how to interview long-winded job candidates who won’t stop talking by Alison Green on April 30, 2015 A reader writes: While I try to be understanding of job candidates who give 5-minute responses to several interview questions that should never ever take that long to answer, I just can’t get past it, and it makes me want to fidget uncomfortably. Would it be rude to phrase the first question with, “In 90 […] Read the full article →
how to spot job candidates who will have attendance problems by Alison Green on April 17, 2015 A reader writes: Do you have suggestions on how to screen for employees who will have absenteeism problems and not show up for work? I work in a call center. Most of the folks we hire know what that type of environment is. And yet we still end up terminating people on a regular basis […] Read the full article →
how to handle an overly persistent job applicant by Alison Green on April 1, 2015 A reader writes: I’m an HR manager at a small hotel of about 200 employees. I have a job applicant who calls and leaves me messages every single day. He is applying for one of the positions I posted and he appeared qualified. I was able to quickly review his application form prior to his messages […] Read the full article →
should you give job candidates the interview questions ahead of time? by Alison Green on March 26, 2015 A reader writes: I searched on your site and saw you have given examples of common questions interviewers ask. However, while a candidate can prepare for those types of questions, for situational interview questions it’s tough for them to come up with answers when I’m asking them to draw on their experience and give me […] Read the full article →
when a job candidate asks, “so, what did you think of me?” by Alison Green on March 24, 2015 A reader writes: I had a weird situation today when interviewing a candidate and I was hoping to get your read on the situation. At the end of the interview, he asked us for an on-the-spot evaluation. I forget exactly how he worded it, but something like “What do you think of me so far?” […] Read the full article →
do you really need to send rejections to candidates who you’re not even interviewing? by Alison Green on March 18, 2015 A reader writes: I work in a small office and I recently hired someone for a general admin position. I’m in an industry that’s really hard to break into, so I got a lot of resumes quickly. After I reached a few hundred applicants and had found at least 15-20 who I thought would be […] Read the full article →
how to handle a hostile new hire — and candidates with identical interview answers by Alison Green on March 17, 2015 A reader writes: I am a low-level supervisor, and I’m on the hiring committee for our entry-level contract positions. Our process is a skills test, followed by an interview for those who pass. People who get past the interview are either hired immediately or put into a list of people to call when a new […] Read the full article →
realizing you want to reject a job candidate after already inviting them to interview by Alison Green on February 17, 2015 A reader writes: I am new to the hiring process, on the employer side, and want to make sure I am following proper (and legal) etiquette. Is it appropriate to reject applicants based on email responses to an interview invitation? After narrowing the applicant pool, I sent emails to qualified applicants requesting an interview. Resumes […] Read the full article →
employers want workers who they don’t have to train by Alison Green on January 28, 2015 The Washington Post has a great piece from Peter Cappelli about how the “skills shortage” that people like to blame on schools (and on college students’ choice of focus in their studies) is BS … and that the real issue is that employers just don’t want to train people anymore. He rightly points out that the argument […] Read the full article →
why can’t I keep this position filled? by Alison Green on November 10, 2014 A reader writes: I have recently been through a string of people I’ve hired (three in a row) who have abandoned their job: no call no show, within the first two to three weeks. I know one left for a higher paying position. The other two did not have other jobs lined up that I […] Read the full article →