Ive been asked to sift through applicants CV's and compile a short list for interviewing. its for 2 positions in an admin/telephonist role.
I will also be sitting in on the interviews, this is all new to me, so im looking for advise and how i can make a positive input into the interviews.
anyone got any pearls of wisdom they care to part with

Cheers all

Rich

Ask them for examples of difficult situations they've been in, and how they've resolved them.

What has been the highlight of you working year so far, and why.

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They will be required to deal with senior people in your company, and ask them to do things, how would they deal with a situation where they were not getting the response they need / want.

Why have you applied, what can you bring to this company.

If the CV is in text speak - bin it.

Look for well crafted CV's which are to the point.

Read all CVs and then think which two you remember best and why - cos it may be because they are crap, shortlist the two most memorable for good reasons.

Last, and probably the least helpful - have they included photos??

Female, pretty, big breasts..... Winner !

Rich done this a couple of times at work.

We ussually have a batch of questions each ( ussually 3 on interview pannel ) and when not asking your job is to grade the answers and ask questions if clarification is needed.

I dont enjoy the experince but try and put the candidate at ease and remember what it was like when you were the other side of the desk.

OH and talk slowly and clearly ( I tend to mumble an talk fast when interviewing and presenting until I get bedded in/settled )

Its like any other skill really you have to start somewhere.

Typing / telephone tests are advided as people who are good at interviews are somtime Pants when employ them.

ATB Agriv8

id always receommend getting them to actually do something practical (though you may not have the chance to influence this)

if you want them to write stuff, send email letters etc get them to proof read a document to see what their grammar/spelling is like.

i've interviewed some very well qualified people (phd) who were good at presenting but who made fundamental errors when asked to perform a simple manual task related to the job.

paul

Hi,

I found this more nerve racking than actualy being interviewed.

You will actualy learn alot about your own interview technique when interviewing others.

I always look firstly for professional e-mail addresses. You'll be amazed at the amount of stupid email addresses people have!!!!! If they have a silly email I dont ever bother

Always ask the same questions across all apllicants!!

The difficult situations and how have they resolved it is a good questions mentioned earlier

What they can bring to the role/company?

What are they proud of in their life and career so far?

Good luck

Oli

Bin 50% of the CVs, you don't want to hire the unlucky.

keep a record of the reasons for choosing x or y

just to be on the safe side in case anyone gets the hump if they dont get the job.

wifes employer ended up with a big settlement when somewone claimed unfairness at interview based on race, and they didnt have the paperwork

to back it up. Their solicitor said some people make a living out of exploiting unprofessional businesses like this.

quote:

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Originally posted by swanny
keep a record of the reasons for choosing x or y

just to be on the safe side in case anyone gets the hump if they dont get the job.

wifes employer ended up with a big settlement when somewone claimed unfairness at interview based on race, and they didnt have the paperwork

to back it up. Their solicitor said some people make a living out of exploiting unprofessional businesses like this.

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I've been interviewing for the last few years, as olimarler says it can be as nervewracking being an interviewer as an interviewee!! Unfortunately the candidates can pick up on that and it changes the mood of the interview very quickly.

There are a few things already mentioned that are worth reiterating. Most definitely treat everyone fairly and equally, if possible read up on the discrimination and equality laws. There are a few things in the various acts that I didn't even consider as being discriminatory, thankfully they never came up on interviews.

Along the same equality lines, make sure their interviews are reasonably similar. There will be diversions, for example I like to speak to people about their background and follow on from that, but keep to the core questions.

Prepare a test beforehand, I've not interviewed admin/telephony roles but some sort of script/scenario for them to work through would be good.

Think about the traits that apply to the role (calm under pressure, well spoken, able to do basic maths) and make sure you cover them in some way in the interview.

One thing I like is something interesting about them. For example, my CV contains a line about me building a car, it's just a brief sentence but it really opens up the conversation. When I'm interviewing, I look for those sorts of things. Someone who plays football wouldn't interest me, someone who has followed their third division team to every match in the last five years would scream 'dedication' and would be scoring themselves brownie points.

Last of all, be ruthless at the CV stage. Out of ten CV's, I will see (on average);

3 totally inappropriate (usually submitted by agencies to get their sales up).
2 Childish (funny email addresses and txt spk wind me up too).
2 that have something 'odd' on their CV (big gaps in employment are an obvious one)
2 that will be worth interviewing but are only 'maybes'.
1 that stands out above the others and is already likely to get the job.

Oh, and keep a list of people even at the CV stage, I see a handful of CV's come through repeatedly with subtle differences in the CV. They're basically trying it on.

quote:

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Originally posted by olimarler
Hi,

I found this more nerve racking than actualy being interviewed.

You will actualy learn alot about your own interview technique when interviewing others.


Oli

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Guys,

Could my e-mail address be harming me.....I have meerkatguy1956@......anyone who knows me on here knows its based on my Meerkat project, but could it be considered silly or childish?

Cheers,

Alan

I have a number of email addresses, and use a 'sensible' one for important stuff like jobs.

I had my first interview for about 10 years today. It was a 'competency based interview'.

This involved me coming up with real life examples of 'behaviours' they were interested in.

quote:

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Originally posted by Alan B
Guys,

Could my e-mail address be harming me.....I have meerkatguy1956@......anyone who knows me on here knows its based on my Meerkat project, but could it be considered silly or childish?

Cheers,

Alan

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A separate, sensible email address is a very good idea. It can be very informative to google the email address people put on CVs....

quote:

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Originally posted by scudderfish
A separate, sensible email address is a very good idea. It can be very informative to google the email address people put on CVs....

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Thanks for the input everyone. Im definately out of my comfort zone with this. Still new skills are always useful to have. Have already noticed lots of dodgy looking E mail addresses that kind of put me off. Im definately going to have as many nervesas the applicants, Hopefully it will all go well for me and thr interviewees
Rich

are you compiling and asking the questions?

i was interviewing on friday all day for a job in my department, i can email you over what i asked and our interview structure and scoring methods for shortlisting

I've done it a few times and was surprised by the lack of preparation by the job applicant..

So, say hello, shake hands, sit down, then a good stare and see if that unsettles them, then ask why they want to work here and what they know about the company..

Then think up some times when you've been caught out doing your job and ask them how they would resolve this...

If HR are in with you let them take the lead...

Treat it as an opportunity to meet new people and make new friends.. (as if)..

I found it quite refreshing even though the HR wife gave them jobs I wouldn't have had them, but, there you go..

I'm a bit of a knob with CV sorting and interviewing. Don't do a lot, maybe once a year, but we are a small company, so every role is important.

I can't stand group statements in CV's. "We redesigned a new front end for the site" What? Who is WE? And why was it redesigned? I look for individual statements with justification "I organised a new filing system to replace sorting issues with the old one"

I also bin one straight away if it includes "Hobbies: I enjoy socialising". I pretty much read that as "Hobbies (I need a section about hobbies right?) Urmmm, I'm hungover a lot as I only work to fund my drinking.

Plus all those interview cliches! "Where do you see your self in 5 year?" "Whats your worst trait?" and my pet hate "What will you bring to the team?" I mean how does this help? Its so everyone can look at each other and nod approvingly as they give a rehearsed answer to a dumb question. These only serve to highlight the weakness of the interviewer.

quote:

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Originally posted by deezee
I can't stand group statements in CV's. "We redesigned a new front end for the site" What? Who is WE? And why was it redesigned? I look for individual statements with justification "I organised a new filing system to replace sorting issues with the old one"

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quote:

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Originally posted by deezee
Plus all those interview cliches! "Where do you see your self in 5 year?" "Whats your worst trait?" and my pet hate "What will you bring to the team?" I mean how does this help? Its so everyone can look at each other and nod approvingly as they give a rehearsed answer to a dumb question. These only serve to highlight the weakness of the interviewer.

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Having read the CV page on linkedin of people I've worked with at previous companies taking credit for other peoples work is the least of your worries, taking credit for things that never happened seems to be the norm. Though I suppose being a project manager who was running a project that was 18months late an £2M over budget would rather put "delivering on time and to budget" rather than the truth.

With the way references work these days in compensation culture Britain you'll never find out the truth.

If you think about it the CV is nothing more than a marketing tool designed to get your bum on a seat opposite someone who can offer you a better job than you have now. Frames a few questions but not much more. I've met a few excellent people with poor CV's (as they rarely move job) and more than a few real stinkers with really good looking CV's (presumably they get a lot of practice) so it's all a bit of a lottery really.

I also look up on Facebook, Linkedin and do a google search anyone that gets through to the "maybe interview" pile. Amazing what it can turn up, good and bad.

quote:

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Originally posted by beaver34
are you compiling and asking the questions?

i was interviewing on friday all day for a job in my department, i can email you over what i asked and our interview structure and scoring methods for shortlisting

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