3. Q1
What is the Most Widely
Used Pre-employment
test in America today?
Answer:
The interview
4. Q2
What is the Least Accurate
Pre-employment test in
America today?
Answer:
The interview
(traditional)
5. Tell me a little about yourself.
What is your greatest strength?
What is your greatest weakness?
Where do you want to be in 5 years?
QUESTION
S
Downhill from here…
If you could be any animal
which would you be?
Who are your role models?
6. Poor odds with high stakes
Most Hiring Managers make their selection
decision within the first 3 minutes of the
interview.
Source: Harvard Study
More than 75% of turnover can be traced back
to poor interviewing and hiring practices.
Source: Harvard Study
If an untrained interviewer uses an
unstructured interview format, then the
probability of hiring the
best applicant is less than 15%.
Source: Michigan State University
7.
8. Improving your odds
The best predictor of future performance is
past performance
Using behavioral-based interview questions in conjunction with
standard questions can improve the accuracy of selecting the
best candidates over standard interviews by as much as
500%.
Source: The Advisory Board Company
9. Advantages to
using past behavior
Using behavior eliminates
misunderstandings about a candidate’s
past experiences.
Using behavior prevents
personal impressions from
affecting the evaluation.
Using behavior reduces
applicant “faking.”
10. What is behavioral interviewing?
A thorough, planned, systematic way to gather
and evaluate information about what candidates
have done in the past to show how they would
handle future situations.
11. Why use behavioral
interviewing?
Lower the high direct and indirect
costs related to hiring the wrong
people
High-quality hires out-
produce poor ones by 25-
50%.
An estimated 80% of turnover is
due to hiring mistakes
A job that pays $48,000 can cost
up to $100,000
to replace.
12. Why use behavioral
interviewing?
It is based on competencies and behaviors
critical for success in a particular position.
It is objective, so it helps eliminate
unintentional biases.
It is structured, with set questions that are
delivered to every candidate, in the same
wording, in the same order and scored in the
same way.
It focuses less on specific tasks a candidate
has done and more on his or her approaches
to doing them, so it is effective even for
candidates with little or no actual job
experience.
13. How is it different?
“If you could choose to be any animal
(tree, piece of furniture, etc.), which
would it be?”
“Where do you see yourself in 5
years?”
“What would you do if…?”
“If you had an employee
who…how would you handle
that situation?”
Hypothetical
Answers Are Opinions
14. How to structure a behavioral interviewing
program
Determine critical competencies.
Develop questions (and follow-up
questions) to address
each competency.
Create a structured note-taking sheet for
the interview, including a candidate
evaluation section.
Train interviewers.
Evaluate post-offer results.
15. Develop critical competencies
Accounting Associate General Manager
• Customer Service • Customer Focus
• Integrity/Ethics • Integrity/Ethics
• Job Knowledge • Job Knowledge
• Adaptability/Flexibility • Budgets/Cost Control
• Dependability • Communication
• Listening Skills • Decision Making/Judgment
• Personal Organization • Leadership
• Productivity • Managing for Results
• Quality • Organizational Savvy
• Teamwork • Planning
• Results Focus
• Team Leadership
16. Develop critical competencies
Customer Service
General Manager
Representative
• Customer Focus • Ethics and Values
• Written Communications • Business Acumen
• Technical Learning • Problem Solving
• Organizing • Process Management
• Informing • Drive for Results
• Time Management • Developing Direct Reports
• Managing and Measuring Work
17. Develop behavioral-based questions to
address the competencies
Teamwork Team Leadership
• “Tell me about a time you • “Tell me about a time you
were part of a great team.” were part of a great team.”
• “What was your role in • “What was your role in
making it great?” making it great?”
• “What was the end • “What was the end result?”
result?”
18. Develop behavioral-based questions to
address the competencies
Integrity/Ethics
Deals with others in a straightforward and honest manner,
is accountable for actions, maintains confidentiality,
supports company values, conveys good news and bad.
19. Develop behavioral-based questions to
address the competencies
Decision-Making/Judgment
Recognizes problems and responds, systematically gathers
information, sorts through complex issues, seeks input from
others, addresses root cause of issues, makes timely
decisions, communicates decisions to others.
20. Developing and analyzing answers
To assess the quality of the candidate’s
answers, use the “STAR” method:
STAR
Situation Task Action Result or
outcome
It provides a framework for both developing an
answer, and assessing the value of an answer
to a behavioral interview question.
21. Evaluating candidate responses
Tell me about a time when…
STAR
Situation Task Action Result or
outcome
Use your competency definition to guide you
Mirror your performance rating system
22. Sample answer - communication
“
Last year, we were bidding a big
project, and I knew the proposal had to be
especially well written. Not only did I make sure it
was very clear, I tried to use some of the firm’s
“lingo” in the proposal. I proofread it five times and
some of the other people in the department read it
for clarity. Several days after the client received it,
they called and said that mine was the best-written
proposal they had received and we were awarded
the contract.”
23.
24. False STARs or partial STARs
Vague statements Opinions Theoretical or
Provide no specifics future-oriented
statements
• I usually... • I was the most • I would, I would
• I always... accurate in my have, I would like
• We all class... to
participated... • I think coaching is
the most
important
characteristic
27. Taking notes
TIPSthem you’ll be taking notes.
• Inform
• Slow the pace if necessary.
• Use key words and phrases.
• Avoid judgmental or evaluative comments.
Purpose: To have an accurate and
complete record of candidate
responses during the interview.
28. Create a structured note-taking sheet
XYZ Food Distribution
Candidate Evaluation Form
Candidate Name: Position:
Interviewed by: Date:
Rating Scale: 1 = unsatisfactory, 2 = below average, 3 = average, 4 = above average, 5 = outstanding, N/A = not applicable
Rating Element Rating Comments
Core Values:
Customer Focus: Give me an example of when you were able to avoid a major
problem because of the close communication you had with a customer or
coworker. Describe the last time you had to say no to a customer. Tell me about 1 2 3 4 5
a situation in the past year where you had to deal with a very upset customer or
coworker.
Integrity/Ethics: Tell me about a time when you conformed to company policy
even though you did not agree with it. Describe a work experience you had in
1 2 3 4 5
which you had to speak up and tell other people what you thought or felt when
you knew it would be unpopular.
Job Knowledge: In what ways have you helped your customer segment deal with
changes in the industry? Tell me about an area you got into at work where you 1 2 3 4 5
had no experience. What did you do about addressing this inexperience?
Competencies:
Communication: Describe a situation in which you got people to change from the
way they were doing something to the way you suggested. Tell me about the
toughest negotiating (or selling) situation in which you succeeded. Tell me about
1 2 3 4 5
the one in which you were unsuccessful. How will you address the challenge of
maintaining clear and frequent communication among geographically diverse
team members?
Decision-Making/Judgment: Give me an example of a problem you faced at work
and tell me how you solved it. Tell me about a problem at work that you were
1 2 3 4 5
unable to solve. What was the last bad decision you made at work? Describe the
process by which you made a difficult decision at work.
Budgets/Cost Control: Tell me about the last time you saved your employer
money. What have you done in your current job (last position) to increase your
1 2 3 4 5
organization’s revenues? What have you done in your current job (last position)
to reduce your organization’s operational costs?
Team Leadership: Give me an example of when you felt you were able to
motivate a coworker. Describe a time when someone on your team was not doing
1 2 3 4 5
his/her share of the work. What did you do? Tell me about the last time you had
to create a sense of urgency to get a team or individual motivated again.
29. Train interviewers
2-3 day training (DDI Targeted Selection)
• Two full days building foundation for interviewing technique
– Writing questions, categorizing answers, etc.
• Day three is practice with ‘live’ applicants
In-House Training by You
• We can discuss further options
Just in Time Training
• Work with managers to review process 1-2 days ahead
of the interview
30. Evaluate post-offer results
• Better retention rates?
• Better performance?
• Higher productivity?
• Other industry- or
organization-
specific benchmarks
