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Once upon a time, there was a general manager in a downtown high-rise
who had the final say over all new hires at her location. Although she realized
how critical it was to identify and hire the best and the brightest talent
for her firm, she really didn’t like interviewing all that much. First, she felt
fairly uncomfortable having to ask all the questions and direct the whole
conversation. (Those moments of awkward silence bothered her most.) Second,
she wasn’t always sure of how to interpret a candidate’s responses, but
she felt that digging deeper was inappropriate lest she be accused of prying.
Third, and most important, she really resented the fact that job applicants
were so schooled and rehearsed in their responses. ‘‘There are just too many
interviewing books and training tools available that teach people the right
things to say. After a while, all their responses start sounding the same, and
I don’t feel like I’m actually getting to know the real person,’’ she thought.
Getting past that veneer of superficial responses was detective work,
and she simply didn’t have the time or the inclination to invest so much of
herself into the multiple rounds of interviews necessary to bring someone
aboard. After all, if the candidate doesn’t work out, she reasoned, there’s
always a ninety-day probationary window in which to ‘‘undo’’ the hire,
right? (Wrong! It’s not so easy to simply dismiss people in their ninety-day
introductory periods anymore. And just because your employment application
has ‘‘employment at will’’ verbiage doesn’t necessarily get you off the
hook. Wrongful termination litigation knows no time boundaries.)
Every harried interviewer knows the result of throwing out vague questions to potential employees: vague answers and potentially disastrous hiring decisions. Presented in a handy question-and-answer format, "96 Great Interview Questions to Ask Before You Hire " provides readers with the tools they need to elicit honest and complete information from job candidates, plus helpful hints on interpreting the responses. The book gives interviewers everything they need to:
identify high-performance job candidates - probe beyond superficial answers - spot "red flags" indicating evasions or untruths - get references to provide real information - negotiate job offers to attract winners
Included in this revised and updated edition are new material on background checks, specific challenges posed by the up-and-coming millennial generation, and ideas for reinventing the employment application to gather more in-depth information than ever before. Packed with insightful questions, this book serves as a ready reference for both managers and human resources professionals alike. |
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