'If You Were a Dessert ...' and Other 'Great' Interview Questions

Today's HR Daily Advisor Tip:
'If You Were a Dessert ...' and Other 'Great' Interview Questions

Topic: Hiring and Recruiting
Yesterday's Advisor focused on proper interview questions. Today, attorneys Sandra Rappaport and Mike Moye tackle more interview challenges, and introduce the key role of job descriptions.


Your interview plan should focus on eliciting information about a candidate's performance and experience, says Rappaport. Use open-ended questions rather than those that simply require a yes or no response. And, Moye advises, stay away from inquiries that could take you off topic. For example, "If you were a dessert, what dessert would you be?"

Mike Moye and Sandra Rappaport shared their tips with attendees at the Employer Resource Institute's recent California Employment Law Update conference. Moye and Rappaport are partners at the San Francisco office of law firm Hanson Bridgett LLP.

Rappaport says employers should make sure managers are trained on the interview plan and ask the same questions of all applicants for the job. With multiple interviewers, plan what area each interviewer will cover.
'The Old Guy in the Wheelchair'

Give managers a question template to follow, along with a score sheet to keep track of applicant responses. (Also, train managers to write only job-related notes on those sheets. No little memory joggers like "the heavy-set Hispanic woman" or "the old guy in the wheelchair.")

The good news is that there's an added benefit to having a consistent plan: You'll have an easier time comparing applicants when it comes time to make your selection decision, and your decision will be readily defensible, should the need arise.
Detailed, Updated Job Descriptions

And, finally, says Rappaport, make sure you have detailed job descriptions, and that you keep them updated. Then you can tailor interview questions to gather the information you'll need to determine whether a job candidate meets the qualifications specified in the job description.

Job descriptions can also be an indispensable aid for ensuring that you comply with a variety of federal and state laws and regulations, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). But your organization will not reap these benefits if your job descriptions aren't properly drafted.

Set that keyboard aside! Your job descriptions are already written. See why thousands have a permanent place in their offices for BLR's classic Job Descriptions Encyclopedia. Try it at no cost or risk.

What's the state of your organization's job descriptions? Up to date? Accurate? ADA-compatible? Good work! However, if you are not so sure that your job descriptions are as well executed as they should be (or if you've never even written them), you're not alone. Thousands of companies fall short in this area.

It's easy to understand why. Writing job descriptions is not quick or easy—what with updating and management and legal review, and accommodating the ADA's requirement of a split off of essential vs. other functions in the description. Wouldn't it be great if they were available, already written?

Actually, they are. We have over 500, ready to go, covering every common position in any organization, from receptionist right up to president. They are in an extremely popular BLR program called Job Descriptions Encyclopedia.

First created in the 1980s, the JDE has been constantly refined and updated over time, with descriptions revised or added each time the law, technology, or the way we do business, changes.

Prewritten job descriptions in the Job Descriptions Encyclopedia come with pay grades already attached. Try the program at no cost. Find out more.
Revised for the ADA, Pay Grades Added

There was a major revision, for example, following the passage of the ADA. In fact, BLR editors took every one of those 500 descriptions apart and reassembled them to be ADA-compliant.

Another, more recent addition was that of pay grades for each job, based on BLR's extensive annual surveys of exempt and nonexempt compensation and on other data. According to our customers, this is an enormous timesaver, enabling them to make compensation decisions even as they define the position. You can see a sample job description from the program by clicking here. (Yes, it is the one for HR manager. Pay grade: 38.)

The BLR Job Descriptions Encyclopedia also includes an extensive tutorial on setting up a complete job descriptions program, and how to encourage participation from all parts of the organization. That includes top management, the employees, and any union or other collective bargaining entity.
Quarterly Updates, No Additional Cost

Very important these days, quarterly updates are included in the program as a standard feature—key at a time of constantly changing laws and emerging technologies. We'll send you new or revised descriptions every 90 days. And the cost is extremely reasonable, averaging less than 66 cents per job description ... already written, legally reviewed, and ready to adapt or use as is.