Tips for vetting / screening CVs
Before drawing up a shortlist of candidates to interview, here are tips on how to screen CVs:
1)Look for CVs that provide a proper insight into the candidate’s background
2)Look for progression and a structured career path — i.e. a candidate that has a logical development through promotion in previous job positions
3)Identify relevant information— CVs that are salient to the position you are hiring for and the industry in which you are operating
4)Avoid CVs containing flannel and padding, or shallow, limited information
5)Look out for unexplained gaps between jobs or short stays in jobs in employment history
Don’t just Interview For the Sake of Interviewing
Many HR personnel / department managers feel they have to have a minimum threshold of interview candidates to fulfil a politically correct requirement for fear of being accused of discrimination. Interviewers can mitigate that fear by creating more specific job descriptions with clear job-related minimum requirements and pre-interview questionnaires.
Interview Questions to maximise chance of getting right person
The questions you ask in the interview with a prospective new employee should be anything but mundane and stereotypical. The interview questions should be designed to reveal a candidate’s qualifications, skills, personality and, most importantly their suitability for the position available.
Here are four key / imperative interview questions that are behaviour-orientated and open-ended, requiring the candidate to respond with more than “yes” or “no” answers –
1)Why are you interested in this job? And what skills or strengths can you bring to the role?
If a candidate is driven solely by money ( possibly with the exception of a sales position ), they are less likely to make an all-round positive contribution to the business / department compared with a candidate that is more vocational and that genuinely wishes to work for your company and has a passion for the industry.
How was your last job?
You need to determine the motivation behind why the interview candidate is applying for the position / looking to change jobs, especially if they lost their last job . The interviewer should be on the look-out for candidates that display negativity towards their former employer. You want to gain a sense of the person’s honesty, integrity and accountability i.e. whether they are a harmonious team player or disruptive loose cannon.
Where do you see yourself 3 to 5 years from now?
You need to ascertain the drivers, motivators and ambitions of the candidate. Are they looking to settle in with a company or are they experimenting or a perennial journeyman? While a candidate will not say outright that they plan to change jobs, the answers they provide will give you an indication of their real intentions.
What improvements can we make with our products/services to be more competitive?
This interview question will reveal whether the candidate has gone to the trouble of building a base knowledge about your company and therefore whether they are genuinely interested in the company and role they have applied for. While you cannot expect an in-depth knowledge of your business, the interviewer needs an indication that the interviewee has bothered to research the company and have taken more than a passing interest.
Finding the right candidate can reduce employee turnover rates significantly, saving time and money and disruption to the company. By taking your time to schedule interviews with the right candidates and asking the right questions, you can find the right person for the job.
