Recruitment

by Wendy Raikes

Interviewing is not always the best option...

Bob and I were talking about his experience as candidate for a job. Bob told me that he sat through an hour-long interview with a panel of three people. Bob wasn’t the only one. In fact there were at least 15 candidates who were interviewed. Then some of the candidates were called back for interviews by more senior staff. When you add the time spent, it is more than a working week just interviewing for the right person. And did they get the right person? Only time will tell.

Research tells us that interviews are the most popular method for selecting a new staff member. Research also tells us that the predictive validity of interviews is low. Of course there are ways that you can increase the predictive validity of your interviews, such as structuring your questions and insisting on examples. But are there better ways of evaluating a person’s capability and experience?

Work sample testing
One way to do this is to incorporate work sample testing in your recruitment process. Earlier this year we at Twyford Consulting recruited two new staff members. For our Trainee Office Administrator we decided that their skills in client liaison and computing were critical. So we asked about 10 people who seemed to meet the basic criteria to come to a morning of work sample testing. We asked them to:

• respond to a client inquiry (given some information and facts) by telephone
  
• record data from the telephone conversation
  
• format and construct documents in a range of software programs.
  

The results were very illuminating. We then shortlisted three people to interview. Our shortlisting based on application only was very different to the work sample test results.

Our new Graduate Consultant was expected to be able to communicate verbally and in writing and to present well to a group of people. So in this case, we started with a series of interviews and then invited three of the final selection for work sample testing. These included:

• Writing a newsletter item
  
• Writing a pro posal
  
• Making a presentation on a topic of interest.
  

Again we found the results helped us to distinguish between the good and the better candidates.

Who were the successful candidates? Read about Amber and Adele below.

Tips and Hints for Recruiting

• Think about recruitment in terms of your business plan and capability needs
  
• Have a clear idea of the role and its requirements
  
• Determine selection criteria based on your requirements
  
• Consider innovative ways to receive applications such as telephone screening (useful when a large response is anticipated)
  
• Don’t just rely on interview for decisions about the best person
  
• When using tests, make sure that they relate to the work to be done
  
• Get expert help when using personality and aptitude tests.

Recruitment - from the perspective of our new staff

Amber Tecles
I applied for this position to build on my office skills (and I could also see an opportunity to proceed into the Office Management position in the future).

What attracted me to the position? I had the skills that Twyford Consulting wanted, and saw an opportunity to build on these skills. The consulting aspect, however, attracted me the most to the position. I was interested in the hands-on liaison with clients from a variety of professions.

What did I expect from the position? It has been different from what I expected - not more or less challenging, just different. It has been a very rewarding position so far.

What did I think of the recruitment process? It was different, as I have never undertaken a practical interview before, and I thought that it was a good idea. It gave me the opportunity to demonstrate my skills and identify the areas that need improving.

All of the candidates had similar qualifications, so the assessment process was effective at differentiating our skills.

After completing the first practical interview, the second was not as intense. Vivien, Wendy and Allison really made me want to be a part of the consulting team.

Adele Kasak
Whilst looking for work I did quite a lot of research into different companies, and what was involved in each position. When I considered whether to follow a marketing career in a FMCG company or a management position in a consulting firm, I realised that I would be more interested in working directly with people and fixing their problems, than relieving people’s problems through products.

Now I had to choose a company to work for.

What attracted me most to Twyford Consulting was that it was small and therefore hands-on. It offered me an opportunity to utilise both my management and marketing skills, it was based in Wollongong and everyone was very friendly.

What did I expect from the position? I had been warned about the steep-learning curve and the ‘sink or swim’ concept associated with management consulting, so I knew what I was getting myself into.

Where do I want to go? Although I have only been here for two months, I have found the position challenging, yet rewarding. I have considered going back to uni to gain skills in environmental science to complement my degree (I am still considering the prospect of a further 6 years study).

What did I think of the recruitment process? I felt it was quite thorough and successful in testing both my direct skills and my determination and commitment towards the position. I feel the process presented the opportunity for a two-way interview, where I was able to find out quite a lot about the company, whilst they learnt more about me.

Twyford Consulting Newsletter May 2001