What job do I want to fill?

When a vacancy occurs its worth taking a little time to question whether the job needs to be replaced as before. Ask questions such as:

• Has the/ can the work group become more efficient?

• Have work patterns, new technology or new products altered the job? are there any changes anticipated which will require different, more flexible skills from the jobholder?

• Is part-time working a viable option?

 Prepare a brief job description and person specification

Traditional job descriptions are a notorious waste of time.  Here we propose merely some brief notes that have been agreed with colleagues.  The main headings are:  

• If we didn't fill this job what impact would it have on the organisation?

• What are the five main tasks of the job and five subsidiary tasks?

• What kind of person will best fit into our organisation and this job?

• What essential  skills and knowledge does the newly recruited individual need to bring with them and what can they pick up once they have joined?

• Does the position need to be full time, can we merge the job with other activities? 

It is essential that any such notes are strictly related to job needs and are not discriminatory.

 

What process should we go through to identify the best person?

Who will decide on selection?  That person(s) should be involved with the whole process.  The normal selection tools used by small organisations are:

• Application forms (see link opposite)

• Interviews

• References (see link opposite)

less common approaches include

• Aptitude tests  (see psychometric assessment external link opposite)

• Selection centres (see psychometric assessment external link opposite).

Interviews
Most jobs are filled through interviews. The interview has two main purposes - to find out if the candidate is suitable for the job, and to give the candidate information about the job and the organisation. Every candidate should be offered the same opportunities to give the best presentation of themselves, to demonstrate their suitability and to ask questions of the interviewer.

 

Interviews need not be formal. The length and style of the interview will relate to the job and the organisation. Some vacancies may call for a formal interview panel, some for a less formal, one-to-one interview. The interviewer(s) should consider the job and the candidates when deciding on the nature of the interview.  Prepare for the interview by carefully reading the application form/ CV.  Particularly look for unexplained work gaps.

 

Interview Technique

Extensive research has demonstrated that unstructured interviews are very poor at selecting the right person. The structured interview is most likely to be effective in obtaining specific information against a set of clearly defined criteria. Structured interviews are not difficult to do:

• Focus upon work behaviour necessary to do the job effectively

• Identify up to ten scenarios that would occur in the job, instead of asking general questions try to give a real life incident that has/ may occur

• Briefly write down each scenario and put it to each interviewee in turn - how would they react to ....?

• Score the response from each interviewee to each scenario

• Follow up the scenarios by checking any claimed qualifications and experience

• Finish by giving the opportunity to ask questions

• If the job involves specific skills such as word processing or telephone skills give a practical test to assess the level of competence

• Encourage the interviewee to talk and listen to their response

• Make a decision based on the whole interview, not their appearance in the first few minutes. The relevant decision questions are do they have the essential skills to do the job?  How have they scored in the structured questions?

See Recruitment Records link opposite for the information companies should store.