You're the Boss by Natasha Josefowitz

Author:Natasha Josefowitz [JOSEFOWITZ, NATASHA]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780446565295
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2009-09-25T16:00:00+00:00

Eliciting Information

The more you get candidates to talk, the more information you will receive. How do you get someone to talk? You use open rather than closed questions. A closed question is one that can be answered with a yes or a no, or a date. For instance, instead of saying “Did you like your last job?” which a person can answer with a yes; you can say, “Tell me what you liked about your last job” or “Tell me what you didn’t like about your last job.” If you need to know about a specific skill, you don’t ask whether they can do it, but how they acquired that skill, in what way that skill has been used in the past, and how they see it being applicable to the job they are applying for.

To help candidates to keep talking, you can make statements such as “Yes, go on” or “Could you tell me more about this?” or “Would you clarify what you mean?” If the candidates are not talking about relevant matters, you can interrupt by saying, “I need to interrupt you here because what I really want to know is …” Explain the interruption in order not to sound rejecting. You can go even further with this type of questioning. For example, instead of saying, “How do you get along with people you dislike?” you may want to rephrase it and say: “Tell me about a person you disliked with whom you needed to work, and how you managed it.” Other interesting questions could be, “What are you most proud of in terms of your achievements to date?” “What is the most useful criticism you ever received? Tell me about it.”

Ask why the candidates left their former jobs, what their career goals are, what their major strengths are, what their major weaknesses are as they might relate to the job, how their previous experience or education is applicable to this job. You can also ask what salary they expect, even though I urge candidates not to answer that question unless they know what salary is being paid for that type of position elsewhere. If the job requires teamwork or working alone, you may wish to ask how they feel about either situation and whether or not they have had experience with it.

During the period of eliciting information, you may very quickly determine whether the candidates are unsuitable. If you have made that decision, then you should end the interview without being rude, saying something to the effect that you have enough information and that you will let them know—unless you can tell them immediately that they will not be considered. You can do this only if you have a valid explanation. If candidates seem promising, then you should go on to the next phase of the interview.

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