THE ROLES OF AN INTERVIEWER
Arrive there early enough to enable you check all the preparations made; and make new preparations or adjustments as well as welcome interviewee(s) and interviewer(s).
Check those necessary papers on the tables in front of each interviewer including possible questions quidelines as to what you are looking for in a candidate.
Distribute assessment sheets for interviewers with rating guide (1-10:poor-excellent or vice versa) and give a brief talk on what you are looking for in the interviewees. Tell them the nature of the job and its requirement as well as criteria for scores. Excellent 9&10;Very Good 7&8;Good 6;Average5; Poor 4-1.
Welcome interviewees with smiles, jokes and enthusiasm to waiting room. Provide them with reading materials and snacks if affordable.
Welcome interviewers and remind them why they have been invited; also what your organization is looking for in the interviewee(s).
Remind Chairman about starting and possibly closing time.
Invite interviewees either to conference interview or personal interview. If conference interview, ask them to rate each other
Introduce the interviewers and let the interviewee introduce himself.
Tell him of the reason for the interview.
State the issues involved, what you are assessing and assure interviewee of fairness. Tell him to clarify issues when necessary. Tell him to ask questions when not clear.
Ask relevant questions. Do not put pressure on the interviewee to say yes or No. Do not intimidate him. Don’t make prejudicial statements.
Allow interviewee to speak and act all the time by using open-ended questions.
Test emotions by politely insulting e.g. All Boy High School students are area boys.
Check his reaction e.g. Aggressive; Submissive;Insultive; Defensive, Assertive.
Test team building
Test Time Management (Punctuality)
Test endurance
Be considerate, courteous and polite.
Listen attentively too to the interviewee.
Be brief.
Avoid interruption-e.g. From phones and visitors etc.
Serve snacks/water etc.as may be appropriate in time and venue to interviewees and interviewers.
Put in a word if you find lapses.
Remind Chairman about time management from time to time.
In concluding, ask the interviewee if there is any issue on which he would like to ask questions.
List out core competence requirements:(a) Qualification (b) Experience (c) Networking (d) Competence (e) Personality (f) Language (Accent) (g) Tribal affiliation (h) Dressing (i) Emotions (j) Team-working (k) Punctuality (l) Creativity + ingenuity (m) Interactive (n) Resourcefulness (o) Negotiation Skills.
Close the interview by thanking him/her for attending.
Wish him/her good luck/well.
Tell him/her he/she would hear from you soon.
If necessary, see him to the door.
At the end of each session with an interviewee, ask interviewers to compare notes and agree on scores and, opinion. Then record the scores in your summary sheet.
At the end of the interview, sum up the scores and grade. Find the average of scores awarded by interviewers for each interviewee.
Rate the interviewees and announce in order of mediocrity not seniority until you get the highest score. This is to create suspense.
Thank the interviewers and pay their honouraria;or take them to lunch as may have been pre-arranged.
If you have to announce results on the spot to interviewees, announce from the lowest to the highest score. Flatter them that they have all done well but that in all competitions, some must win.
ATTENDING AN INTERVIEW
Read the letter of invitation at least thrice to ascertain date, venue, time and
What you are required to bring along.
Enter the appointment in your diary organizer.
Find out about the organization either by paying a personal visit to the organization or by logging to the Internet for information.
Get your dress, certificates and other requirements packed in only one place. Do not forget writing stationery like pen and paper. It may include notebook or laptop. You need your call cards.
Go back and read the original advertisement to which you applied; and study the schedules advertised as well as the personal qualities required. Find answers to the issued raised.
Study your CV and application, and see if there are loopholes or unaccounted for periods. Find answers for them.
Draw up possible interview questions and find answers to them. Such questions should include case studies. You may even dramatize/rehearse them with your spouse and friends. The essence of these is to get self-confident because without self-confidence, any boardroom can intimidate you and make you panic or nervous.
On the interview date, leave home as early as you can so that you can arrive at the venue if not early, at least on time. You must not get there a second late whatever the excuse or environmental condition may be. In cities for example, you must be conscious of traffic congestion particularly at rush period when workers are resuming work in the morning. Take a reading material with you.
You must also be as neat and clean, as possible. If you have to take a mass transit bus, you can package your formal dress in a suitcase and come to wear it in the premises of the organization or somewhere nearby. You can always find aplace.
Ensure that you are formally dressed in continental or African dress.
Ensure that you register your name and the time of arrival, if a sheet has been so provided. The order of arrival may be the order of interview. If no registration procedure is provided for at the reception, walk up to the person who signed the letter of invitation for interview with politeness and courtesy to announce your arrival.
Be full of smiles and confidence. Do not stay aloof from others. You can even initiate a discussion based on the headlines or articles in the national dailies. Share felicitations with all fellow interviewees. You are not at war. Distribute your call card, and ask for theirs. This may even intimidate them and throw them off balance.
When you are called in, acknowledge your salutation, salute the panelist as the time of the day dicate. Look the chairman in the face.
Sit in an upright position. Don’t learn on the table even if you are tired.
You will normally be required to introduce yourself. Announce your, name, your current position, your qualifications and work experience in not more than five minutes. If you’ve won awards and prizes, be it local, national or international, ensure that they are proudly announced. Display the plaque or object of honour. It is not likely that the panelist will be interested in your being a graduate but that you made a 1”class or an upper second or that you won the departmental, faculty or vice chancellor’s prize for the best athlete or all-round students or the university goal-keeper or football captain. Those are things that make you different from others. That is what you should street.
Don’t’ mention your areas of failure but sell your assets rather than bemoan your liabilities.
Answer the questions as concise as possible. When answering the questions, look at the interviewer asking the question straight in the face. That shows self-confidence. If you have an evidence to support your answer, show it. It may be a picture or commendation letter or even pay slip. You may even show a slide on your laptop if need be.
If they ask you what remunerations you will like to earn, your reply should be “afford-ability, regularity, fairness and performance.” You may ask for too much or too low.
After the interviewers have finished asking questions, just ask a question even if it is a hypothetical case. For example “What kind of policy does the company operate with regards to advancement?” “Is it usually based on performance, effectiveness, years of service, staff development, acquisition of more enhancement skills or paper qualification, acquisition of higher academic certificates or even parallel degrees?” It may even be, “How soon shall l know the result of this interview?”
As the panel dismisses you, thank them for the advantage to showcase yourself because you may not necessarily get the job but one of the panelists may offer you
something comparable or higher as a result of the exuberant confidence.
Ask the panelist to permit you to give them your call card in case they may need your service at another level either as a group or as individuals. They would oblige you.
Even if you noticed anything wrong, do not discuss anything with your co-interviewees. If they ask you questions about the nature of questions asked by interviewers, dismiss them with “The usual interview question; nothing “unusual”. Then switch on quickly to another topic and take your leave of them if you do not have to wait for the result. If you have to, read newspapers and prepare your mind for negotiations on remunerations if that was not earlier discussed.
If after sometime you have not heard from the organization, please phone or call to find out how you performed. You have not committed any crime. If eventually, you do not succeed at that interview, do not be discouraged. Keep watching for opportunities. Every interview creates its unique experience.
courtsy: articlesbase.com
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