THE FIRST 60 SECONDS. CREATING THE CLIMATE

THE INITIAL QUESTIONS AND 19 ABOUT PERSONAL AND FAMILIAR DATA

THE INTERVIEWER’S ATTITUDE

Let the interviewee expose the facts in their own way and then help them with the omissions. Adjust yourself to the central topic; otherwise, the interviewee can loose interest.

Avoid dogmatic postures. No one likes to be told how to do their job during an interview; you should try not to argue.

Show sincerity and frankness instead of astuteness and sagacity. These can be inappropriate, specially if the interviewee uses same strategy.

Sometimes the questions that are too categorical that only admit a “yes” or “no” are not convenient, since the interviewee may want to condition or explain that yes or no.

Help the interviewee to perceive his/her personality referred to the veracity of the mentioned facts.

Arthur (Arthur Diane, Effective personnel selection, Chapter 4, Norma Editorial Group, Bogota, 1987), tell us what we have to keep in mind before making an interview: among other things to be familiarized with the profile and with the individual you are going to interview. It is also recommendable to we make sure that, besides the CV, we know everything that may be available about them. For example, if they have been previously interviewed by the company and even if they worked for it at any time. The author also tells us about the different steps that are part of the interview.

• 1. Make question about the candidate’s education and their work history related to the vacant position.
• 2. Give information about the vacancy.
• 3. Talk about the advantages the company offers in terms of remuneration and opportunities to progress.
• 4. Let the candidate make questions.
• 5. Tell them what is going to happen after the interview.

Many interviewers believe that it is better to begin by giving the candidate all the information about the position and the company before beginning with the questionnaire. They do this for three main reasons:

• 1. If the interviewer give this information from the beginning, it is less probable that they’ll forget something.
• 2. If they wait until the end of the interview to talk about those things, they’ll probably not have enough time to do it later.
• 3. When the interviewer talks more than the interviewee at the beginning of the interview, the candidate feels more confidence.

Acting in this way has its pros and cons, since it is possible that if we describe the candidate the ideal we are looking for, we will condition our interlocutor so he/she will tell us exactly what we want to hear.

Before getting into the topic, it is recommendable to start with friendly questions like:

Was it easy for you to get here?

Did you find space in the parking lot?

How was the traffic?

Were the directions my secretary gave you useful?

What a nice day! Don’t you think?

I hope it will stop raining soon!

It is really hot today!

You shouldn’t spend more than a couple of minute in these preliminaries; in fact, it will be enough with 30 seconds.

Then you can direct the interview to what interests you.

• 1. I am glad you had no problems getting here because I would like to begin talking about the interest you have in the position of …
• 2. I am sorry to hear that you had troubles finding where to park your car. I know that these park meters give one hour only, so if you agree, let’s begin now so we can finish before it expires.
• 3. With this wonderful weather, you will surely want to go out again, so let’s begin.

These expressions draw a bridge between the interview stage and the next one, getting rid of the silence or hesitation that could possibly happen.

[Interview] [Content Map - PART I] [PART II] [Science & Art] [Preparation] [1st 60 Sec] [ADVISES FOR THE BEGINER INTERVIEWER] [THE BEGINNING OF THE INTERVIEW] [40 Education ?] [72 Work Goals ?] [57 Adaptability/?] [30 Adaptability ?] [80 Personality ?] [192 Capacities ?] [24  Common Sense ?] [32 Money & Goals ?] [10 Final?] [50 Must Answers...] [40 Personnal?] [Take Notes] [Competency Interview] [Job Interview ?] [Job Interview ?] [COMPETENCIES] [Other Great Sites] [Site Map]