[Blog 40] Competency-based interviewing process – An effective and focused approach to getting the right candidate
Are you a HR professional or People Manager of a manpower driven industry which caters almost half of your time to talent search to beat the manpower crunch? Then maybe it’s time you redesign your recruitment process.
Typically, a recruitment process would start with drafting job descriptions followed by advertising the job ads on various platforms, then scheduling interview sessions with respective HODs and HR managers. They will then shortlist based on candidates resume, gut feel, reference checks or dynamic presentation that provides them the confidence that the candidate can do the job and the job is filled.
But then problem arises, candidate is not competent to carry out some of the tasks given as it was not clearly stated in the job description or asked in the interview, candidate loses confidence and starts to shy away resulting in resignation or dismissal. The whole time and effort taken to bring this candidate onboard was made redundant and now HR is back at the starting point with the same job ad looking for an ideal candidate. This vicious cycle goes on till the organisation gets lucky and finds a good candidate. Till then a bulk of HR team’s time is catered to this vicious cycle.
So how do you design a competency-based interviewing process which will help your organisation? Appended below are some tips from HRguru :
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Step 1: Draft a competency-based job description.
How do you do this? Draft the skills and knowledge needed for the job and make each skill and knowledge quantitative and qualitative. Eg: If a customer service officer is required to be fast in answering phone calls – a description could be ‘Able to answer 5 calls in 30 mins’.
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Step 2: Post these competency-based job descriptions on various platforms.
You will now receive applications from candidates who have a better idea of the job scope in details and understand the set job expectations from the start.
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Step 3: Prepare a competency-based interview questionnaire for the hiring manager.
This questionnaire will act as a guide to the hiring manager on what questions to ask to gather evidence on the competencies needed for the job. Eg: A proposed question for the above example could be – ‘In your customer service experience, what is the average time you have taken to attend to one call’ or ‘How can you keep conversations short if you have a target to answer 5 calls in 30 mins’
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Step 4: Hiring Manager will assess, and update HR based on the evidence collected in the questionnaire.
Depending on the outcome, HR then proceeds to the next step.
This process is a structured and transparent process where both the candidate and the hiring manager can better prepare themselves for the interview. Having a competency-based job description gives the candidate a better idea on the role and the type of questions that they may be asked in the interview whilst the hiring manager can structurally ask questions and make a more informed decision on whether the candidate posses the competencies needed for the role.
Contact HRguru today to access our deep HR experience and learn more about our HRguru Advisory, Consultancy or Solutions Services or connect with us at contactus@hrguru.com.sg. You must also check out our recently released book – Nothing Surprises Me, I work in HR for more insights on our Chief Guru Tommy Ng’s personal journey in HR. Definitely a book every HR Leaders should have!
