The Worst Job Interview Questions
Anyone who has interviewed for a new job has likely encountered an awkward moment or two. Some awkwardness, like there being no one at the reception area to greet you, is short-lived and can be overcome fairly easy. But sometimes the awkwardness is baked into the job interview, like when the hiring manager asks a candidate to name his “spirit animal.” In this post, we’ll focus on bad job interview questions (or cheesy ones) that can repulse top talent.
The Worst Job Interview Questions I’ve Been Asked…
One of the secrets to effective hiring is to ask candidates the right job-relevant, probing questions, but it’s also helpful to know which questions to avoid. Aside from avoiding the obvious illegal questions, we surveyed over 70 HR professionals and asked them to share the most ridiculous questions that they’ve encountered personally. Here are the best…err worst.
- “I’m reading a newspaper about you, what is the headline?” – Mike Brooks, HR Director at National Business Furniture
- “What is your favorite flavor of yogurt?” – Tricia Casey, Talent Manager at Briljent
- When interviewed by a professional HR person at a state university, I was asked: ‘in your life what comes first…work, family or God?’ The woman next to her on the panel kicked her shin under the table.” – Don Crankshaw, Organizational Development Officer
- “What music is on your iPod?” – Anonymous
- “Draw your favorite cartoon character.” – Kristie Holmes, HR Manager at VeriFacts Automotive
- “‘Are you from a large family or a small family?’ Seriously! My response: who tends to do better in this role, people from big families or people from small families?” – Anonymous
- “What movie most resembles your life?” – Anonymous
- “Did you play sports?” – Anonymous
- “Do you have a jewelry box? If so, what’s in it?” – Anonymous
- “What is your personal motto?” – Anonymous
- “What do your parents do for a living?”– Anonymous
- “For a Director role: ‘Since you are a woman with two kids in your household, how can you assure me you can pull that off in combination with this high demanding job we have here?’” – Ingrid Waghemans, HR Director
- “Would you like this office to be yours someday?” – Terri Wiksten, VP of Marketing
- “If you won the lottery what would you do?” – Anonymous
- “Why did you wear the outfit you are wearing today to this interview?” – Anonymous
- “How many days per year do you plan to take off?” – Doug Craven, Senior Onboarding Coordinator at Citrix Human Resources Shared Services
“If You Could Be A…”
- “If you could be any dessert, which one would you be and why? (This was a small advertising agency–probably trying to be creative.)” – Jessica Stephenson, VP of Marketing and Talent at ExactHire
- “If you were a bird, how high would you fly and why?” – Jim Carwardine, President at Omnia
- “If you were a bicycle – what part would you be?” – Riann Decesaris, Salary and Benefits Coordinator
- “If you were an animal what animal would you be and why?” – Anonymous
- “If you were a dog, which breed would you be and why?” – Jeannette Hamilton, Business Support Specialist at EPIC Aviation, LLC dba EPIC Fuels
- “If you were a color, what color would you be and why?” – Niki Suazo, Owner in fitness industry
And Honorable Mention Goes To…The Candidates!
- “The worst interview question I’ve had to ask was during an interview with a co-op student when he commented that we didn’t have a TV in our company break room. I asked, ‘Is that a deal breaker?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ – He didn’t get the job.” – Steve Browne, Executive Director of HR
- “When do I get vacation time off? …As one of the first questions. – Anonymous
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Standard Questions For A Job Application
When approaching your employment application design, it can be helpful to divide questions into two categories: standard and job-specific. Standard questions are asked of all applicants, regardless of the job selected. Whereas, different sets of job-specific screening questions are presented to candidates based on the jobs to which they choose to apply. In this post, I will discuss the standard questions.
Standard Questions | Employment Application
First off, it’s always a good idea to have in-house counsel or your employment attorney review your employment application to ensure its compliance with local, state and federal restrictions on permissible questions. For example, some states and municipalities have introduced laws that impact whether you can ask about criminal (“ban the box”) and/or salary history. If you employ individuals in more than one state, you may need to have different application versions for different states.
Your attorney can also advise you on whether you need to heed any industry-specific requirements, or include voluntary self-disclosure sections for applicants related to Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Planning reporting requirements.
Aside from collecting information about previous employment and education, here are some specific questions to capture other “need-to-know” details at this early stage in the employment screening process.
Have you applied here previously? If so, when?
Are you over 18 years old?
Are you eligible to work in the U.S.?
Will you require relocation assistance?
If hired, do you have reliable transportation to and from work each day?
Do you have a valid driver’s license?
Are you willing to work across multiple locations (travel involved)?
If you are willing to relocate, please cite areas of preference.
How did you hear about this position? If employee referral, who?
What days and hours are you available to work?
What is the highest level of education you have?
Special Circumstances
Do you require or will you require a work authorization?
Are there any legal barriers that would prevent you from obtaining a level one fingerprint clearance card?
Essay Question Ideas
Remember to be selective with the number of text box questions you ask–too many and your potential applicants will abandon the process. Consider whether applicants can auto-populate resume data from LinkedIn or Indeed to save time on application completion when considering your question length and total volume of questions. If available, investigate analytics for your recruiting software to discover your application abandonment rate as well as the number of applicants who complete submissions from mobile devices, too.
What can your manager do to help you be successful?
Tell me about the best supervisor you have ever had and why they were the best. No names please.
What traits do you seek in an effective supervisor?
Think of the worst boss you ever had. Why didn’t you care for his or her management style?
What is your primary reason for wanting to change jobs?
Do you work better alone or on a team?
Describe a time when you were disappointed at work. How did you handle it?
What part of your current or most recent role do/did you enjoy the most?
Why should our organization hire you?
Why do you want to work at [INSERT ORG. NAME HERE]?
What are some of the things you value most from an employer?
What factors do you consider the most important to you in your next job?
What did you like the most and the least about your most recent position?
Describe in detail the one or two accomplishments for which you have the most passion.
Give me an example how you have acted with [INSERT VALUE/TRAIT HERE] at one of your previous jobs?
The questions that work for your organization will of course depend on the requirements of the position. Include as many required multiple-choice or yes/no drop-down boxes as possible to vet candidates consistently and save time on initial screening.
Image credit: What? 
by Veronique Debord (contact)
18 Onboarding Ideas Especially Suited to Part-Time Employees
In this era of increasing instances of flexible work arrangements, many employers find that an increasingly larger percentage of their workforce is comprised of part-time employees, specifically. In fact, part-time might mean anything from a periodic five to ten hours per week up to thirty hours based on the feedback I receive from peers in HR who strive to compete for talent by offering work schedules that accommodate greater balance between work and personal life.
As we shift to putting a greater emphasis on better serving part-time teammates, don’t forget to account for how their needs may be slightly different than those of full-time employees during the employee onboarding process. In this blog, and with the help of some of my human resources friends, we’ll explore eighteen ideas for rolling out the onboarding red carpet for your newly-hired part-time employees. Some tips will present a solid plan of action for engaging “part-timers” specifically, while others are best practices for onboarding all types of employees.
1 – Avoid overwhelming part-time employees
Don’t make part-time new hires “drink from the firehose” during training by overwhelming them with too much material too early. Remember, they may be on the job only half the time you are (assuming you work full-time) and so will have half as much time to absorb new content.
2 – Be supportive of self-study
Build in blocks of self-study or skills practice time within the first few weeks of the new hire’s employment tenure. Have pre-determined study or hands-on projects ready for them to tackle during the training process.
3 – Take care with time sheets
Since your part-time employees are classified as non-exempt, clearly explain the process for submitting a time sheet and make sure they have reminders scheduled to turn them in promptly.
4 – Prepare with pre-boarding
According to Linda Dausend, Consultant and Account Lead for FlashPoint Leadership Consulting, the “pre-boarding” process is just as important as the onboarding process. Pre-boarding includes:
- sending a new part-timer a welcome kit at home–perhaps include a flash drive with a welcome video;
- having a coffee meeting prior to the start date;
- setting up the new hire’s desk, computer, and ordering business cards;
- notifying your team of existing employees and asking them to sign a welcome card; and,
- scheduling a session to officially welcome the new part-time hire during a time frame that falls within his/her work hours.
5 – Set expectations for special events
If your organization occasionally schedules optional learning or social events during lunch or a part-time employee’s regular work hours, make sure to set expectations with that new hire about whether he should consider that event part of his work time. For example, at ExactHire we have a few part-time employees, and we encourage them to join us at events such as our annual lunch outings to the Indiana State Fair or the downtown Indy Strawberry Festival on the Circle.
6 – Make use of mentors
Bradley Galin, President and Principal Consultant for Allegro HR, advises employers to assign a mentor to newly hired employees so they have someone to ask those questions that they may not want to ask the supervisor. When possible, assign a mentor who is either doing the same job as the new hire or someone who has done the job previously.
Don’t discount the importance of pairing a part-time new hire with a mentor or guide to help him get going. This may be even more important for part-time hires relative to full-timers, since they likely need a longer period of time to get to know other team members. Having a mentor gives them a consistent point of contact while they’re getting familiar with everyone. William Dykstra, Regional Talent Acquisition Consultant III and Officer at a large banking institution, says that most of the departments for which he recruits have a peer mentor paired with a new hire for the first 90 days of employment.
7 – Proactive paperwork
Dykstra also indicates that it’s helpful for employers to have new hires complete traditional employment paperwork prior to the start date. That way they can focus on learning the job on the first day instead of doing tedious paperwork.
ExactHire’s OnboardCentric employee onboarding software makes the forms, documents and tasks associated with employee onboarding paperless.
8 – Be clear about benefits
Bradley Galin also suggests providing a benefits overview to new part-time hires that is customized to their position and full-time equivalency (FTE). After all, your organization may have folks receive different benefits depending on their exact FTE and bargaining unit…so avoid one-size-fits-all communication approaches.
9 – Create opportunities for interaction
If you have other staff members who work flexible shifts and/or work from home certain days of the week, consider varying a new part-time hire’s work schedule over the first week or two so that she has a chance to meet and interact with all members of her new team.
10 – Adjust recurring meeting invitations
Prior to a new PT employee’s start date, evaluate which traditionally all-company or all-department recurring meetings he should or should not attend based on his work hours. For those meetings that are feasible, make sure the new hire’s email address is added to any existing recurring calendar invitations.
11 – Standardize the swag
With experience being a part-time employee herself, Kye Hawkins, Management Consultant and Marketing Specialist for ADVISA, encourages employers to welcome new part-time hires to the team just as you would any full-time employee. Whatever your company does: a gift basket on the desk, company swag, a welcome lunch, etc. Being a part-time employee still means she is fully part of the team!
12 – Share work schedules
Hawkins also emphasizes that one of a new hire’s first orders of business should be having him update his calendar with the days and times he’ll be working. Then, share his schedule with the appropriate people at the company along with a message clarifying his work schedule. Part-time employees’ schedules are more likely to confuse those who work full-time, and keeping track of work days will help all involved.
13 – Don’t underestimate the power of perception
Remember that perception influences employee engagement. By making a new PT employee’s first day as special as a typical full-time hire’s experience, you’re showing that part-timer he is just as valued as full-time staff members.
14 – Help connect the dots
According to Catherine Schmidt, Consulting Manager at Purple Ink, LLC, employers should make sure their new part-time employees understand and connect with the value and meaning of their work by speaking to others in the company about how their positions impact the organization, clients, or the community. Having meaningful work is a large predictor for retaining an employee and in this low-unemployment job market, it’s important for companies to keep good employees regardless of whether they’re full or part-time.
15 – Plan for the potential future
Additionally, JoDee Curtis, the owner of Purple Ink, LLC, cautions organizations to note that even though these individuals work part-time, it doesn’t mean they only need to hear “part” of the orientation. It’s likely that most everything will pertain to them…and what doesn’t (e.g. certain benefits) might be good for them to learn in case they decide to go full-time within the organization down the road.
16 – Introduce employees in similar situations
Especially if you work for a larger employer, make a point to introduce new part-timers to others who may have a similar work schedule early in their employment.
17 – Paint the picture for existing employees, too
Discuss the do’s and don’t’s associated with being part-time, especially for individuals transitioning from full-time positions to part-time roles. It’s easy to place a lot of emphasis on hiring brand new part-time hires, but we can’t forget to address the dynamics associated with existing staff members who reduce hours to adapt to changing life circumstances.
18 – Show and tell
Plan sessions that allow new part-time hires a means to “reverse train” a few weeks into their employment tenure. This gives them the opportunity to share with the manager what they’ve learned and reinforce understanding.
With some thoughtful consideration of how you might incorporate some of the above tips, you’ll be on the right track to welcoming and retaining your part-time employees!
Streamline Your Candidate Feedback Process
Many of our clients wrestle with the issue of how much access to allow hiring managers during the candidate recruiting cycle. In particular, one of the concerns most frequently cited is the potential for managers to log candidate notes that may be (intentionally or unintentionally) inappropriate or discriminatory. This creates potential exposure for the organization. At the same time, taking away the ability for managers to input notes or other candidate feedback creates additional workload for the HR or recruiting team.
One feature within our platform that helps resolve this dilemma is our HR Data Survey option. In short, this feature allows clients to design customized questionnaires that may be completed by one or more system users during the hiring process.
We see these surveys used most frequently to gather feedback about candidates at one or more points along the hiring journey. Examples include after a phone screen, after an initial interview, or following a group interview. In each case, however, clients now have the ability to fully control what type of feedback they choose to solicit, which can significantly reduce (or eliminate) the potential for managers to submit inappropriate notes.
When designing a survey, clients have the ability to score/weight responses from system users. They may also opt to have more than one survey to account for different types of positions or different system user perspectives within the hiring process. In addition, when viewing the survey results for a particular candidate, those users who are permitted access may see each of the individual surveys completed for that candidate.
This tends to be an excellent way to see multiple sets of feedback in a single view.
Sample Candidate Feedback Questionnaire For Interviews
Best of all, this feature is available to all clients as a standard part of the HireCentric offering. And for current clients who would like to further explore ways to streamline the candidate feedback process, please email our support team (support@exacthire.com) for additional information and instructions.
Photo Credit: Alan Levine
Social Media In Hiring…Fair Use or Unfair Access?
A colleague asked a thought provoking question the other day…Do companies address social media in hiring, and if so, how? Good question.
In a world where the hiring process is meant to be black and white in order to make an effective hiring decision based on an applicant’s professional experience, how do employers address a gray area of accidental or intentional viewing of applicants’ social media profiles within the hiring process?
Proceeding With Caution
Companies are still hesitant to discuss social media with applicants because of the variables associated with it and fears of potential discrimination if social media is used improperly. After all, an applicants’ social media pages may display protected information. However, with our personal and professional connections through LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and other platforms, it’s not uncommon to have direct or indirect social connections to potential applicants.
Often, employees spread word of job openings at their company by posting the job listing on personal social media pages. What happens when a “friend”, “follower” or “connection” is interested in that position? With that existing social media connection, a current employee has access to see the potential employee’s social media page in full candor. Once something is posted on social media, it cannot be unseen. So how much info is too much info for a current employee to see? And how much of that info can advertently or inadvertently be considered in the hiring process?
Develop Social Screening Guidelines
According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) released a survey in 2015 that showed 84% of employers used social media to recruit job candidates and nearly 50% used social media profiles or online searches to screen applicants. This should not be too surprising. Look at companies’ corporate webpages. More often than not, there are links on a corporate page for viewers to “Like” their page, “Follow” them, or “Connect” with them on social media. When individuals, who may later be prospective applicants, “Like”, “Follow” or “Connect” a company’s corporate page, the company gains access to view certain aspects of those individuals’ social media pages as well.
With the increasing number of people following the social media pages of companies in which they want to work, companies will need to develop guidelines on how social media information will be collected and used. On the other side, potential applicants need to maintain professionalism within their social media page(s) and need to be cognizant that their social media page(s) may be viewed by individuals affiliated with the hiring process.
Be Aware of Your State’s Legislation
Also discussed in the Chicago Tribune article, llinois is one of a limited number of states that prohibit employers from requesting access or the password to a current or potential employee’s social media profiles. However, that does not mean employers do not have a right to view what is publicly available. SHRM has posted a list of states that have passed a form of legislation affecting online privacy. Since the publication of this list, the number of states passing “anti-snooping” legislation is growing so you will need to check with your company’s legal team to see if any states in which you hire have passed additional measures which affect online privacy.
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) published a useful article that suggests a protocol for employers if social media is used in the hiring process. It is essential to have a solid plan of action on how to safely and legally use social media within the organization’s hiring process to maintain a culture of non-discriminatory hiring practices.
7 Ways to Maximize Benefit and Minimize Risk according to SHRM
- Never ask for passwords. In several states, employers cannot ask an applicant (or employee) for his or her social media password by law. In all 50 states, asking for an applicant’s (or employee’s) password creates a real risk of violating the federal Stored Communications Act. For this reason, employers should look only at content that is public.
- Have HR do it. It is best if someone in HR, rather than a hiring manager, checks candidates’ social media profiles. The HR professional is more likely to know what he or she can and cannot consider.
- Look later in the process. Check social media profiles after an applicant has been interviewed, when his or her membership in protected groups is likely already known.
- Be consistent. Don’t look at only one applicant’s social media profiles.
- Document decisions. Print out the page containing social media content on which you base any hiring decision and record any reason for rejection, such as bad judgment. This protects you if damaging content has been deleted by the time a decision is challenged.
- Consider the source. Focus on the candidate’s own posts or tweets, not on what others have said about him or her. You may want to give the candidate a chance to respond to findings of worrisome social media content. There are impostor social media accounts out there.
- Be aware that other laws may apply. For example, if you use a third party to do social media screening, you are probably subject to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (and similar state laws). Also, some state laws prohibit adverse action based on off-duty conduct, except under narrow circumstances.
Fair (and Effective) Use
Employers who use social media for legitimate reasons may not be seeking to find negative items in the applicant’s profile. On the contrary, that HR representative may be trying to confirm the applicant’s professional demeanor, professional affiliations and qualifications, along with viewing the applicant’s written communication skills. However, if an applicant posts a negative item, such as discriminatory remarks or references to illegal activities, these items could have a strong impact on the individual’s consideration for the position.
If using social media in hiring, Human Resources, with consultation from the company legal team, needs to devise a consistent and fair use policy in accordance with adherence to providing equal employment opportunities. ExactHire does not provide legal counsel. If you are considering the inclusion of a question(s) relating to social media within your employment application(s), please consult your company’s legal team to acquire their insight as to what question content, if any, can legally be included in an employment application. Once you have spoken with them, we can update your application(s) with the content you specify if you want an item added.
On a final note, since social media is a fantastic way to stay connected with updates and news, if you have not had a chance to..
Please do so! We want to share our news with you!
Minimize Business Risk with HR Technology that Streamlines Recruiting
A clean work space is just one of the advantages HR technology can provide. Other goals of technology in business are to reduce costs by streamlining workflows, eliminating manual tasks, increasing accuracy and reducing labor. These concepts can apply to any employer and any discipline within that organization. Operations, accounting, human resources, etc. can all benefit from the advantages of technology.
Like most technology systems the concept of “garbage in, garbage out” applies. There is nothing automatic about technology. Solutions will only work well if the person inputting the data is doing a good job. Most technology in the workplace aims to either house data for quick reference, perform complex calculations and analysis, report on data, or eliminate transactional tasks. However, it still takes the human touch to leverage technology to its fullest.
HR Technology Solutions
In the world of human resources, enterprise-level technology often comes in the form of Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS), used to house and track large stores of information traditionally placed in a personnel file. On the other end of the spectrum, stand-alone software platforms that specialize in a specific aspect of human resources management (e.g. applicant tracking, employee onboarding, payroll, time and attendance, performance management and/or learning and development, etc.) will often cater to small- and medium-sized employers. Most HRIS solutions will boast an integrated approach that may meet all of an employer’s needs. However, there’s mixed opinions on any one solution providing all your needs–in a robust enough manner–and in an integrated fashion.
Another benefit of HR technology is that it can help you with compliance, record keeping and holding you true to certain processes that will ultimately reduce your risk of error. Human error in the HR world can lead to both compliance issues and poor decision making. This is especially true when it comes to hiring, as decisions are usually made on limited data that must be analyzed from multiple sources.
Fortunately, there are a number of HR technology solutions available that can reduce risk and streamline the recruiting effort. Luckily, using some of these technologies can result in quicker time-to-hire, better decision making and more accurate outcomes.
Applicant Tracking Systems
Application Tracking Systems are powerful tools that can both reduce risk and make the talent acquisition process more efficient and effective. As with any powerful technology solution, they are only as good as the user. The features a standard applicant tracking system can provide can sometimes be overwhelming if your technology partner is not focused on customized training and ongoing customer service. A seasoned recruiter with working experience of applicant tracking systems should be able to take advantage of these features fairly easily.
Easy application management
For starters, applicant tracking systems can streamline the hiring process by collating and storing applicant data in an easy to access and recall fashion. Often, an applicant tracking system will also allow you to search and filter applicants based on specific objective data. This can help with compliance as you take subjectivity out of the equation and base more of your decision on criteria being applied objectively to all applicants.
Compliant employment data
Other basic compliance assistance comes in the form of collecting EEO data and providing for the appropriate disclosures and releases to the applicant that may be required in your hiring process. The data from these forms and documents can be hidden from a hiring manager’s view while still maintaining compliance with regulatory requirements.
The ability to store and recall information in an applicant tracking system is one of the biggest benefits. No need to worry about retaining applicant records for a statutory length of time. Nor do you need to worry about printing all this information and keeping it in a file. Most applicant tracking systems will even allow you to purge applicant information of a certain age to keep your database clean.
Assessments
There are a number of online assessments you can utilize in the hiring process to increase your odds of a successful hire and reduce your chances of a failed hire. These assessments can look at a number of things from identifying certain skills, the application of required knowledge as well as an overall personality inventory. Combining and using the results of these assessments can dramatically increase your ability to hire more effectively.
Personality assessments are one of the most useful tools in helping to identify information about a candidate that you may not be able to identify in a standard interview. Some of the benefits of personality assessments include the identification of work behaviors, personality traits and competencies. They can also provide an overall picture of how an individual may perform in your work environment and what type of conflict may ensue. When used correctly, assessments can paint a pretty good picture of an inevitable outcome.
You can reduce hiring risk by actually paying attention to the results of these assessments. Now, they aren’t an all inclusive decision making tool–and the law would agree. However, they are another set of valuable data that should be combined with all the other information you have gathered and used to make a more informed and accurate hiring decision.
Some of the more useful features of assessments are the ability for you to benchmark the results of an applicant against the results of some of your top performers in similar positions. After all, one of the main objectives of recruiting is to find people that are like your top performers so you can replicate that performance. Background and experience are only part of the equation.
Skill-based assessments are usually used in more technical roles and are structured as interactive tools aimed at identifying if an individual has the correct level of technical ability to perform successfully in the role. The best example of these types of assessments would be for software developers, graphic designers, etc. You would choose a solution that gives individuals a project that tracks certain metrics and results as they complete the project.
Another type of assessment, a knowledge assessment, can measure not only if an individual possesses a certain base of knowledge that you require, but can also apply it. Some employers who require a license or registration of some sort will use the fact that a candidate possesses the credentials as evidence enough that they can apply the knowledge. The trouble, is most credentialing programs do not test application of knowledge. As such, employers should seek solutions that measure an individual’s ability to actually apply this knowledge.
Assessments and applicant tracking systems are just two of the many HR technologies available to you, but they are two of the most commonly used in both reducing risk and improving results. ExactHire provides both solutions in an integrated fashion to help you achieve your compliance requirements and recruiting needs.
Photo Credit: Kelly Britto
Should I Ask This on the Employment Application?
Useful Employment Application Guidelines
Whether the positions an organization is seeking to fill are temporary or permanent, it is important for Human Resources representatives to reflect on the content included in their organization’s employment application(s) to determine if the content is within the scope of fair hiring practices. In this blog, I’ll identify a few employment application audit ideas to help you determine whether you need to eliminate or rephrase any questions that could lead to discriminatory hiring practices. Please note: ExactHire does not provide legal counsel. If you are in doubt about the compliance of your employment application, please speak with your organization’s legal team.
Background Check Guidance
Many companies complete background checks on the individuals who have been offered employment. For a background check to be completed accurately, the social security number and date of birth are necessary to properly identify the individual. However, an individual’s social security number and date of birth should NOT be included in the application in any format; this highly sensitive information can be collected from the individual at the time of background check consent. If a minimum age is necessary for employment in a particular position, an organization may ask if the applicant is 16, 18, 21 or older (or whatever the legal requirement may be for that position type). No questions regarding the years of attendance should be asked on an application or in an interview.
Avoid Questions Related to Religion
Religious affiliation is one element that should not be asked or discussed in the hiring process. Even though many religious organizations have events and practices which occur regularly throughout the year, for certain religions, there are increased numbers of worship activities in the winter season. An employer can specify the hours/days/shifts for the vacant position but also include that the employer provides reasonable accommodations for religious practices that do not pose an undue hardship towards the employer.
Language Fluency and Employment Applications
Another component that needs careful phrasing within an employment application involves any questions related to language(s) spoken. If relevant to the position for which the applicant is applying, an employer can ask about language(s) spoken, read or written. If speaking, reading or writing another language(s) are irrelevant skills for the position, there is no need to ask for that information so it is best to omit that question. One of the many features of ExactHire’s HireCentric applicant tracking system is that you may create groups of job specific screening questions where an organization can ask applicants questions focused and relevant to the particular position.
Asking About Prior Military Experience
Military veterans offer a tremendous amount of knowledge and skill that can provide long-term benefits to your organization. These brave men and women are seeking to use their skills to enhance an organization’s growth, and if you are looking to start a veteran-focused hiring initiative within your organization, the Department of Labor is ready to help. Organizations can benefit directly in the social and interpersonal capacity, along with the financial capacity, when veterans are on the organization’s payroll. On an employment application, an employer can ask if an individual was in the military but dates and type of discharge should not be asked. An applicant should include the training and skills acquired through the military as professional experience.
Restrictions on Applicant Criminal History Information
With the Ban the Box movement, many cities and states have enacted some form of legislation that affects how and when an employer can ask an applicant any questions related to convictions. The following states listed below have enacted both public and private sector Ban the Box legislation which means an applicant typically cannot be asked about convictions on an employment application or prior to the interview stage of the hiring process.
- Hawaii
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- Rhode Island
- Illinois
- New Jersey
- Oregon
- Connecticut (Effective January 2017)
- Vermont (Effective July 2017)
There are exceptions within the legislation that may allow an employer to ask an applicant about convictions early in the hiring process so please consult your organization’s legal team to see if you qualify. To keep abreast of the Ban the Box movement, visit the National Employment Law Project (NELP).
Professional Organization Membership
Many employers view membership in professional organizations as beneficial to the growth of an individual. It is important to encourage individuals to pursue lifelong learning opportunities; however, these opportunities should not negatively impact an applicant’s pursuit of employment. On an employment application and during the interview process, it is important for an employer to seek only job-related memberships and service and avoid asking anything about memberships that could reflect ethnicity, gender, religion and other protected information.
Test Your Own Employment Application
Organizations periodically need to take a moment to reflect on the content of their current employment application(s) and peruse it from a potential applicant’s eyes. We encourage our clients to periodically test their employment applications so they can determine if any changes need to be made. Changes to the content of your HireCentric ATS employment application(s) must be made by a member of the ExactHire Support Team.
ExactHire: At Your Service
At ExactHire, we take pride in doing our best to ensure our clients’ satisfaction. After you speak with your legal counsel, and if you and your legal team decide changes need to be made to your employment application(s) for compliance, the ExactHire team will work with you to create a new application with the verbiage you specify. Also, one of the benefits of using ExactHire’s HireCentric software as your applicant tracking system is that you can create multiple employment applications, each specific to your needs or hiring practices within a particular state. If you are an existing client looking for more information about updating your current employment application(s) and/or creating additional employment applications, please email support@exacthire.com, and let us know your needs.
Hiring Right – 10 Tips to Finding and Hiring the Right Employee
There is no magic approach to finding and hiring the right employee. However, there are some best practices you can implement that will increase your odds at success. Here are 10 tips to finding and hiring the right employee.
Make a Plan
The first step in any successful endeavor is to first get organized. Hiring is no different. If you fail to plan in the hiring process you plan to fail. Your plan needs to encompass a number of things. First and foremost, for which skills and experience are you hiring? Taking the approach of, “I’ll know it when I see it,” won’t work.
Start with a clearly defined and reviewed role description. This is what you are expecting the person to be able to do, so make sure your interviewing plan will identify his competency to do so. A formal plan will also help you avoid bias in the process, thus leading to a more successful hire and better results.
Identify Essentials
A big part of your plan is identifying the essential needs and distinguishing them from the nice to haves. The essentials are priority and as such need to remain the focus of the hiring process. You can identify the essentials if you stick to your plan and use the role description accordingly. These would be the core things the individual must do and be able to do to be successful. Don’t get lost in the illusion of the nice to haves.
Sometimes you’ll identify the nice to haves and get fixated on them as you brainstorm how you can apply them. If they do not have all the essentials they won’t be successful and no amount of successful application of the nice to haves will make up for it.Provide the Right Environment
The success of a hire goes well beyond the actual hiring process. You want that person to stay with your company as long as possible and perform the best he can, right? This means the right things have to continue to happen in order for that hire to be an ultimate success. Making sure the individual is aligned properly within the organization and environment will help ensure this success.
Start out by finding early wins for the new employee. This will help to build confidence and establish a supportive and rewarding environment. Be intentional about training hiring managers on this trait, and include it as a part of your strategic employee onboarding process. The more wins a new hire can rack up early on the more successful he will be in the long run within the organization.
Interview for Success
Interview success is bolstered by making a plan. But it goes beyond that. You must actually make sure you are hiring for the right things and interviewing accordingly. If your interview isn’t focused on identifying the correct competencies, abilities and fit, even the seemingly best candidates won’t succeed long term.
You have to approach the interviewing process as a due diligence process. You have to approach it as objectively as possible and assess based on facts.
Pay Attention to Red Flags
Red flags will come up in the hiring process–they may come up multiple times during the hiring process. Every time a red flag appears, take care to note it on the applicant’s record in your applicant tracking software. One red flag may not create pause, but multiple red flags can pretty clearly indicate a future problem.
How to spot red flags. Red flags can be pretty subtle, but most likely you will recognize them and you just have to make sure you record them. For example, if the position will require night and weekend work, don’t ignore a candidate that states she prefers not to work every weekend. “Every weekend” may really mean she doesn’t want to work any weekends. It will eventually become an issue.
Study Top Performers
If this is a new position, it’s a bit of a gamble as you don’t really have a precedent. If this is a frequently hired position or you are replacing someone who was good at it, use that information to your advantage. Study what made that person successful, and identify the traits and skills of the top performers currently in the position. If possible, involve some incumbent top performers in the selection process, and consider assessing the cognitive and behavioral traits of your top performers using an employee assessment tool in order to create a benchmark profile against which candidate assessment results will be compared.
Avoid comparing candidates to a past or current low performer. If you think you will have success by hiring the opposite of a low performer, you are not necessarily hiring for success. What you may end up doing is just hiring the opposite behavioral traits and not necessarily someone who can excel in the position.
Focused Networking
Building a network must involve–you guessed it–networking. Forget about recruiter networking groups. After all, you aren’t hiring recruiters. Identify networking groups that are associated with your target market. As you attend events, you will get to know who the leaders are in your particular industry and with whom you need to associate.
When networking with these individuals they will definitely know who the top performers are. As you build these relationships, they will be more willing to identify these individuals for you and even direct them your way. This is one of the best ways to narrow down a candidate pool to only top performers.
Have a Value Proposition
Awareness of your competition and what they are doing to attract and retain employees is critical. You must be prepared to either match what they are doing or figure out a way to differentiate your organization from an employment brand standpoint. What is your value proposition? Why would employees want to come work with you?
Know Your Market
To be a good recruiter, you need to have your thumb on the pulse of the labor market. Doing so will ensure you target the right individuals and conduct searches in the right places. This will also help you decide where best to post job ads that will attract the candidates you are seeking. To streamline this process, search for external job boards by category in your hiring software. ExactHire’s HireCentric platform offers this feature, including the ability to easily post to these job boards from within the applicant tracking system (ATS). Focusing in the wrong areas will only attract the wrong candidates.
Lean on Referrals
The best for last. A heavy focus on referrals should be the goal of any great hiring strategy. There are two main reasons referrals need to be front and center in your focus. First, good employees will refer good people because they want to work with the best. Second, referrals typically have an instant fit and they already have a relationship with the person who is referring them. Top notch job seekers will be more willing to make a change for a friend than slug through the traditional hiring process without the benefit of any insider insight.
Photo Credit: William Iven