conduct a competency based interview accurately, fairly and objectively

Transcription

1 C4HR 10 STEP GUIDE COMPETENCY BASED INTERVIEWS This guide is designed to aid you to conduct a competency based interview accurately, fairly and objectively A competency based interview (often also referred to as a behavioural or situational interview) is a style of interviewing often used to evaluate how a candidate might behave in a certain situations rather than it measuring their technical ability. C4HR will guide you through this process.

2 10 Steps to Competency Based Interviews 1: Identify Appropriate Interviewers In all cases of interviews it is recommended that two members of staff are in attendance. Preferably one being the Manager of the vacancy you are interviewing for, and the other a member of HR (if possible). One person should be interviewing, the other should be note taking to ensure that all information is recorded for future reference. 2: Review to the Job Description Ensure you are familiar with the role you are interviewing for. Review the job description and also the copy of the job advertisement. You can use the information to help you create relevant questions to ask during the interview. 3: Create your Competency Based Questions Competency Based questions should be open ended. They should refer to a situation or scenario that could happen during the course of the day in that job, and they should make your interviewee consider how they would react in that given situation. Remember, these are competency questions so use terms such as, How, What, When, where, If.

3 4: Ensure the Questions are relevant If the job requires certain skill sets then develop questions around this. For example: If it requires handling customers then create a scenario where the interviewee is handling a difficult customer, ask them how they would react; if the role requires handling multiple tasks, ask them how they prioritise their daily tasks and what they consider to be most important. At all times try to refer to the job you are interviewing for, it therefore gives your interviewee an insight in to the daily tasks they will have to deal with. 5: Collate thorough notes of each interview These notes need to be an accurate reflection of what the interviewee actually said. They should be concise and detailed. Opinions should not be noted at this stage, only objective in formation that the candidate has provided you with during the interview. Avoid anything that could be construed as discriminatory as interview notes can be requested by the candidate at any time in the future (up to six years) and is an express right under the Data Protection Act. 6: Open Interview Introduce all attendees and explain the roles you will take during the interview. Provide the candidate with some brief company background information if required, as well as a brief explanation of the role you are interviewing them for and the fact that the interview will be conducted asking competency based questions.

4 7: Conduct Interview Competency based questions are developed in order that you get more than a yes or no answer from the person you are interviewing. As such, you will need to allow adequate time for the person to reply to your question. You can test their answers by asking them to explain their answers further. Do not feel tempted to fill in any silent gaps during the interview, this will shorten their responses. 8: Review relevant previous job history Ask for them to tell you of an example when certain things may have happened in their previous role that is comparable to the role they are being interviewed for. Remember you are looking for evidence of this person dealing with certain scenarios and how they react. Maybe expand the questions by asking them what they learned from that situation and how they may handle things differently in the future if this were to happen again. 9: Next Steps Inform when they should expect to hear from you, whether that be by phone or letter, or both. If further interviews are expected let them know when this is likely to take place. If you are planning on carrying out any further means of assessing their suitability (Psychometric Assessment, testing etc.) then inform them of this now.

5 10: Review & Examples At the end of the interview both interviewers should jointly review the notes made to ensure they are a thorough a joint reflection of the interview. This will aid decision making when choosing your candidate at the end of the recruitment process. You will find examples of a range of competency based interview questions on our website. Click HERE to view these as part of the 10 Step Guide to Competency Based Interviews Contact C4HR If you require HR support and advice contact C4HR Today enquiries@c4hr.co.uk Download the C4HR App for Android and Apple Phones and Tablets More 10 Step Guides Available via the C4HR App