In the club industry, where club culture and attitude is a crucial component of daily operations, finding the right candidate for a position is a fundamental part of club success. The search for the perfect candidate to fill a position often hinges on the interview. This is the key opportunity to find out what makes a candidate tick, while telling them a bit about the potential position in turn. Ask a few questions; chat for a bit … sounds easy, right? While the concept of an interview may seem straightforward on the surface, determining which candidate will be the best fit for the position and the organization, and has the skills to perform the job, can be a challenge.
Interview training and preparation are vital parts of staging an effective job interview that allows you to identify the right candidate for the job—one with the right skills to perform it, and the right personality to stick with it.
Asking the Right Questions
There are several kinds of questions that a manager can ask to determine if a candidate can perform the job at hand. Those questions that delve into a candidate’s skill level and experience are relatively cut and dry. Questions that can help determine the more intangible aspects of an applicant, like fit, ability to work well within a team environment, attitude and loyalty and commitment to the club, can get a little tricky.
Objective Assessment
Having specific objectives can help guide questions and inform your question development. Rick Johnson, founder of CEO Strategist, LLC, lays out a clear set of sample interview objectives to help guide the process:
- Fill in information and time gaps and check for inconsistencies with the application and resume.
- Acquire information not included in the application.
- Verify the validity of the information presented on the resume and in the application.
- Evaluate the candidate’s personality, character, motivation, skills and knowledge.
- Convey information about the position, job requirements and the club to the candidate.
Crafting the Questions
Once you know what your goals are, you can begin to develop your questions. Open-ended questions are preferable to questions that require a “yes” or “no” answer because they enable the candidate to express their opinions and personality. When crafting your interview questions, be careful not to lead towards a particular answer, as candidates will be likely to present the answer that they think will please you most. If you’re having trouble deciding if your question is open-ended, try to begin them with words that call for an explanation, such as “how,” “when” or “why.”
Moving Along
When planning out an interview, careful attention to the flow and progression of the process is key to making sure you get the information you need. When starting with work history, a good way to assess a candidate’s priorities and retrieve the information that a candidate feels is most important is by asking for a description of their previous positions. A non-limiting question like, “Tell me about your last job (or any job at a particular company on their resume),” will let the candidate highlight the information that they feel is most significant. If a candidate is having trouble structuring their answer, asking them what they liked or disliked most about a particular position can help them to open up.
Information Acquisition
Once you’ve got the candidate talking, there are several key areas where you can find information to help evaluate them. Assessing major competencies can be done by evaluating candidates’ past experiences in certain segments.
Determining the level and complexity of a candidate’s work and the extent of their responsibilities, as well as their effectiveness, in previous positions can help indicate if they’ll be able to handle the job for which they’re interviewing.
Focusing in on their motivations, attitudes and feelings, as well as on the ways in which they handled their past professional relationships, can help indicate whether they would be a good fit with the club’s culture and work environment.
Asking questions about a candidate’s present and future goals and career objectives can also be a good predictor of whether or not they will be likely to stay with the club for an extended period of time.
Finding out tangential information not directly related to the position can also be illuminating. A candidate’s hobbies or non-work-related activities can provide insight into their personality, indicate whether or not they fall naturally into leadership roles, and illustrate their commitment and level of involvement in the things that are important to them.
Once you start asking the right questions, you’ll have a better idea of whether the interviewee will be a good fit. Hiring is often a team effort, so work with your colleagues and human resources staff to help determine the important elements that someone filling a particular position will need. Once you’ve gathered the pertinent information through the interview process, you’ll be better able to assess which candidates meet those needs.
Hiring the wrong candidate can be a costly mistake, in terms of both time and resources, but proper training and preparation can give you the information you need to make the right decision.
For more information about human resources, stay tuned for NCA’s upcoming publication on HR best practices for private clubs.