Process to Assessing and Screening Job Applicant

Process to Assessing and Screening Job Applicants
Crystal D Johnson
MAN 6307-2
January 9, 2013

The effectiveness of screening for new job applicants is critical to the continuous accomplishment of any industry. “Interview formats allow the applicant(s) to ask his or her own questions to help reveal additional information useful for making a selection decision”. A detailed screening of the process also assistances with defining if the candidate has the required communication or social skills needed for the position. Some set interview processes can be revised as needed to obtain key material about an applicant. The following are some effective interviewing formats to consider: Behavior Description Screening Format, Comprehensive Structured Screening Format, Oral Screening Boards Format, and Situational Screening Format. In the Behavioral Description Screening Format, applicants are asked action questions about his or her previous employment circumstances that are comparable to circumstances that might be faced in the new position. The format is known as the STAR Method (“Situation, Task, Action, Results”). The next format, Comprehensive Structured Screening Format, is used to ask questions relating to present job knowledge, requirements for the position, and ways he or she would handle probable challenging situations or complete different job tasks. CSS format offers various ways to evaluate an applicant’s present level of expertise. Oral Screening Boards Format (OSB) is a method that requires the applicant giving verbal replies to job-related scenarios being asked by a panel of examiners. “Each examiner rates the candidate on factors such as work history, motivation, creative thinking, and presentation”. The last format, Situational Screening Format includes the applicant being interviewed about certain movements they would take in various job-related circumstances. Joseph Sefcik, Vistage member, stated, “Effective interviewing takes careful planning and effort so that hiring decisions are based on relevant and sound information not superficial cues or first impressions”. The following are some steps that can be taken to start a sound interviewing process: 1. Create organization for the interview. You do this by outlining the main desires of the job. Once you recognize this, create normal interview questions built on these desires. Use these same questions for all applicants for the position. 2. Establish minimum standards for non-verbal cues. “Body language, posture, mannerisms, and appearance have an effect on your conclusions”. Non-verbal cues cause you to recognize people more clearly or harmfully depending on the analysis. These cues can be useful, but also be simply mistaken. In order to avoid prejudices and subjective judgment, create clear ethics for non-verbal cues, which are realistic for your business values, employee standards and customer expectations. Once you’ve determined this, focus your attention on the applicant’s responses. 3. Acquire and convey the information. “The interview needs to be managed to allow time for both acquiring and conveying information”. The dual purpose of the interview is to ask and separate the qualifications of an applicant and to make available information about the job, organization, and culture. 4. Manage interviewer consistency. In order to improve consistency, interviewers should mention specific statements and examples from the interview. Avoid the interviewer opinions or impressions, but allow them to use examples to support their evaluations. 5. Judge applicants on performance not on promises or prior experience. Applicants would like to see and hear that they are the best candidate for the position. They want to look good to and for you and will be willing to promise that they can deliver. Be sure to identify this during the interview. 6. Provide applicants with information about your company. You do not want the applicants leaving he interview with their own impressions and judgments. Useful information can be supplied to the interview with printed or accessible information.
“By interviewing to employee that best qualify from the start and using the essential time and assets to fill an open position with the best candidate the first time, your company will save money and escape high employee turnover”.