Job Interview HR Perspective- Selecting the right candidates
Human resources are the most important requirement and the mainstay of any organization. Employees of a company are their biggest asset. Be it a sales person in the sales team or a worker in the manufacturing unit or the accountant responsible for managing the finances of a company, each employee plays a pivotal role in fulfilling the requirements and attaining the objectives of the company. Thus, for any company, it becomes extremely essential to hire the right employees for the right job even if it’s a new candidate or a part of succession planning. The responsibility of making sure the correct individual is hired for the right job, rests in the hands of the HR head of the company. Therefore, the interview process conducted by the HR is decisive in understanding, evaluating and selecting the right candidate.
A job interview is the process, where the HR or a senior employee from an organization interviews, evaluates and understands a candidate, who is interested in becoming a part of the organization. Interviews give the interviewer i.e. the HR a very little time to analyze and assess the pros and cons of the candidate. An HR of a company is delegated with the responsibility of selecting the right person for the right job the right time with the right attitude. The interview process can be understood by basic steps.
The first step of the interview process requires the HR to go through the resumes and CV’s of the candidates who have applied for the particular post. The HR must thoroughly understand the job requirements and must keep the job profile in mind when going through the CV’s. HR’s should give the education qualifications a priority but they must also consider the other aspects like extra-curricular activities, awards & recognition, participation levels and any other experience. HR’s must try to recognize candidates through the CVs, who can contribute more in terms of value to the organization and that can be understood if the candidate has a dynamic and overall good personality.
Once the first set of selection is done by short-listing candidates on the basis of candidate resumes, HR’s can opt for other methods of funneling down the number of candidates. Group discussions, management and leadership games, quizzes, mental ability tests, psychometric tests etc are some the responsibilities which an HR must conduct in order to decide the candidates who could be selected for the interview and should be a part of HR planning.
The most important step is the interview of the candidate. Interviews enable the interviewer to have a conversation with the interviewee, which helps him assess the applicant’s communication skills, personality, ability to think quickly, self confidence etc. Also HR’s can understand the candidates view points on social issues, career goals, personal experiences etc. Apart from understanding the personality of the interviewee, the HR must test the candidate’s knowledge & skills by giving instances real-life situations in which the candidate would be if he is entrusted with the responsibility of the job profile. Once all the candidates are interviewed, then the selected candidate can be taken on board in the company.
Employees form the backbone of any company. If a bad employee is hired, it can backfire as it would affect the company as it would have spent money on training costs, incentives, loss of productivity etc without much value addition from the wrong candidate. Thus, it becomes indispensable for the HR to conduct an effective interview process, and select the best person to fill in the vacancy.
