Give yourself a guide for interviewing.
You have created your
score card. Beginning with that score card, complete your guide to interviewing.
For each job, list the competencies on the score card. Rate them according to their importance to the success of the job, listing the top 15 to 18 competencies you require.
Next, assess the most critical criteria. Use a scale of 1 to 3, with 3 being most important, 2 somewhat important and 1 less important or simply "preferred." At least 10 of your criteria should carry a 3 rating. Add up the numbers to give you a total score. For example, if there are 15 key competencies, a qualified candidate could score anywhere from 35 to 45. Candidates scoring 45 or close to 45 would be the most qualified. This is your method of reducing subjectivity.
Consider other qualities that would be nice to have in the ideal candidate. These might provide the determining factor for making a decision when you have more then one highly qualified candidate.
Craft questions to discover these competencies. Develop questions that probe for these competencies using open-ended inquiries that delve into the candidate's experience. Below are some examples of questions you can ask to determine the core competency you are assessing.
Sample Questions to Probe for Key CompetenciesPerseverance:
- Talk about HOW the reporter got the story. "How many times did you have to call to get that exclusive interview?"
- Ask about a situation when your interviewee tried his or her best and failed. Ask, "What did you do? What did you learn from that situation?"
- Ask how he or she reacted to failing.
Integrity and Trust:
- Ask what the candidate's values are.
- Ask if these values have changed over time.
- If they have changed, ask why and listen to the growth and reaction your job seeker had to life's challenges.
Leadership and Management:
- Ask a candidate about a time or two when she demonstrated strong leadership skills. How did she take the project or team from the nugget of an idea to the finished goal? How did she marshal the resources needed to accomplish the goal?
- How did she coach or urge others to join her in contributing to the goal?
- When did she take a stand and get others to follow her?
Technical Savvy:
- Ask about the job seeker's technical knowledge.
- What is he proficient in?
- What software does he use?
- What documents or projects does he manage with this software?
- How often does he use the software?
- What database management does he handle?
- What financial budgets has he managed?
- How did he capture and report on revenue?
- How did he report on market trends, audience and staff performance?
- How did he report his stories?
The best indicator of future performance is past performance. So ask questions that delve into that past performance. What a candidate tells you he or she could do is conjecture. You want to base your decision on what the candidate has done.
Write at least one question for each competency listed, and make several copies of these questions. Record the job seeker's answers to these questions, and leave space to score them. This documentation helps you when you assess the field of finalists.
Take 10 minutes immediately after each interview to rate the candidate's responses. While the interview is still fresh in your mind, evaluate each candidate on his or her own merit with respect to the competencies. Give each candidate a score to measure his or her qualifications against the importance you assigned the various job competencies.
Next: We'll explore the value of recruiting logs to keep track of the field of candidates who apply.
