I've got a great problem...

[Hellgate]

I'm interviewing 14 people this week to fill three positions. Then next month I do it all over again to hire one more! It is a total pain in the ass, as mountains of paper work are required in a 32 step process. Seriously.

It is so cool to hear the thrill in people voices as I explain to them who I am and I'd like to schedule an interview with them.

The hard part is there are SO many well qualified people, the good thing is there are so many well qualified people.

 

[ELIZABETH]

Best of luck in picking out the cream of the crop!! :thumbup:

 

[nextfriday]

nice to hear of someone on the "hiring" side of the ball with energy in his voice, albiet some concern too, regarding hiring situations in this country. As i'm one of the unfortunate boners on the other side of the ball, also with some nervous energy aaaaaand sometimes anger. :thumbup: Riding has made my situation all the more tolerable though!

 

[DefyInertia]

You can't (perhaps are not allowed to) narrow it down more BEFORE you get to the actual interviews? Sounds like a huge waste of everyones' time. Well, except one persons! A 14 to 1 ratio for the actual interview is crazyness.

EDIT...you said three, not one. doh! I guess that is not that bad. All the same position?

How will the offer/no offer process be administered?

 

[krid80]

I have no idea what business you are in, but it has been my experience (i was previously a retail manager) that if there is direct customer interaction, sex appeal is a huge factor. Customer service issues are always easier to resolve if the employee is more like "Kate Beckinsale" and less like a troll. Of course it isn't recommended to hire someone unqualified just because they are gorgeous (usually :thumbup: ) but on a level playing field, people prefer pretty people.

 

[Hellgate]

Oh I've been narrowing down. Keep in mind I work of the State so there are very formal rules that apply. There is also a thing called Open Records Request, in other words a person can request a copy all of the work that I've done during the selection process.

Here's the numbers:

121 applied, 59 are "qualified", per State rules ALL 59 have to be interviewed unless I apply a secondary screen criteria. So I developed five attributes that are key to the job and assign a point catagory to each of them. Then I wade through all 59 applications and score each applicant. Then I look for the "natural cutoff" in the scores. The result was pretty bell curved. In this case it was 15. One person I'm unable to contact hence 14 to interview.

During the interview process there is a set of questions that have to be approved by HR prior to beginning the interviews. That way each person is presented the same questions and the process is considered fair. Each question has a point value and depending on how they answer each question they receive X number of points. The people with the highest point totals are extended an offer. If they accept then the back gorund screening process begins. If a person is not selected HR will notify them.

Yes these are all for the same position, Legal Assistant/Paralegal. I have had a wave of retirements, some planned, some not planned, but all good if you know what I mean.

When I've hired in the past I've only had 4 to 5 applicants. In this case I have a nice mix of people; some with 20 years experiance, others with 3 to 5 years, all appear to be very good, at least on paper.

You can't (perhaps are not allowed to) narrow it down more BEFORE you get to the actual interviews? Sounds like a huge waste of everyones' time. Well, except one persons! A 14 to 1 ratio for the actual interview is crazyness.

EDIT...you said three, not one. doh! I guess that is not that bad. All the same position?

How will the offer/no offer process be administered?

 

[Hellgate]

Nope can't do that. As much as I like Kate Beckinsale she probably wouldn't make the cut.

While the skills, knowledge, and ability are important I'm also looking for personality and who I think they'll fit into the group. Group dynamic is very important in this job.

I have no idea what business you are in, but it has been my experience (i was previously a retail manager) that if there is direct customer interaction, sex appeal is a huge factor. Customer service issues are always easier to resolve if the employee is more like "Kate Beckinsale" and less like a troll. Of course it isn't recommended to hire someone unqualified just because they are gorgeous (usually :thumbup: ) but on a level playing field, people prefer pretty people.

 

[grommit]

I always think it is harder to interview than be interviewed.

I have sat on many interview panels and had people work directly for me as a result, and most of them turned out to be different from the person at the interview, usually in a good way.

 

[Hellgate]

I always think it is harder to interview than be interviewed.

I have sat on many interview panels and had people work directly for me as a result, and most of them turned out to be different from the person at the interview, usually in a good way.

That is true. I hired a temp receptionist once who was great in the interview and ended up being the Wicked Witch of the West! She was insane.