Conducting Effective Interviewing

Over the span of my work experience, I have taken part or organized the interview process. My current role as the HR Director for the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians has brought a different approach to interview processes as a sovereign nation, and has guidelines on minimum requirements in addition to choosing minimum qualification tribal members.

I would like to discuss both scenarios.

In my previous positions, the relevant information I looked for on resumes received for our company included professionalism, grammar, previous experience, and time spent at previous work places. I feel as though this is relevant in showing a candidates history, and providing my company the best candidate for the position. These attributes varied depending on the position that was offered, for instance, a maintenance worker candidate did not always have these things in order on their resume (like professionalism), and that was something I easily overlooked and focused more on their work timeline. I feel as though timeline gives a brief overview of what future turnover rates could possibly look like. These are my own bias tendencies when organizing interviews, and I try to be lenient depending on positions, and I am aware of these bias tendencies, but as a professional I feel like having a good resume says a lot about a person, especially for top level employment.

During in-person interviews, one bias I am aware of is how a person presents themselves in a stressful situation (most people who interview are anxious and stressed) and it shows a lot of effort on their part to put those anxious tendencies aside, and present themselves in a professional manner. This might not be a make or break for a person in an interview, and I realize that interviews do not give me an entire view of work ethic, but it does show a bit about them as a person and how they would fit into our company.

I would also like to share my experience in my current role as the HR Director for a sovereign nation. The interview and venting process for the tribe is much different than they are in my previous roles, where bias takes place almost instantly. To maintain our sovereignty, our tribe looks for tribal employees, where one of the first questions asked when applying is “are you a tribal member?” This is something HR looks for in determining the minimum qualifications. Our bias is not based on looks or presentation during the interview, it is determining who meets the minimum qualifications to work, and who does not. We want to preserve our Native American heritage, and we look to employ our people, and make them successful in life, provide for their families, and get them the experience they need to be successful in the future in the event that our tribe ceases to exist (as it has in the past).

There are good and bad to the process with a sovereign nation, federal laws are umbrella laws that do not always apply to tribal policy, practices, and government. During the hiring process for instance, if there are 3 candidates for a position, 1 non-tribal member that exceeds minimum qualifications, 1 tribal member that only meets minimum qualifications, and 1 tribal member that does not meet minimum qualifications, our HR department and interview board is obligated to offer the position to the tribal member that meets minimum qualifications in order to abide by policy of our sovereignty for the tribe.

I realize this as a bias that would not normally occur in a workplace, or would be highly frowned upon, and if I was to ever leave my position within the tribe, I would be aware of these bias and base my decisions off the best and most qualified candidate for the position in order to pull out the talent from within.

Another important thing to consider for interview processes, is ensuring your own company is set up for success. As a company, it looks bad for your staff to be rushing around getting paperwork, interview questions, and rooms ready for interviews while your candidates are watching. As a professional candidate, this can make your company look sloppy and unprepared. Ensure that you are ready for this person as a company.