Competency-based or Structured Interviewing
Selecting the right staff is critical to your business success. It is a notable fact that the wrong selection of management and leadership executives will lead to a rapid and widespread disengagement of your human capital. Your process must be defined, creating a consistent positive experience for the customer, in this case your prospective candidate. Internally, your effective interviewing will allow recruitment challenges to be overcome on time and give the best chance of the highest quality hire.
The Structured Interview is a cornerstone of the selection process. It is a systematic approach to target a specific skill or competency that may be more difficult to ascertain in a normal, unstructured interview where the process is likely to be conversational and more subjective. In a competency-based framework, the technical and personality/behaviour-based aspects of candidates that determine their fit to organisational culture are assessed objectively and according to a standardised format.
The list of skills and competencies that can be tested varies depending on the role that the interview is for. For a senior manager, skills and competencies may include business acumen; an ability to influence and negotiate; an ability to inspire others; an ability to cope with stress and pressure; or the capacity to take calculated risks. This list can be extended or amended depending on the specific job role.
In the interviewing process, it is normal for several senior executives to be present with varying views on the type of candidate required. The key competencies and behavioural skills required should therefore be listed as a job description, agreed in advance by the stakeholders involved. Rating the key requirements of the job enables the interviewers to more easily understand the reasons for their different opinions of a candidate.
The importance of taking the time to review the job description and prepare these questions cannot be understated. If you were purchasing a piece of machinery for USD$100,000, you would always do this!
- Structured Interviews - What makes the structured interview effective is its consistency and its ability to use a rating process. All candidates should be asked the same questions and scored using the same criteria.
A structured interview should include:
- Questions based on an agreed job description.
- Asking the same quesitons to all candidates.
- Using scored responses for the interview questions.
- Competency-Based Interviews - The set of competencies and corresponding draft questions should be reviewed by the stakeholders to ensure that they assess the competencies and behaviours critical to performance of the job.
Examples:
If one of the responsibilities of the job is analyzing and evaluating the effectiveness of a program, policy or procedure and developing recommendations based on the evaluation, then you would ask the following questions:
“Describe a situation in which you undertook an assessment and made recommendations based on that assessment”
Follow-up questions:
- What were you evaluating? Why did you undertake the evaluation?
- What methods did you use? How did you choose them?
- What were the findings?
- What were your recommendations?
- Were the recommendations accepted? Why, or why not?
- Cultural Fit
It is frequently estimated that the personality fit of a candidate to organization counts for at least 50% of the requirements and, in very very senior positions, up to 70%.
Outline of the Structured Interview Process
Although the same initial questions should be asked to each candidate, there is flexibility in the follow-up questions used to obtain further information, which helps to maintain a more natural flow of conversation. If the candidate has no direct job experience that was relevant to the question then the candidate could be asked to describe a related experience.
Summary
A structured interview controls the flow of the interview, makes the interview the same for every interviewee and this ensures equal opportunity and eliminates bias. Similar competencies are evaluated in each meeting, which ensures reliability and consistency which is likely to increase the likelihood of hiring the right person for the position. This is important when interviews are spread over several weeks and involve several interviewees.
PREPARING FOR THE INTERVIEW – Total preparation time: Approx. 1 hour
- Preparation
- Review applicant information (per applicant) - 20 min
- Prepare Structured questions – 30 min
- Prepare rating scale and weightings, discuss with the client as necessary – 30 min
CONDUCTING THE INTERVIEW – Total conduct time: Approx. 1 hour
- Opening – 5 min
- Welcome the applicant
- Briefly describe the job and organisation
- Outlining the Process (for the Applicant) – 3 min
- The interview is only part of the selection process
- Interviewers will ask questions to obtain information about the applicant’s previous jobs and work experience relating to the position
- Asking Structured Questions/Taking Notes – 20 min
Ask all questions exactly as prepared to ensure consistency.
- Asking Unstructured Questions/Taking Notes – 20 min
This consists of broad or open-ended questions to assess the applicant’s ability to communicate their skills, attitude, and personality.
- Candidate Questions – 5 min
Invite the candidate to ask questions.
- Closing the Interview – 1 - 2 min
Tell candidate when and how he or she will be notified and thank candidate for their interest.
AFTER THE INTERVIEW – Total after interview time – Approx. 1 hour
Conduct the Candidate Rating and write report.
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