Preparing for interview with the hiring manager:

In today’s marketplace hiring companies and professional recruiters are being inundated with CV’s from applicants right across the board for open positions they are recruiting for.  The CV forms the first impression and in most instances this is the basis of calling a candidate for interview. However at interview stage the rules have changed slightly. Instead of companies trying to sell their organisation and the benefits as to why the candidate should come to work for them, the company is interviewing harder and more stringently because of the availability of talent in the marketplace today.

We are seeing, and working with our client companies, to develop specific interview questions that will ensure the candidates answer questions which demonstrate their competencies (knowledge, skills and abilities) by giving specific examples from their past experiences. The focus on the interview is less about what they can or could do (ie, hypothetical situations), and more about what they have done in specific situations in the past.

Behavioural interviewing is based on the assumption that a person’s past performance (in previous roles) is an excellent predictor of their future performance.

Talent Partner’s tips for behavioural interviews

To prepare for a behavioural interview, take the following steps:

• Make sure you have clearly defined the competencies for the role. General competencies include:
  • Enthusiasm
  • Knowledge/skills
  • Problem solving
  • Team building
  • Personal attributes
  • Leadership
  • Communication
  • Flexibility
  • Decision making
• Develop a concise communication which will enable you to  demonstrate the required competencies.
• Questions you might be asked may include :
  • Give me an example of how you have .
  • Tell me about a situation where you .
  • In the past, how did you deal with a situation where .
  • Given your past experience, how would you best deal with .

What hiring managers evaluate in a behavioural interview?

There are three types of competencies that hiring managers look for in behavioural interviews:

• Content competencies – which are work/role specific.
• Functional/transferable skills – which are used generally with people, information or things, regardless of the specific environment.
• Adaptive or self-management skills – which are personal characteristics

It goes without saying that you need to be able demonstrate examples where you made the difference or added value to the example you have outlined. Behavioural interviewing allows hiring managers to ask probing questions and drill down on the examples you have previously given.  Our final tip for today, if it is not your work, don’t claim credit for it!!

If you have any questions or request further interview tips please contact info@talentpartners.ie

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