Blog Post: Most Important Thing You’ve Learned

I think that the most important thing that I have learned from this course is the the importance of how interviewing is conducted and the most effective methods of how to complete these. For example, in Who, the author mentions the four interviews for spotting a players: The screening interview, The Who Interview, The focused interview, and The reference interview. Like many other methods in recruitment, this may be costly but will be a great predictor of who will be successful in the company in the long run. The screening interview is the fastest way to disqualify people who are inappropriate for the position. Though this is helpful, it can also unintentionally eliminate candidates who may actually be right for the spot. It is important that culling the list incorporates the common set of standardized questions. The who interview is the most valid and reliable to predict performance. By finding patterns in the person, it is easier to make educated guesses about how a person is likely to perform in the future. Asking pointed questions about what the person was hired to do, their accomplishments, and reasons for leaving a job will give the interviewer a good idea of who the candidate is as a person. Next, is the focused interview. After getting to know who the candidate is, especially if there are still a few candidates in the running, it is important to dig deeper and know more. A good way to do this is to identify competencies that define success in the job. Then with those competencies, ensure that the candidate is able to fulfill those. There is also the question of a good cultural fit. Although this can sometimes be used to fulfill unconscious biases, it is important to be objective in this area. Finally, is the reference interview. This can arguable be the best part of the interview. Now, you are able to see the candidate through the perspective of someone else. Though there may be some digging that happens in this process, usually previous managers or supervisors are able to give an accurate picture of what it was like to work with the candidate in question.