Interviewing - The Recruitment Process: -

INTRODUCTION Interviewing skills are a way of Organization life. This begins with the hiring interview, followed by the confirmation of appointment interview, from the performance appraisal interview and finally the termination of employment interview. These skills are not endowed but are learned. . The interview is perhaps the most critical step in the recruitment process; yet, perhaps the most ignored in terms of effectiveness. There is a general tendency in most Organizations to assume that every Manager has the ability to interview new candidates for employment; why this opinion is so common place is difficult to fathom as many Mangers have never been trained in interviewing techniques. Yet, the hiring interview is one of the most important time that a Manager can expend because hiring the right candidate will be an asset to his/her Department and Organization. "No application form, curriculum vitae (resume), letter, oral recommendation or psychological/psychometric tests have the impact of a personal face to face meeting with a candidate for a job. Moreover, the decision that an interviewer (or interviewee) makes, based on the interview (meeting), may affect your Organization for years to come. Selecting the right person for the job can strengthen an Organization. Conversely, hiring the wrong individual can be costly in time, money and morale. This book dwells on the hiring interview and although there is no substitute for training in a seminar/workshop, this book will remedy some of the defects of being untrained. You will find there are no lengthy explanations of the subject matter; in fact, I have found from my working(in Organizations as an employee and later as an Organization Consultant) that Managers want to learn the "how to do" methodology rather than "acquire voluminous knowledge and be left to fend for themselves on how to apply the knowledge gained. Managers will find this book deals directly with any aspect of interviewing they want more thought on and all they have to do is to look at the Contents pages and learn directly, in condensed form, whatever it is they need to know or acquire skills in. I have attempted to include guides (for interviewing), questionnaires as well as documents required in the interviewing process so that the Organization can decide what additional tools/inventories/tests they would like to use to supplement the decision made in the face to face interview. Different skills are required in different occupations and the choice made to use the right tests/inventories/tools must depend on who would be most adept. Those who wish to use certain skills mentioned in this book are urged to contact a Recruitment consultant who uses such skills; alternatively, learn about this from the dozens of books on the subject not to mention the Internet. LSOM