Handbook of Principles of Organizational Behavior - Soltanieh ...

STRUCTURE INTERVIEWS TO RECRUIT AND HIRE THE BEST PEOPLE
107. INTERVIEWER: Okay. And so what do you . . . see then you decided where you
ended up going with . . . ?
108. APPLICANT: Design team ’ s modifications, even though it was more expensive. In the
long run, it proved to be ah, a better, um more cost effective way of operating.
Recruitment goals can also be met by structuring interviews through training and use
of standardized questions. Recruitment - oriented interviewers are less likely than screening -
oriented interviewers to receive training; given that untrained interviewers are seen by applicants
as less organized and less professional, this trend is unfortunate. Untrained interviewers
tended to talk more, jumping between asking and answering questions, providing unrequested
information, and digressing into non - job - related topics. This problem is illustrated in the next
example, in which an untrained interviewer sought to recruit an applicant for an insurance
sales position. Although this segment is edited, the dialog between this interviewer and applicant
followed the same pattern in which the interviewer did most of the talking.
25.– 31. INTERVIEWER: Here are some reasons why you would want to choose a career
with [name of firm]. We guarantee your income while you start, develop your
own image on being your own boss, getting, ah, getting into management career
status, extra benefits, ah, and on the back here, are twelve good reasons . . . why
you would want to be an insurance agent. And, um, here is, ah, a brochure
that explains ah, the training program in general . . . terms. It ’s a lifelong training
program. Um, we have, we feel, the finest training, uh, in the industry, ahh,
as a company . . . And I believe, in my district, we have ah, the fi nest training
in America simply because we use the company training in the fi rst six – twelve
months or so, and after that we go into material, we make available to you material
from the Insurance Institute of America. Now when I say make available to you,
ah, we recruit and train people from all walks of life. Some people can’t handle
the material from the Insurance Institute of America because it ’s college level
and/or they don’t have the math background or they don’t have the interest,
study skills . . . to do it. I put on six people in 19[ . . . ] and to date, ah, none of
them have taken advantage of all the material that I could give them. Because,
well, it ’s not all bad either. Some of them, three of them are college students and
they ’re doing so well that they don’t have the time, they won’t take the time to, to
attend the course. Ah, one of ’ em has gone through a couple of ’ em or attempted
to go through a couple of ’ em, but ah, nevertheless I ’ve kept my end of the
bargain and I would make it available to her and now in their second or third
year, ah, they would take it a little more serious, ah the more advanced learning
of insurance. Okay?
32. APPLICANT: Um - hmm.
33. INTERVIEWER: So we say we’ll make it available to you, if you ’re good enough
to take advantage of it, that ’s fi ne.
34. APPLICANT: Um - hmm.
This interviewer clearly had a lot of positive information about his company to convey
to applicants. Yet, his approach – doing all the talking, without finding out the applicant ’s
unique interests or criteria for making decisions – doesn’t allow him to tailor his “ pitch ” to
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