Knock 'Em Dead - Hiring the Best: Proven Tactics for Successful Employee Selection by Martin Yate

Author:Martin Yate [Yate, Martin]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Human Resources & Personnel Management, Business & Economics, General
ISBN: 9781440569999
Google: rGvPnQEACAAJ
Amazon: B00GVHTWJ6
Publisher: F+W Media
Published: 2014-01-17T14:00:00+00:00

Grace under Pressure

It is now time to look a little more closely at stress, pressure, and composure under fire. If you feel that there are never tight deadlines in your department, that everything in your company always goes according to plan, that there is never sickness or employee turnover, and that all of your people always pull their weight and never run for cover, you can skip this section. It is intended for those of us who are awake between nine and five every day.

Some of the questions in this section are similar to those suggested earlier for examining critical thinking skills. They work equally well when examining the ability of a potential employee to function productively under pressure, and as you become more adept as an interviewer you will learn to assess both qualities simultaneously.

“Think of a crisis situation in which things got out of control. Why did it happen, and what was your role in the chain of events and their resolution?”

Also:

“Tell me about an event that really challenged you. How did you meet the challenge? In what way was your approach different from that of others?”

“What was the most difficult situation you have faced?”

In a mining disaster, there are always those who scream against the darkness and those who light the candles and look for a way out. You probably know your preference.

In the candidate’s answers, look for parallels to your department’s deliverables and the crises that happen in your work-world. An interesting and useful variation on the first of these questions would be to pose a real-world example from your work as a hypothetical: “What would you do in a situation where …?” For those old enough and in a position to know, this question and variations on it were how Silicon Valley grew so fast with so few prosecutions of corporate espionage: During job interviews candidates gave much of the required information of their own free will. Under the auspices of an innocent hypothetical, candidates moving from one competitor to another blithely gave away company problem-solving methods and systems and procedures.

You will be looking at the nature of the challenge and how it relates to your needs, how the challenge was analyzed, and the solution subsequently implemented. You can make a secondary probe for creativity and motivation by asking, “How was your approach different from that of others?”

To find out more, ask, “Can you tell me about a departmental initiative that didn’t work out well, and why in hindsight you think it panned out that way?” You might add that you are not looking for an admission of personal culpability, but the ability to look back and learn from the mistakes of others. With this question you can gather further valuable intelligence about this candidate and information you might be able to use within your department.

“What do you do when you have a great deal of work to accomplish in a short time span and things start to spin out of control? How have you

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