BE different

Predicting a candidate and interviewers approach to behaviours.

In selection interviewing the interviewer is trying to predict a candidate’s behaviour in a specific job role.

The interviewer needs to know, therefore, two important things

1. What are the key work based behaviours they are looking for?

2. What is the best route to find out if the candidates has such behaviour?

 There are three key work based behaviour categories: Professional/Technical, System/Procedural and Intra-personal/Team. In an appraisal/performance review, behaviours in all three areas are seen as important. In an interview it is the Professional/Technical area and the Intra-personal/Team areas that are being explored because all companies have different systems and procedures.

The interviewer needs to prepare, in some detail, the key behaviours in the areas described above, the emphasis is on the key behaviours, not all behaviours! Key behaviour categories are called competences and the key behaviours under the competences are called competencies (often described as “able to do” statements). Competencies must be directly or indirectly observable. If you cannot describe and observe then you have no idea what you are looking for!

The best route to find out if the candidate is likely to have the appropriate competencies is to ask them questions about how they behave in their present job. They cannot be leading questions, where the answer is obvious. They should be questions about their recent behaviour, that is what they have done, and why, in the past couple of years. The best predictor of how a candidate will behave in the future is how that have behaved in the past!

Other articles on Selecting, Hiring, Developing and Retaining people can be found at www.business-enlightenment.com by Geoff Ribbens