps her ears trained for those "canned responses" such as, "It’s my job to keep the customer happy." When you start hearing that type of prepared response, you need to shift your questions to those that will reveal better information about the candidate’s fit with your company.

Also be wary of candidates who toss out numbers, facts and strategies that seem out of place within the context of the interview. Murphy says one recent job seeker started talking about theory, marketplaces and strategic planning, what she calls "bookspeak." So Murphy asked, "If I brought you in tomorrow as a consultant to lead a group in strategic planning, what would your approach be?" Busted: He had no personal experience with strategic planning. Everything he knew came from a book.

In getting creative with your questions, however, make sure they’re legal. For example, an innocent, "Do you have children?" isn’t legal. Neither is "How long have you lived in the area?" and any question not directly related to the candidate’s ability to do the job, says Murphy.
Consider wrapping up with a question that seems to be the most sensible and straightforward of all: "Why should we hire you?" That question makes them think, "What can I bring to the table?" says Murphy.

Finding an employee who’s a great fit doesn’t end with the interview, though.

Checking references is important, but company policy or liability concerns often make former employers reluctant to give bad news about a candidate. One way to get around that is to ask, "Are they eligible for rehire?" says Anderson.
"Sometimes it’s a relief for them to say ‘No,’" she adds.
Employers often make the mistake of believing their work is done once the new guy puts a family photo on his desk.

"The next step is helping them be functional and successful," says Murphy. Human resource professionals call it "on-boarding," taking orientation to the next level by mentoring new staff members until they feel confident in their job and content in the workplace.