Course Description
Given today’s business realities, it is more important than ever for organizations to utilize their resources wisely. In any organization, selecting the right person for the right job is a challenge. When the challenge is met, turnover is low, morale and productivity are high, and great customer service is provided. This course is designed to provide information and skills to assess, build, and conduct high-quality selection interviews in order to decide on the right person for the right job.
Participants begin the course by discussing the impact of poor hiring decisions, including the cost of turnover. They then are introduced to a four-step interviewing process that consists of assessing the job requirements, building the interview questions, conducting the interview, and deciding on the right candidate. Throughout this process, participants will utilize their organization’s hiring practices, competencies, and value behaviors, which will allow for greater transfer of the skills when participants need to apply them in their work environment.
The building of questions is a key skill that participants gain from this course. They explore different types of questions, from traditional to behavior-based, and learn which questions elicit specific responses. Participants then learn to create behavior-based questions that are directly relevant to the job requirements. They also learn and practice how to ask important follow-up questions.
Participants then discuss what needs to happen during the actual interview, including the need to maintain a legal line of questioning. They also examine common interview errors and ways to avoid them. Finally, participants have a chance to practice their new skills by preparing and conducting a mock interview for a position that they may actually need to fill.
Objectives
After completing this course, participants will be able to:
- Discuss the importance of hiring the right candidate.
- Calculate the cost of turnover.
- Explain the organization’s hiring process.
- Apply a four-step interviewing process.
- Identify job competencies and value behaviors for an open position.
- Create behavior-based interviewing questions.
- Conduct an interview using behavior-based interviewing questions.
- Recall legal do’s and don’ts when hiring.
- Decide on the best candidate.
Duration
This course can be customized to meet an 8-hour agenda.
Course Outline
Below is the course outline with objectives and timing for an 8-hour agenda.
| Section | Timing in Minutes | (Total Timing in Minutes/Hours) |
| Welcome and Introduction | 20 minutes | (20 minutes) |
| Agenda and Objectives | 15 minutes | (35 minutes) |
| Cost of Turnover | 15 minutes | (50 minutes) |
| The Selection Process | 10 minutes | (1 hour) |
| Four-Step Interviewing Process | 5 minutes | (1 hour and 5 minutes) |
| Step 1: Assess the Job Requirements | 15 minutes | (1 hour and 20 minutes) |
| Break | 15 minutes | (1 hour and 35 minutes) |
| Activity: Assess the Job Requirements | 20 minutes | (1 hour and 55 minutes) |
| Review the Resume | 10 minutes | (2 hours and 5 minutes) |
| Step 2: Build the Interview Questions | 5 minutes | (2 hours and 10 minutes) |
| Traditional Questions | 5 minutes | (2 hours and 15 minutes) |
| Situational Questions | 5 minutes | (2 hours and 20 minutes) |
| Behavior-based Questions | 15 minutes | (2 hours and 35 minutes) |
| Activity: Types of Questions | 15 minutes | (2 hours and 50 minutes) |
| Activity: Build Behavior-based Questions to Assess Candidate Fit | 20 minutes | (3 hours and 10 minutes) |
| Activity: High-Performance Description Guide | 5 minutes | (3 hours and 15 minutes) |
| Situational Question vs. Behavior-based Question | 10 minutes | (3 hours and 25 minutes) |
| Lunch | 1 hour | (4 hours and 25 minutes) |
| Optional: Video—More Than a Gut Feeling III | 45 minutes | (5 hours and 10 minutes) |
| Step 3: Conduct the Interview | 10 minutes | (5 hours and 20 minutes) |
| Build Rapport with the Candidate | 5 minutes | (5 hours and 25 minutes) |
| Ask Follow-up or Probing Questions | 5 minutes | (5 hours and 30 minutes) |
| Role Play—Demonstrate Follow-up or Probing Questions | 10 minutes | (5 hours and 40 minutes) |
| Take Detailed Notes | 5 minutes | (5 hours and 45 minutes) |
| Effective and Ineffective Note-Taking | 5 minutes | (5 hours and 50 minutes) |
| Activity: Take Detailed Notes | 15 minutes | (6 hours and 5 minutes) |
| Activity: Legal and Illegal Questions | 20 minutes | (6 hours and 25 minutes) |
| Avoid Discrimination during Interviews | 5 minutes | (6 hours and 30 minutes) |
| Avoid Interviewing Errors | 5 minutes | (6 hours and 35 minutes) |
| Break | 15 minutes | (6 hours and 50 minutes) |
| Interpret Behavior | 10 minutes | (7 hours) |
| Close the Interview | 10 minutes | (7 hours and 10 minutes) |
| Putting It All into Practice | 1 hour | (8 hours and 10 minutes) |
| Step 4: Decide on the Best Candidate | 10 minutes | (8 hours and 20 minutes) |
| Interview Summary Sheet | 15 minutes | (8 hours and 35 minutes) |
| Action Planning and Evaluation | 10 minutes | (8 hours and 45 minutes) |
