Selection and Hiring Interviews

County Policy It is the policy of the County of Ventura to assure equal employment opportunity to its employees and applicants for employment on the basis of fitness and merit without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, disability, sex, or age. The County follows this policy in recruitment, hiring and promotion and with respect to matters of compensation, benefits, transfers, assignments, tours of duty, shifts, layoffs returns from layoff, demotions, terminations, training, education leave, social and recreational programs, and use of County facilities.

Fairness in the Workplace Equal Pay Act Civil Rights Acts Age Discrimination Act OSHA Pregnancy Discrimination Act Americans with Disability Act Family Medical Leave Act County policy complies with requirements of State and Federal law prohibiting discriminatory employment practices. These policies are operationalized in the selection and hiring process by insuring no selection procedure has an adverse impact on the hiring, promotion, or other employment or membership opportunities of “protected classes”, such as certain ethnic or minority groups, persons over the age of 40, or disabled persons.

When Does the Hiring Process Start? Hiring process starts long before the interviews; it starts when a hiring manager becomes aware they may have a vacancy. At this point, it is time to start thinking about the type of candidate you are seeking.… Work with personnel to insure the job posting, supplemental questions and exam process are appropriate.

Fast forward … Recruitment involves Specification Review Screening criteria set up Exam plan Job posting Supplemental Questions Actual recruitment Screening and testing This is what happens between the time the RTH is submitted and the list is certified…

Procedural Overview Once a recruitment is completed, a list of candidates are certified. Interviews are set up and completed Analysis and Summary sheets are sent to GSA HR indicating the selected candidate Hiring process is initiated Candidates and applications are sent to the hiring manager indicated on the request to hire. Candidates are notified to contact person setting up interviews. Hiring manager schedules interviews. Once done, candidate is selected/paperwork sent to GSA HR. Hiring process initiatiated…backgrounds etc.

List Certification When candidates are certified, they are either sent a letter or email informing them that their name as been certified. Candidates have ten (days) from the date of the letter or email to contact the person indicated in the letter. If you actively contact all candidates, you can set up and complete interviews in a more timely manner.

When should you start thinking about the upcoming interviews? ? ? ? ? ? ? When should you start thinking about the upcoming interviews?

Interview Preparation Plan so that you will be able to collect the information you need. Review the job posting or description Develop questions that relate to the job specifications and are predictive of, or significantly correlated with important elements of job performance Determine who should participate in conducting the interview

Interview Goals Develop an accurate picture of the job and communicate that to each applicant Create the accurate picture of GSA that will make your top candidates want to work for you. Collect enough information on each applicant to make an informed decision

Goals, continued Determine a candidate’s qualifications and general character, in relation to the job Expose undesirable traits Clarify information Reveal inconsistencies

Interview Question Development Prepare questions that relate to the necessary knowledge, skills, and ability required Review job spec for elements that point to the need for communication skills and getting along with others Make sure you have a question or questions that address the issue of working with others. Refer to handout

The Interview Introductions Describe job, work setting, schedule and possible schedule variances Describe any special background investigation requirements, such as probation, DA, and/or Sheriff’s Briefly describe what will be covered — job experience, education, situational questions

Interview, cont. Ask all candidates the same set of questions Candidates who bring up issues of marital/familial status, race, ethnicity, or issued related to disability should be directed to other topics; the selection is to be based on the most qualified candidate for the job

Interview, cont. Each interviewer must the complete the Analysis Sheet for each candidate Make notes related job qualifications Avoid doodling or making extraneous comments in notes Completing the form means entering their name and the candidate’s name. Interview analysis sheets are part of the record of hiring and selection and, as such, can be subpoenaed in a legal action. (turkey story)

Interview, cont. Close the interview by repeating vital information, such as the need to the successful candidate to pass special background investigations, possess certain licenses, or work various shifts. It would be useful to include these “advisories” with the hiring and selection paperwork returned to GSA Personnel since this type of documentation is important in the event an employee initiated an action based on “when they hired me they didn’t tell me…” scenario.

After the Interviews… Review the interview findings Insure the analysis sheets are completely filled in Discuss, if applicable, interview findings Perform reference checks for top candidate In general, the interview practice in the county is to have 2 or 3 individuals on a panel.

Complete the Interview Summary Indicate the top candidate and alternate choices, if applicable. Note the job related reasons for your selection. A JOB RELATED reason must be given for not selecting each candidate. Job related…related to the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to do the job well.

Examples of Job Related Reasons for Non-selection Poor responses to situational questions Has no background in…. Could not describe…. Does not know…. Not as experienced in…as desired Could not answer several questions in the interview Unfamiliar with…. Illicit suggestions from the audience…

A Word on “Personality and Fit” Is “personality and fit” a job requirement? How is this referenced in the job specification and/or job posting? What interview responses led you to believe the candidate would or would not work well within the environment. It is critical to remember that the decision to pass over a candidate needs to be directly related to the requirements of the job as described in the job spec or job posting. Must “work with”, “may be required to direct others”, “assist with training employees” all point to the issue of personality and fit. Job related situational questions “How would you handle….” can be useful, job related methods to help determine a candidate’s ability to perform in a job. Tread carefully due to potential for unintentional discriminatory actions.

Questions?