Employee Selection

 

Tool Kit - Competency-Based Employee Selection (Microsoft Word form)

This Tool Kit will help you develop a behavioral interviewing process including:

1. Identifying which job competencies to focus on during interviews.
2. Developing and asking the right interview questions (PDF).
3. Interview scheduling and logistics.
4. Scoring and evaluating behavioral interviews.

In assessing your workforce needs, you’ve probably determined that you’ll have to develop strategies to improve your selection process. We believe behavioral interviewing is the most reliable way of selecting applicants who possess the competencies critical to exemplary job performance and an agency’s success.

 

Having a basic conceptual understanding of behavioral interviewing is key to its successful implementation. A selection process based on behavioral interviewing requires:

1. Identifying the critical competencies associated with performing a job well.
2. Assessing the competencies of the job candidate and determining whether they match those of the job for which they are applying.

Traditional hiring systems are often based on the technical qualifications for a job, and traditional interviews often focus on detailed discussions of job experience. These interviews are often based on several “stock” questions, such as:

• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• What could you bring to our organization?
• Why do you want this job?
• What do you think makes you the best candidate for this job?

Formal education, technical knowledge and experience are important job qualifications, and are often the threshold requirements for the job, serving as minimum credentials to make it through the screening process. However, a candidate’s attitudes, motivations and behavioral characteristics (competencies) are more predictive of superior performance.

During a behavioral interview, interviewers ask the applicant competency-based questions designed to elicit detailed information about how the applicant has demonstrated the specific competency in the past. For example, in a behavioral interview focusing on the Customer Focus competency, the interviewer could ask:

• Can you tell me about a specific situation where a client/customer became angry with you because you were unable to provide what he or she wanted?
• How did you handle it?
  How did the situation turn out?