Posts Tagged ‘interview’
More and more companies now are opting for this method of finding new recruits, doing group interviews. It can save a company time and money by getting all the short listed candidates into a room, go over the company, what the role will be, what the terms and conditions are and perhaps even what the remuneration is going to be. It all sounds great in theory but in practice, I think it’s a totally different matter. I’m a great believer in managers trying out new methods to save time and money for the company they work for but when it comes to group interviews, there are a few minor things you should consider before adopting the method for your next round of recruitment.
I recently attended a couple of these types of interviews just to see how they worked these days. The first thing I noticed that neither company told me it was going to be a group interview. One company was even so impersonal that they set up the appointments via email and got you to log into their system and pick a time and date that suited you. When I got there, I was asked to fill out a form with my details which is ok but then as I read through the form (it was more like a booklet to be honest) it said that the first 30 minutes is spent filling out this questionnaire with truck loads of maths questions, word questions and puzzles. Then it was going to be a group interview for a further 30 minutes. Hmmm. Not what I was expecting at all as I’m sure many others weren’t either judging by by the puzzled expressions on their faces. This one had a fairly large group to boot. He went through the company, the job and advancement possibilities and so on. A few people walked out when they were told what the remuneration was.
The second one I went to was similar except no quizzes to waste my time. We all went into a meeting room, listened to the recruitment manager go on about the company, the job, advancement opportunities and then the let the cat out of the bag. It was a commission only based position. In the job ad online it said it was a salary position. One candidate got a bit annoyed at the waste of his time and stormed out. The rest of the group were younger so they were a little more mild mannered about it all.
However, there are a few points to keep in mind here if you as a manager, or anyone else in your company decides to do group interviews in the future. Tell the truth and be upfront! I cannot stress this enough. No one who is going through the stress of looking for work wants to go on any type of interview that’s going to waste their time. In your advertising, be honest about the type of pay it is and what they are expected to do. Never ever say that it’s a salary when it’s commission only. Not only is that wasting peoples time but it is also misleading and it’s also very illegal. Another thing would be that if you are going to do group interviews, please let people know when you shortlist them so they can decide if they want to attend one or not. Not everyone likes them as they are quite impersonal. When you conduct a group interview, try and make it as short and sweet as possible and be interesting and informative in your presentation. Tell it how it is and then if people want to know more, they will ask and if you chose people after for a second interview, at least they are going to be decent candidates who know the score with what’s on offer.
Group interviews have their place in the corporate culture but they are not for every type of job vacancy. The last thing you would do is do a group interview for a new CEO f the company. Try and keep them short and sweet, be upfront with how it’s going to run before you get people to come into the office and above all else, be honest from the start.
Posted in Management Articles For Managers | Tags: group interview, group interviews, interview, interviews | 
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