Unemployment is a stressful situation for both the worker and the economy, at large. With generally less positions available, nationwide, those searching for work must be more adaptable, and those doing the hiring must be more specific. One way to bridge this realm is to initiate policies for more effective securing of staff. Small business owners and hiring managers must utilize interviewing techniques and questions that will yield the best possible results from their pool of candidates.

Large organizations generally have more resources at their disposal for the procurement of workers through tools such as recruiting companies, online assessment services, and intra-organizational human resource divisions. Small businesses do not have the staff, time, or budget, in comparison to these operations; as a result, the interviewing of potential employees often falls upon the shoulders of the small business owner or hiring manager. With less screening and assessment opportunities available to the small business, effectively discerning what your candidate can offer via a successful interview is paramount.

Thorough interviewing lies in asking the right types of questions. One simply cannot accept nonspecific answers or rely upon the resume to speak extensively for the candidate. In order to get better answers – ones that paint the most vivid picture of how this person would perform in your organization – one must ask better questions. It is beneficial to focus on behavior-based questions which allow the person being interviewed to use experiences from his or her work history to define who they are and what they will bring to the organization. Here are some examples of interviewing queries that yield more self-explanatory revelations:

• Tell me about a mistake you have made in the past and how you rectified this situation.
• Can you give me an example of a time that you had to resolve an issue, on your own, in a short amount of time?
• It is human nature to have disagreements and not get along well with everyone around you at all times. Explain to me a time that you did not get along with someone that you worked with. How were you able to overcome this situation and still be an effective employee to your company.

Resumes state facts about a job candidate. They tell the employment circumstances and history of someone in a very black-and-white fashion. A successful small business interviewer seeks to discern a potential worker’s true colors on the job, and as a person.

Author: Stacia Argoudelis 

Tags: HR, small business