CHAPTER 5: INTERVIEWING AND LEGAL CONSIDERATION

This chapter contains of employment legislation, employment at will and termination at will, negligent hiring and retention, federal record-keeping requirement, affirmative action, diversity, discrimination charges, question to avoid asking and applicant tracking. It is concern to other forms of employment discrimination, including race, religion, age, nationality and sex. Employers are urged to familiarize themselves with relevant employment laws and categories of discrimination. Negligent hiring means extremely careless or habitually guilty of neglect hiring and retention means the act of retaining or condition of being retained. It occurs occur when employers fail to exercise reasonable care in hiring or retaining employees. In federal record keeping requirements the employers has their duty to keep documents according to certain federal and state stipulation. This requirement appears in the record retention provisions of most federal and state EEO laws. In some states, employers are required to retain employee files for longer than the federal mandate. Affirmative action is a series of executive orders were issued by the federal government. . The best known, Executive Order 11246, contained an EEO clause that required companies doing business with the federal government to make a series of commitments. Three of the most significant commitments are as follows: Practice nondiscrimination in employment, Attain affirmative action goals and obey the rules and regulations of the Department of Labor. Diversity reflects all the factors that identify us. The term goes far beyond race, religion, sex, or national origin. It includes the multitude of ways in which we are unique and, at the same time, similar, such as customs, language, lifestyle, mental abilities, personality, physical characteristics, sexual orientation; socioeconomic status, talents, values, and work styles. Organization or agency may file a charge of discrimination on behalf of another person to protect that persons identity. The following information is required in order to file a charge of discrimination: The name, address, and telephone number of the person or party bringing charges The name, address, and telephone number of the organization alleged to have committed the act of discrimination A description of the alleged violation

Always make certain, that your application forms contain only job-related questions. Stated in the simplest of terms, if its not job-related, dont ask. Naturally, this statement begs the question: Whats job-related? The answer is equally simple: education and experience, as they relate to the requirements, duties, and responsibilities of the job. Applicant tracking requires employers to break down their workforce by job category as well as race, ethnicity, and gender.

CHAPTER 6: COMPETENCY-BASED QUESTION

This chapter contains Key Competency categories, Job-specific competencies, Characteristics of competency-based questions, competency-based lead-ins, When to ask competency-based questions, Developing competency-based questions, Generic competencybased questions. A competency is a skill, trait, quality, or characteristic that contributes to a persons ability to effectively perform the duties and responsibilities of a job. . Identifying job-specific competencies enables you to assess how effective a person has been in the past and, therefore, how effectively she is likely to perform in your organization. While every job requires different competencies, there are four primary categories: 1. Tangible or measurable skills 2. Knowledge 3. Behavior 4. Interpersonal skills. Most jobs emphasize the need for one category over the others, but every employee should be able to demonstrate competencies, to some extent, in all four categories. Competency-based questions focus on relating past job performance to probable future on-the-job behavior. The questions are based on information relevant to specific job-related skills, abilities, and traits; the answers reveal the likelihood of similar, future performance. The process works because past behavior is an indicator of future behavior. When preparing competency-based questions remember two things: They require specific examples concerning what the applicant has done in the past, and they should tie in directly with job-specific competencies. Competency-based questions are highly effective in some stages, minimally effective in others, and relatively useless in others.1. Rapport Building, 2. Introductory Stage, 3. Core Stage, 4. Confirmation, 5. Closing. In developing the competency-based question the information youve gathered through job descriptions and other sources, combined with the applicants background, will yield a great deal of data about a possible job matchif you know how to phrase your questions properly.

Among the most effective competency-based questions are those that are generated by job descriptions and resumes/applications, because they provide a direct correlation between the position and the applicant. Sometimes, though, interviewers need to explore other aspects of an applicants eligibility to get a complete picture of how well an applicant will fit within an organizational culture, work on a given team, or function under a certain management style. Jobspecific competency-based questions may not be sufficient to determine whether this fit exists.

CHAPTER 7: ADDITIONAL TYPES OF QUESTIONS

In chapter 7 we have different types of question; the Open Minded-Question requires full, multiple-word responses. The answers generally lend themselves to discussion and result in information upon which the interviewer can build additional questions. Open-ended questions encourage applicants to talk, thereby allowing the interviewer an opportunity to actively listen to responses, assess verbal communication skills, and observe the applicants pattern of nonverbal communication. They also allow the interviewer time to plan subsequent questions. Open-ended questions are especially helpful in encouraging shy or withdrawn applicants to talk without the pressure that can accompany a competency based question requiring the recollection of specific examples. The Hypothetical Question which are based on anticipated or known job-related tasks, are phrased in the form of problems and presented to the applicant for solutions. They evaluate a persons reasoning abilities and thought processes. Hypotheticals are suitable during the core stage of the interview. Probing questions are short and simply worded, allowing interviewers to delve more deeply for additional information. There are three types of probing questions: 1. Rational probes request reasons, using short questions such as: Why? How When? How often? and who? 2. Clarifier probes are used to qualify or expand upon information provided in a previous response, using questions such as: what caused that to happen? Who else was involved in that decision? What happened next? and what were the circumstances that resulted in that happening? 3. Verifier probes check out the honesty of a statement. For example: You state on your resume that you currently work closely with the officers from your customers firms; please tell me exactly what you have done for them. Close-ended questions may be answered with a single wordusually yes or no. They should never be substituted for open-ended or competency-based questions. Close-ended questions should constitute the rapport-building stage and contribute to the core and confirmation stages. There are three types of questions interviewers should avoid asking: trait, leading, and loaded. Trait questions generate answers that are filled with rhetoric but little substance. They also prohibit you from exploring negative informationthat is, examining both an applicants strengths and areas requiring improvementwhich is necessary to provide a balanced picture. Loaded or multiple-choice questions offer limited options from which the applicant is forced to choose. And leading questions imply that there is a single correct answer.