Structured interviews are proven to be more successful in selecting the most suitable candidate for a position than the unstructured interview that is most common amongst interviewers. Hartley People can develop a structured interview for clients using any combination of the following techniques.
(i) Biographical Interview
The biographical interview is designed to extract as much information as possible about the candidate and thereby help interviewers to build a very detailed picture of the career and life of the candidate being interviewed.
(ii) Behavioural Event Interview
The behavioural event interview operates on the sound premise that past behaviour is the best indicator of future performance. Candidates are asked to give examples of how they reacted in certain situations in the past and to describe the resultant outcomes of their decisions and actions.
(iii) Situational Interview
Situational or Problem Solving Interviews are again derived from the job description and person specification and candidates are required to imagine themselves as the job holder and describe how they would react in a variety of hypothetical situations. Situational Interviews assume that candidates will draw from past working and life experiences, their principles/morals etc. to answer the questions.
Competency based interviewing is used to assess each applicant in relation to the key / critical competencies required for the vacant role. Generally, this interview type endeavours to 'measure' these competencies and this system is now commonly used, not only for interviewing but for performance appraisals and training also.
When assessing competencies, Hartley People recommend the use of a behavioural event interview style i.e. assessing past experiences in
relation to each competency (past experience by a potential employee can be the best predictor of future behaviour and performance). Competency based interviewing is often combined with the traditional biographical interview to get a full 'picture' of the candidate.
Role Plays are very common techniques in training and education but are far less common as a tool for assessing a candidate’s suitability for a particular role. Role plays can be used again to test how a candidate will react in a certain work like situation. They are best used in conjunction with one or more of the other assessment techniques.
Aptitude testing is another selection tool which is widely used but which should only be used in conjunction with other selection techniques. Aptitude tests fall into two categories, those measuring general mental ability or general intelligence and those measuring specific abilities or aptitudes such as spatial, numerical, manual, perceptual and verbal abilities etc.
At Hartley People, we do not consider the application form to be a substitute for the CV – we consider it a source of complementary and crucial information for a particular position that may not be available from the Resume / CV. In this regard, Hartley People can develop a company specific application form that is crucial to the recruitment and selection process.
Candidate profiling can be used effectively as a selection tool in order to identify the most suitable candidate for a vacant position. These selection tools are widely used amongst Irish companies and can offer supplementary information that can help to build a profile of the candidate, which can assist the decision maker in making the most appropriate choice.
Some of the profiling techniques used by Hartley People are as follows:
(i) Leadership Styles Inventory
(ii) Learning Styles Inventory
(iii) Team Orientation
(iv) Social Styles Inventory
Assessment Centres can be described as Multiple Method Group Selection whereby the objective is to increase the validity of the selection process by assessing the behaviour of a group of individuals who are asked to perform various tasks that are relevant to the position(s) being recruited for. Because of its name, many organisations mistakenly think that assessment centres require large purpose built rooms / areas and therefore tend not to use such techniques. However, Assessment Centres are simply a range of selection techniques that do not require any specialist equipment or space and can be used effectively in any organisation regardless of its size of space restrictions.
Assessment Centres have become very popular in recent years, and research in the UK now suggests that more than 40% of organisations are using this technique as a means of selecting the most suitable candidates.
When using an Assessment Centre as a tool for selection, it is critical that a scoring system is developed to allow for objectivity and for “fair play”. At Hartley People, we endeavour to offer a scoring system for assessment centres that is interchangeable between “judges” without losing its validity i.e. a system that is so accurate, that it does not matter who is scoring the process.
The reality is however, that this can never really be fully achieved and we would therefore recommend that the assessment centre and scoring system is administered by the same person(s).
The scoring system is also intended to act as a guideline only, and not be the only factor that is considered when making the final selection decision.
1. Group Exercises / Methods
(i) Leaderless Groups
A group of 6-8 candidates are given a relevant topic to discuss. The judge(s) must assess skills such as assertiveness, communications, leadership, ability to learn and adjust and interpersonal skills.
(ii) Command or Executive Exercises
The members of the group are allocated roles in an extensive brief based on a real-life situation. Each member outlines his or her solution on the basis of their role and defends it to the rest of the group. The judge(s) must again assess a range of skills that are relevant to the vacant position.
(iii) Group Problem Solving
The group is leaderless and has to organise itself in order to solve, within time limits, a problem that is relevant to the job being filled. Again, various skills of individuals must be assessed by the judge(s).
Candidates are given an exercise / problem that is relevant to the position to be filled and asked to develop a solution within strict time limits. In this situation, candidates are required to work alone and can be tested for a range of skills and abilities such as organisational skills, delegation skills, time management, people and task orientation and ability to prioritise tasks.
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