Selection interview: 3 pitfalls to avoid

Recruitment is in full swing in certain industries, notably Quebec furniture manufacturing, food processing, information technology, retail trade, municipalities, and j ‘on the way.

The interview is an essential recruitment tool for selecting the best candidate according to the skills needs and values ​​of the company. This stage of your process, however, requires rigor and a certain finesse. What are the pitfalls to avoid?

Trap 1: Save on preparation

Great interviewers prepare before meeting their guests. This is true for hosts like Paul Arcand as well as talk show hosts like Oprah Winfrey. Are you doing it knowingly? Good preparation consists of analyzing the CV carefully in order to capture experiences and detect the elements on which you wish to obtain clarification and to prepare strategic selection questions. Don’t try to save time before the interview, you will instead save time during the meeting, in addition to obtaining precise answers on key elements.

Trap 2: Ask discriminatory questions

In order to avoid discriminatory questions, have your questionnaire revised by an approved human resources advisor. You can also take inspiration from this fabulous tool provided by the Commission human rights and the rights of youth. Beyond racist, sexist, generational and family issues, discrimination can manifest itself through unconscious bias and give a feeling of injustice to candidates. Using the same questionnaire for all candidates will reduce this perception.

Trap 3: Forgetting social desirability

According to the article by Cedrik Hached from Ad hoc research, we can define social desirability as “the psychological process, conscious or not, by which the individual tries to control his image in order to present himself in a favorable light to his interlocutors /em> »[1]. The candidate is in front of you, he wants the job. For a question such as: “Are you comfortable working overtime?” » the candidate may not give you the real answer, and you may get the answer you want. To get a frank answer, instead ask open-ended questions and clarifying sub-questions. In this case, ask him what his previous hours were, if his former employer made him work overtime, how often, under what conditions, etc. Then, ask him about his availability to work at your home, how many hours per week and at what time of day.