One key aspect of the interview process, especially the actual face-to-face, structured interview, is to properly describe the job that you are interviewing a candidate for.  Without this description, it will be difficult, even with outstanding interviewer skills and unbelievable interviewer techniques, to see how a candidate will respond to the demands of a job if they do not know anything about the job.  By describing a job properly to a candidate, the interview process and the hiring process will both be made easier.

There is nothing more important than a thorough job description and I’m not talking about the vague and generic job descriptions that managers normally think of when someone says the words, “job description.” I’m talking about a job description that provides a high level of specificity in the critical activities of the position and that documents the related performance expectation for each task. The steps for creating a detailed job description, which I refer to as a process-oriented job description, are identified in the program titled Employee Process Evaluation Program and can be found at http://www.hrcontrarian.com/processevaluation/. I recommend using the “Duties” tab of a process-oriented job description as a handout to review during a face-to-face interview with a candidate.

The Secrets to Hiring Success does not provide the details of how to create a process-oriented job description. If you have a job description for the position, you and members of the interview team should review it to ensure that you are all “on the same page” relative to the demands and expectations of the position.

Even though I recommend using a well written job description as a handout in an onsite interview, there are often specific goals that high level positions must achieve in the first year or two on the job that are not captured as routine responsibilities in a job description. I recommend that the hiring manager to whom the open position reports document these objectives on the following two worksheets:

1. Position Performance Objectives Year 1 & 2 – This worksheet is designed to document the specific objectives that the person filling this position must accomplish in year 1 and year 2 of the new job. This document provides a comprehensive overview of the major objectives of the position that the interview team can review before the interview and review with the candidate.
2. Position Performance Objectives Defined – This is a confidential worksheet that is completed by the hiring manager and shared with the other interviewers. This sheet is designed to document 20 critical issues that may impact the successful completion of each objective such as resources available, level of control, company financial constraints, pending regulations, problem employees, etc. The hiring manager responds to each one of these 20 issues in order to set realistic expectations for the new employee rather than “pie in the sky” objectives. For example, an objective for a new Vice President of Sales may be to increase revenue in the first year on the job by 10% over the previous year. However, issues that can impact this objective are (a) a pending labor strike in six months, (b) a liability lawsuit that has reduced orders from clients, and (c) the factory is currently failing to meet customer demand at the present sales level. These issues are important in that the person hired for the position should have the skill sets to deal with such contingencies and management needs to be willing to adjust any performance-based compensation for such situational constraints that are beyond the control of the VP of Sales.

The completion and review of both of the above worksheets will also be helpful as you, the hiring manager, complete the form, Position Behavior & Personal Values Assessment, because the behaviors and values of the position may have changed from the previous person who held the job. As a consultant who does recruiting for clients, I often run into situations where an ineffective executive is replaced and the next person who the organization wants to hire needs to spearhead a turnaround. The result is that the structured interview for a turnaround manager will be designed to elicit skills, behaviors, and values that are different than an interview of an executive who would be hired to maintain a well functioning operation.

Understanding how important a job description is is essential to interviewing.  In fact, this could be characterized as one of the most important interviewer skills and techniques that are available to learn or develop over time.  By allowing a candidate to see the demands of a job, any interviewer will be able to see how well a candidate will fit the role they are applying for.