Here is your opportunity to "test" your personal knowledge about the interviewing process.
How sharp are your interview smarts? Try this quiz to find out. Answer TRUE or FALSE to the 33 statements below. Then, scroll down to score your answers and get more information. (Don't peek ahead!)
TRUE or FALSE?
1. The best applicant is the neatest in appearance.
2. You should study the application/resume before conducting any interview.
3. It is your responsibility to maintain control over the progress of the interview.
4. During the interview itself, you should do about 50% of the talking.
5. An applicant with more than four jobs in five years should not be hired.
6. The applicant's progress can usually be measured by salary as related to years of experience.
7. Resumes are better guides for you than application forms.
8. To conduct a smooth flowing interview, you must first put the applicant at ease.
9. A good way to commence an interview is to challenge the applicant to prove he can do the job.
10. Specific interview questions should be framed to elicit "yes" or "no" or similar, simple responses.
11. You should always review and update a job description before beginning your recruitment process.
12. Applicants can be encouraged to elaborate on their answers by your use of silence or non-committal remarks.
13. You can probe for more detailed information by asking behavioral questions.
14. You should only be interested in the applicant's technical qualifications and not waste time on intangibles such as motivation, attitudes, and soft skills.
15. It is helpful in evaluating an applicant to inquire into long-term career objectives.
16. A nervous applicant should be disqualified as the candidate probably would not be able to cope with a stressful job.
17. If an applicant fails to meet all job specifications, the candidate should be rejected.
18. Non-verbal clues are helpful in evaluating an applicant.
19. You should provide an applicant with a complete job description prior to the initial interview.
20. To ensure you remember the interview, you should write down almost everything the applicant tells you.
21. Most interviewers listen to and absorb almost everything the applicant says.
22. Personal biases for or against an applicant weigh heavily in the hiring decision.
23. Hiring managers in most companies are excellent interviewers.
24. Once a candidate has accepted a job offer, all you have to do is wait until their start date.
25. Applicants should be told (in some detail) why they were rejected.
26. You have a responsibility to describe the company and the company's culture/values to job applicants.
27. In hiring, your judgment alone is usually enough for a hiring decision.
28. You should always offer the applicant the lowest possible starting salary you think the candidate will accept.
29. There are valid assessment tools that accurately describe a person's behavior, attitudes, and soft skills.
30. You can accurately test an applicant's attitude towards absenteeism, drug use in the workplace, theft on the job, safety, training, and customer service.
31. Job offers can be made at the same time as the job interview.
32. Hiring decisions should be made based on the candidate's skills, experience, and education.
33. A candidate is perfect only two times in his/her life - the day of birth and on the resume.
ANSWERS
1. FALSE. "Don't judge a book by its cover." Neatness is important, but it is only one aspect you need to consider.
2. TRUE. By reviewing the application/resume, you will determine the focus of the interview.
3. TRUE. If you don't control the direction of the interview, it will get out of hand and become little more than a meaningless conversation.
4. FALSE. Always remember you cannot learn anything while talking. The applicant should talk most of the time. Keep your part down to 20%.
5. FALSE. Not necessarily. Determine the reasons for each change of job before drawing your conclusion.
6. TRUE. In many cases, salary does reflect progress in one's career. Exceptions: change in career and recent economical turmoil in the US has caused applicants to accept jobs where they make less than previous jobs.
7. FALSE. Many professional resume-writing services are available to candidates. Your company application is more objective and normally provides details resumes don't include. Plus, you see who completes an application.
8. TRUE. This is one of the key factors in good interviewing. A tense applicant is a non-communicative candidate.
9. FALSE. This will only antagonize the applicant and reduce your chances of building rapport. This often leads to the candidate becoming frustrated, defensive, and non-communicative.
10. FALSE. Open-ended questions are designed to probe deeply and elicit more and better information.
11. TRUE. Duties and responsibilities, education, experience and even behaviors, values and soft skill requirements can change. Without having current and accurate information, you set yourself up for potential disaster.
12. TRUE. These non-directive techniques are very effective, when used properly. Candidates "hate" the sound of silence and often try to "fill the dead air" with additional comments.
13. TRUE. Asking behavioral interview questions that probe for information and experience are highly effective and will assist in removing the "interview mask" from a candidate.
14. FALSE. Intangible factors need to be assessed and measured. Up to 90% of job failure can be traced to inappropriate behaviors, work attitudes, and soft skills.
15. TRUE. This helps you focus on the applicant's ambitions, passions, and seriousness about his/her career.
16. FALSE. The interviewing process itself can cause nervousness, and it may have little relationship to a person's ability to perform on the job. You can eliminate most nervousness when you establish proper rapport.
17. FALSE. There are no "perfect" candidates. Trade-offs must be made, and you have to know what is an acceptable trade-off.
18. TRUE. Watch "body language," pace of speech, and tone of voice. An excellent interviewer learns to understand and interpret them.
19. FALSE. You should provide candidates with an overview of a job, but never the complete job description before the interview. Since candidates are so well trained today, they will "deliver the expected responses," and you will not discover the real person behind the "interview mask." Share the complete job description after the first round of interviews.
20. FALSE. It is best to record only key factors during the interview. After it is concluded, write additional job related comments. Too much writing, during the interview, doesn't allow you to concentrate on their responses.
