Page 153 - Becoming a Successful Manager

144 BUILDING ON YOUR FOUNDATION

questions to the precise set of skills that the position requires will
keep the interview from straying off target.
Keep questions geared to the requirements you articulated,
and don’t be satisfi ed with superfi cial comments. To get at the
information you need, you have to probe deeply without coming
across as an interrogator. Incorporate the questioning skills you’ve
learned, and remember to take advantage of all of the appropriate
techniques, including open questions, closed questions, probes,
echoes, and follow-up questions. When you ask for and receive
detailed examples of stated accomplishments, you will be more
comfortable with your fi nal hiring decision.

From Able to Willing

The interview will also help you determine if the applicant is will-
ing to fulfi ll the responsibilities of the job. Unlike the tangible abil-
ities, these are intangible personal qualities and are a little more

difficult to pin down. How willing is the applicant to take charge,

study, and learn new skills? Is the person flexible? Is the person
a self-starter? Will he or she share information? Can he or she
accept correction and direction? Will the applicant go the extra
mile, help co-workers, take responsibility, and show initiative?
The answers to these questions are often gleaned from more
pointed questions about the applicant’s job experience. This is a
time in which the active listening skills you developed in Chap-
ter 8 will come in handy. You will be able to read and interpret
clues that indicate if the candidate possesses the intangible will-
ing skills that make for a good hire. For example, the candidate’s
description of skills learned in a previous job can disclose how
little or how much the person grew in his or her previous position.
If the candidate asks about training programs and schedules for
training, this suggests a desire to continue to learn and lack of