Latest Candidates Selection Process Interview Preparation Guide

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Selection criteria go beyond minimum qualifications and look at quantity, quality, and relevancy of education, experience, knowledge and other skills that each applicant possesses. Selection criteria also include qualifications that may be unique to the particular job and the particular department rather than the more general minimum qualifications. When applicants are compared to each other and selection criteria are applied, the best-qualified candidate can be selected.

Selection Criteria 1:
Education: Level completed, relevancy and quality.
Selection Criteria 2:
Previous Work Experience: Amount, relevancy and quality organizational skills including the ability to work in a diverse environment, multitask and work under pressure; reliability including good attendance and punctuality.
Selection Criteria 3:
Communication: Written, oral and interpersonal skills.
Selection Criteria 4:
Technology (if applicable): Amount, relevancy and quality of information technology training and/or experience.
Selection Criteria 5:
Licenses and Certification (if applicable): Possesses or can timely obtain necessary licenses and/or certifications.

The department head must determine the method they will use for measuring each criterion. The choices are:
☛ Interview
☛ Work Sample
☛ Application, Cover Letter, Resume
☛ References
☛ Writing Sample

Minimum qualifications are used to screen applicants by comparing their qualifications to those minimally necessary to do the job. Minimum qualifications for non-instructional positions are found in teams under Position Descriptions.

The interviewer should try to find out whether the interviewee is faking the answers, or is trying to withhold some information about the answer or themselves. If you do think that the interviewee is faking the answers, do not confront him or her about it. In turn, you can simply ask the interviewee to give any examples of anything that he or she has told you about.

While the interview is going on, you should try to understand the personal traits as well as the attitude of the individual towards the job as well as their profession. Also, try to gauge how serious he is about the job.

Selection criteria are used to determine the best-qualified applicant from among all of the candidates who have met the minimum qualifications and were selected for an interview for the particular position.

In order to fill an open University position and to find the best qualified applicant for the position, applicants must be judged by using clearly defined standards or criteria which reflect the specific needs of the department. Two sets of standards are used in screening applicants. These are:
☛ Minimum Qualifications
☛ Selection Criteria

Ratings will be assigned as a 1-5 scale:
1) Does not meet this qualification
2) Demonstrates less than average qualification
3) Demonstrates average level of qualification
4) Demonstrates above average level of qualification
5) Exceeds the level of qualification required
The total rating for each criterion will be the percentage of weight x the score (1-5)

If the criterion is not used, select No Response. The total percentage should equal 100%. The TEAMS system does not calculate the total percentage selected.

Each criterion is assigned a weight to signify the level of importance in the overall selection. The choices are 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, or 25%.

The teams system has five pre-determined selection criteria and the option of adding two additional criteria designed specifically for the position.

The following are interviewing questions to ask the candidate as well as the basic criterion and interviewing tips for selecting a job candidate:
☛ The professional past of the candidate
☛ The technical aspects - professional skills
☛ The balance
☛ Initiator or a follower
☛ The attitude
☛ The answers
☛ Body language
☛ Documentation
☛ The salary
☛ The time-frame - (Availability)

The interview should make it a point to get a clear picture about the time-frame that they are looking at, in case they hire the interviewee. With a concrete time-frame in mind, the interviewer is free to decide and discuss about whether the potential candidate is the best person for the job at hand.

The salary is quite an integral part of the final decision whether the individual would join the organization. The salary also plays an integral part in the interviewer's decision whether the interviewee is perfect for the organization. Therefore, the interviewer should find out the expected salary of the interviewee, and also gauge whether the individual would bargain or negotiate about the salary.

The interviewer should make sure that all the documentation and formal information that might be needed for the quick process of hiring are presented and collected as soon as possible. Apart from the academic qualifications, the interviewer should also ask about any hobbies or extracurricular activities that the interviewer has taken part in.

If the interviewee has informed you about any references, allow the interviewee to speak about them. With this, you can get to cross check whatever the interviewee has informed you about them earlier. Also, you can also cross check these facts, later on when you give a call to the references. If the references that the interviewee has provided are his or her previous managers or colleagues, the interviewer should try to know the former-mutual-contact experiences.

While interviewing the individual, first make sure that you find out about the professional past of the person. Try to find out the interviewee's first job and other relevant details about his or her professional and personal life. You also want to verify his or her qualifications, education, courses and lessons.

Also, make sure that you set questions that will decide whether the interviewee is an initiator in his or her professional life or whether they are more of a follower. Also, your questions should aim to find out whether the candidate brings about any kind of individual assets to the company or whether the qualifications that they bring are more of a supportive kind.

Also, pay proper attention to the interviewee's body language. The body language of an individual goes a long way in informing you about many intricacies of the individual.

When it comes to the interview itself, make sure that you confirm the timings with the person who is appearing for the interview. Once a mutual timing is decided on, make sure that you get a confirmation via email before you make arrangements for the interview.

You may check his attitude toward important issues such as team work, communication capabilities, stressed situations, future plans, learning curve, motivations, dominancy and methods of work.
There are several other important aspects that one has to remember while interviewing a person.

After you have the information in place, make a list of all the individuals who are supposed to come for the interview, making a note of the times that they would be coming in, along with the questions that you are supposed to ask them. This goes a long way in helping you picture the candidate, long after the candidate is gone, and would help you in remembering any intricacy of the interview.

You should also check whether the interviewee is able to strike a balance between their personal and professional lives.

Below are the few tasks before the interviewing process in candidate's selection:
☛ The job requirements
☛ The resumes
☛ The interview time
☛ Candidates list
☛ Confirm the timings