The selection and hiring process can be complex and overwhelming. Do you find yourself rushing to make a decision? Trying to find more time to discuss candidates? Wondering how to make the interview process more effective? There is value in stepping back and examining what you can do to make the process more effective.
Selection and Hiring
Taking a step back to analyze the needs of the position is an opportunity for a refreshed, clear view of how the open position can support your department or unit. Understanding how to approach this process can help you increase your chances of finding someone who can contribute to your department and will result in increased effectiveness for you, your hire, and your department or unit.
Review Quick Guide
The Quick Guide to Analyzing the Needs of the Position outlines the best practices that are proven to be part of an effective selection and hiring process.
- Connect to broader priorities
- Consider and adjust responsibilities of the position
- Determine skills, knowledge, and abilities needed
- Prioritize skills, knowledge, and abilities.
Apply What You've Learned
How a position is analyzed is the first step in an effective selection and hiring process.
Do you currently or will you soon have an open position in your department or unit?
Download the Analyzing the Position (MS Word) worksheet to walk through these four steps and connect them to the needs of your department or unit.
Preparing for an interview can help avoid common pitfalls, such as wasted time or resources. Not preparing for the interview can set you up for leaning on your impressions of a candidate, which is commonly known as a "gut" decision. If you only listen to your "gut" decision about a candidate, you have a huge risk of not hiring the right person. Applying the following best practices in the interview process will help eliminate the bias or “gut” decision driving the interview process.
Review Quick Guide
The Quick Guide to Preparing for an Interview outlines the best practices that are proven to make the interview process more effective:
- Select a hiring team/committee
- Educate your team about the process
- Select an appropriate assessment method
- Design effective interview questions
- Establish an interview procedure.
Learn about Behavioral Questions
Including behavioral interview questions helps to ensure accurate assessments by giving the candidate a chance to give concrete descriptions of their experiences, avoiding speculation or theorizing. Getting real examples of past behaviors is crucial in assessing a candidate’s job performance and not relying on a "gut" reaction to their performance.
Sample behavioral questions
- What is the biggest error in judgment or failure you have made in a previous job? Why did you make it? How did you correct the problem?
- Describe an experience you had interacting with someone that had a different background than your own. What was the situation? What were the results?
Use the required knowledge, skills, and abilities of the position to pinpoint which behavioral questions would be most useful to include in order to shed light on key behaviors that will be necessary to perform the job well. Refer to the Interview Guide for more examples of questions and how they align with behavioral competencies.
When hiring don’t be tempted to rush the final decision. This may save time in the short term, but can lead to problems later if you end up hiring the wrong person. A sense of being rushed can lead to making a decision without fully considering the candidate’s development needs or not allotting time to address concerns that the hiring team has about the candidate.
Review Quick Guide
The Quick Guide to Making a Hiring Decision outlines the steps to consider to make sure your hiring decision will benefit your department or unit for the years to come:
- Start by reviewing all relevant data points
- Assess candidate for current skills, development needs, and potential
- Have a discussion with your hiring team
- Examine your biases
- Make a hiring decision
- Follow up and prepare for the next steps.
Apply What You've Learned
Work through an interactive self-check quiz below to apply what you have learned.
You have completed this module
Congratulations! You have completed this online module. The following are module materials and related resources. We encourage you to explore other online modules to continue your supervisory development journey.
Core Reading
- Berry, C.M. (2015). Differential Validity and Differential Prediction of Cognitive Ability Tests: Understanding Test Bias in the Employment Context. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 2,435-463.
- 2016. “Bias Interrupters: Identifying and Interrupting Bias in Hiring”. Center for WorkLife Law.
- Bohnet, I. (2016, April 18) “How to take the Bias out of Interviews” Harvard Business Review.
- Knight, R. (2017, June 12). 7 Practical Ways to Reduce Bias in Your Hiring Process. Harvard Business Review.
- Mackenzie, L. and Correll, S. (2018, October 1). Two Powerful Ways Managers Can Curb Implicit Biases. Harvard Business Review.
- Schmidt, F. L., & Hunter, J. E. (1998). Validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 262-274.
- Tippins, N.T. (2015). Technology and Assessment in Selection. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 2, 551-582.