How To Conduct A Successful Interview

It is easy to forget that the recruitMent interview is a selling event: Obviously the interviewee is doing everything he or she can to impress the interviewer (s) and provide sufficient evidence of their suitability for the vacancy, ahead of the other candidates.

How To Conduct A Successful Interview

How To Conduct A Successful Interview

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How To Conduct A Successful Interview

How To Conduct A Successful Interview

However, it is also important to remember that we need to sell our company in order to attract the very best staff and during that first interview, candidates will begin forming their opinions of our professionalism and our suitability as potential employers.

Here then are some tips, which will hopefully assist you in improving your interviewing techniques.

Arrange to reduce or eliminate interruptions

Choose a quiet and secure room to conduct the interview and if possible arrange for yourtelephone calls to be taken elsewhere. An engaged notice on the door may be desirable.

Arrange the seating so that neither interviewer or candidate is at a disadvanTAGe. If possible do not sit opposite the candidate, as this can be perceived as confrontational. Consider your body language and remember this is an exploratory meeting and you need to appear receptive at all times.

Reception

It is important that you advise the reception that you are interviewing and provide them with a list of candidates and interview times. If possible have two separate rooms for use as waiting rooms, in case you are running late. This will avoid the possible embarrassMent of two candidates having to wait together. Your secretary or an assistant should greet the candidates as soon asthey arrive. Offer them tea or coffee and let them know exactly how long they can expect to wait. Remember first impressions are important and you are selling the company not just buying a new recruit

Examine your prejudices

If the candidate is to work directly under you and in very close association with you, prejudice may be important. The fact that you like Fishing, hate suede shoes, don't subscribe to socialism or can't stand long hAir, may make you judge unfAirly someone who has a different view.

It is a mistake to try to find someone exactly like you-you will not succeed.

Remember there is no scientific evidence to support the following theories:

or A quick temper goes with red hAir

or A high forehead signifies highintelligence

or A firm handshake and a square jaw denote a firm character

or Good eye contact is a sign of honesty

or AgreeMent with everything you say means that he/she is a remarkable person

Creating an ideal candidate profile checklist

or What are you looking for?

or Use a weighting system for greater accuracy

The interview

The aims

or To get the facts straight-get the candidate to fill in the details of his/her career so far. This does not mean merely repeating what the application form already says e.g. instead of saying "you were the secretary of your local cricket clubs weren't you?" Ask "what was the most difficult part of your work as a secretary to the local cricket club?"

or To obtain the candidatesopinions-on as many matters as possible. Are they well founded? If the interviewer talks most of the time or constantly Airs his/her views they are unlikely to obtain the candidates real opinion. Friendly neutrality is the aim.

or To judge how quickly the candidate is to respond-is his/her mind alert.

or To see what sort of immediate impression the candidate makes upon you-does this change as he/she becomes more at ease?

or To find out the likes or dislikes candidates-what does he/she most enjoy doing? Etc. Etc.

or To establish a trend in the candidate's achieveMents, their thinking and their reactions-no one factor is necessarily significant. Several taken together can be.

or To attract the candidate to the Job for which he/she is a candidate-this isnot mentioned last because it is not important quite the reverse, it is extremely important. This aspect, however, is somewhat separated for the purpose of these notes. Without doubt, incompetent interviewing repels and good interviewing may even attract candidates.

Opening the interview

The aim is to put the candidate at ease so that he/she is willing to ' open up '. A good way is to start by introducing yourself, your position and your function. Many candidates, especially if it is their first position may not quite know what to expect and so it may make sense for you to tell them what ground you intend to cover.

There are three approaches that experienced interviewers sometimes use:

or The ' common ' approach

or The ' off balance ' approach

or tomixture of both

During the interview

If you have a number of candidates to interview it is very important to follow a plan; if you do, you will find it easier to compare one with another candidate. Your manner should be friendly but businesslike. Encourage the candidate to talk about their strengths but do not be afraid to draw him/her out on their weaker points. Remember you are not only comparing them with the ideal candidate described in the main specification, but also with the other candidates.

In asking them about their Job record you are looking for pointers from their past behaviour and performance. Just as in appraisal interviewing, comment should be about what the candidate has achieved. Allow them to tell you what sort of person he/sheis.

Interviewees sometimes receive the advice that interviewers have a set speech which they must be allowed to get off their chest. Of course you must impart information about the company and the Job-but work it in naturally.

After the ice is broken

Don't be afraid of taking notes, you cannot remember all the details-especially if you have to interview a number of candidates. Make notes either on your application form or on the record sheet.

Make sure you follow the plan you have made as closely as possible, but like all plans it should be flexible enough to allow you to depart from it to follow any useful leads.

Some useful tips:

or Stop talking yourself

or Lead into groups of subjects you want to discuss

or Avoid asking anyquestions to which the candidate can answer ' yes ' or ' no ' i.e. closed questions.

or Question with a purpose-do not out

or Get to the truth by indirect questions

or Follow up the candidates opinions thoroughly

or Avoid any tendency to trick the candidate-remember the cards you are holding

and don't forget to outline the position and terms and conditions thoroughly

Closing the interview

After you have followed your plan through and asked and answered all questions bring the interview to a close in a business like manner. Be quite clear in your mind what you are going to do

I.e..
o Tell him/her that you cannot offer them the job

or Tell them you will write to them-but be specific, tell them when exactly

or Tellthem you would like them to attend a second interview

Don't allow a candidate to go away believing they still have a chance when they have none.

Sizing up the candidates

Consider the evidence from the past only as pointers towards the possession of, or lack of, the key qualities you are seeking

or Add your own impressions

Make up your mind

Preliminary screening

The short first interview

When a large number of candidates have to be seen in a short period, as in the preliminary screening, it is clearly impossible to follow the standard procedures, however, the main principles remain the same

Skills of interviewing-a final checklist

Weaknesses of interviewers are legion-here are some of the more glaringfaults to guard against:

or Lack of preparation or system

or Jumping to conclusions from insufficient evidence

or Not listening to what the candidate is saying

or Talking too much

or Arguing with the candidate

or Harassing the candidate with questions

or Asking leading questions ("I suppose you have had experience of budgets have you?")

or Asking questions which can be answered only with yes or no-i.e. closed questions

or Giving way to bias or prejudices

or Getting side tracked with matters which have no relevance

The skilled interviewer on the other hand, will use the following techniques:

or Direct questions-beginning with the who, what, where, when, why etc.

or Mirroring-feeding back the last word or phrase usedby the interviewee

Short or long-answers-questions aimed at opening up each general area

Always try to:

or Relax and be natural

or Think about the interviewee not yourself

or Be sensitive

or Be flexible

or Listen

Remember -

"The best any interviewer can hope to achieve is bit by bit, to reduce the number of times they are wrong" (Anon)

Copyright © 2006 Jonathan Farrington. All rights reserved

How To Conduct A Successful Interview

Business Ethics and Unethical Practices

The study of business ethics and its implications for different stakeholders have seen treMendous growth in the past few decades. There has also been a rise in the use and developMent of codes of ethics and announceMents for ethical practices by many firms; however companies are still criticized for their unethical practices at different levels (Papers4you.com, 2006). Business ethics, according to the literature has been entrenched with the philosophical details of Ethics (Trevino & Nelson, 1999). Ethics has been defined as ' the activity of examining the moral standards of a society, and asking how these standards apply to ones life and whether these standards are reasonable (Velasquez, 1998; p. 11).

Business Ethics and Unethical Practices

Business Ethics and Unethical Practices

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Business Ethics and Unethical Practices

Business Ethics and Unethical Practices

The literature on business ethics is divided on its views about themotivation and reason for businesses to have an ethical diMension. Drawing upon Harrison (2001), there are two major schools of thoughts, firstly those who suggest that firms are profit-generating institutions and therefore business ethics is yet another way to attract customers, secondly those who support corporate conscience and intrinsic motivation for the adoption of business ethics.

Business ethics has been considered very subjective in nature and according to Paul (2001) is considered a function of time and cultures. It has been established that with the passage of time business ethics have evolved and also that the cultural values and norms drive business ethics within national and regional boundaries. One of the major studies regarding the national values has been conductedby Hofstede (1983). According to this research, which was only based on four indicators i.e. individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity, there is a great deal of differences among values across different nations and consequently the business ethics. Globalization combined with standardization has made businesses financially efficient but at the same time poses questions regarding the standardized codes of business ethics across national boundaries.

Vinten (1991) has divided the business ethical issues at different levels i.e. international business, domestic business and professional ethics. At the international level ethical issues include free-masonry and socialism versus capitalism; at domestic level, these include religious dimensions, socialmarketing and ethical education; and lastly at the individual level these include bribery, corruption and data protection (Papers4you.com, 2006).

There are many reasons and criticisms for the failure of adoption of ethics in the business world. Firstly, the concept is considered to be overly theoretical and it also negates the basic purpose of any business i.e. to create shareholder's wealth. Secondly, it has lack of direction and unanimity across different cultures and academic groups. Lastly, it has many inherent unresolved dichotomies that according to Sternberg (1994) make it a case of rejected relativism.

References:

Harrison, j. (2001), Ethics for Australian Business, Prentice-Hall, French's Forest

Hofstede, g. (1983), The Cultural Relativity ofOrganizational Practices and Theories, Journal of International Business Studies, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 75-89

Papers For You (2006) "S/B/92. What distinguishes ethical from unethical business activity and how significant are the principles of business ethics in modern business? ", Available from http://www.coursework4you.co.uk/sprtbus21.htm [6/17/2006]

Papers For You (2006) "S/B/49. 'Should businesses strive to be ethical? Critically Discuss ", Available from http://www.coursework4you.co.uk/sprtbus21.htm [6/18/2006]

Paul, s. (2001), Cultural and Business Ethics, Cross Cultural Management: An international Journal, Volume 8 No. 1, pp. 22-35

Sternberg, e. (1994), moral Relativism rejected: the possibility of transnational business ethics, Hoffman, W.M., Kamm, J.B.,Frederick, R.E., Petry, E.S. Jr (Eds), National Conference on Business Ethics. Proceedings from the 9th Conference on Business Ethics Sponsored by the Centre for Business Ethics at Bentley College, Quorum Books, New York, NY, pp. 143-50

Trevino, L.K., Nelson, K.A. (1999), Managing Business Ethics: Straight Talk about How to Do It Right, 2nd ed., j. Wiley & Sons, New York, NY

Velasquez, M.G. (1998), Business Ethics: Concepts and Cases, 4th ed., Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ

Vinten, g. (1991), Business Ethics: Busybody or Corporate Conscience?, Managerial Auditing Journal, Volume 5, Number 2, pp. 123-144

Business Ethics and Unethical Practices

Socialism, Politics and Toilet Paper

There seems to be an ineluctable connection between socialist politics and toilet paper. When I worked in China, one of the most important items to take with you each morning into the Purple Mountain Observatory in Nanjing was a roll of toilet paper. Without this you were in trouble - you could not ask to 'borrow' the toilet paper of another. For one thing it was expensive. For another, communication was not always easy and sign language in this case might have been misunderstood.

In Rostock, in the socialist Deutche Demokratische Republik days, in an institute where my father visited and I with him, the toilet was locked for fear that the toilet paper be stolen. The key had to be obtained from the political commissar or similar; you had definitely to think ahead. In Cuba today, you purchase toilet paper sheet by sheet before you enter a public lavatory. In the old Czechoslovakia they had a positive fixation about toilet paper. One of my fellow scientists, a Slovak, has told me how, at Christmas, his uncle would each year arrive with a whole big box of toilet paper. No-one ever found out where he got it, for no-one got a straight answer if the subject was raised. But it was considered a terrific present to come with and greatly treasured. There were moreover attempts to take used toilet paper to the dry cleaners according to reliable sources.

Indeed in Czechoslovakia under the Soviets they had a special sort of apparatchik toilet paper. This was revealed when a Czech friend of mine many years ago overheard the following conversation in Wenceslaus Square in Prague: 'Do you know why here in Czechoslavkia we have double-sided toilet paper?' 'No, I don't.' 'Ah! Because a copy of everything must be sent to Moscow,' came the reply. Be that as it may, why is it that (nominally) socialist countries have or had such an undeniable and remarkable fixation about toilet paper? Can we learn something about socialism, or at least its misguided impleMentation, from this? Could there be the basis for a theory that this fixation led to the downfall of, at least, Soviet style socialism?

Such a theory would be along the lines of those theories which attribute the decline and fall of the Roman Empire to the use by the Romans of lead pipes for drinking water or associate the defeat of Napoleon in Russia with the disintegration of the soldiers' tin trouser buttons at freezing temperatures and the accompanying demoralization of his troops. It is of course tempting to associate a fixation with toilet paper with an anal fixation. This is itself associated with a compulsive desire that everything be meticulously organised. Very often the organisation may be defined by a set of arbitrary rules. If these rules are infringed, then the anally fixated subject becomes uneasy, upset and prone to anxiety and ultimately neurosis. This analysis of the significance of toilet paper under socialism goes some way to explaining the rigours of life under the repressive political regime for example in Czechoslovakia.

The reduction of complex political questions to physiology, Mental or physical, may be appealing in its simplicity but it is ultimately unsatisfactory. For example, it is true that the Pope may have had haemorrhoids when approached on the subject of the divorce of Catherine of Aragon from Henry VIIIth. However while this may have influenced the manner of his judgement on the issue at the time, it probably had little effect on the substance. Put another way, an anal fixation can barely be considered a more reasonable analysis for a basis for government than the ability to draw a sword from a stone, the mooted foundation of King Arthur's power and ultimately the British Empire. An alternative and equally simple argument is that some little squit of an apparatchik was given the task of calculating, within a five year plan, the quantity of toilet paper that would be used by the Czech population.

The story goes, according to Czech folklore, that this particular cog in the wheel of the administration suffered from chronic constipation and therefore had a quite misconceived idea of the consumption of toilet paper that was appropriate. This lead to an equally chronic shorTAGe in the command economy. However this explanation suffers from a lack of generality. It is, after all, difficult to conceive of why the decision to calculate the consumption of toilet paper was given in Czechoslovakia, Cuba and the DDR only to constipated apparatchiks in all three countries. Thus the issue remains something of a mystery, the solution of which may cast new light on the rise and fall of socialism - or it may not.

Certainly within the European context the problem of toilet paper, or what to use when paper was a scarce commodity, is an old one. Rabelais writing nearly 500 years ago devoted a considerable passage in PanTAGruel and Gargantua to just this topic, opting, I seem to remember, for a goose's neck. He would surely have been the political commentator of choice to discuss the issues raised here but for the time being you, the reader, will have to do with myself and this somewhat febrile contribution to what remains a fascinating problem.

Socialism, Politics and Toilet Paper

Socialism, Politics and Toilet Paper

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Socialism, Politics and Toilet Paper