Saturday, 7 June 2008
Crazy interview questions
| When you are hiring a new employee you want to find out if the person will be a great match for your role. You want to discover a bit more about them as a person and how they generally operate under both normal and stressful situations. Let's be honest - you would dearly love to find out if they are stalkers, likely to rob your company or create a lawsuit by their bizarre behaviour towards clients ... but you can't generally ask those sort of questions. That's why I loved this article in the Indianapolos star. It talked about weird interview questions and here are some of my favourites:
If you are going to ask questions, ask ones that are based on experience that transfers to your job. "Tell me about the best team you worked for and what made them a great team", "describe the qualities of your favourite boss you have worked for", "how would we know you are under stress" are more likely to get sensible answers than the fruit question. Have a great weekend! From running horse Ingrid Heart Harmony Putting your business into words Labels: recruitment, recruitment questions |
Wednesday, 6 February 2008
Now that's a question!
| What is the strangest interview question you have been asked? I think mine was many years ago when I was applying for job in a tribunal that meted out the law on things like workplace fairness - I was asked by the male head of the tribunal (in total seriousness) - "What will happen when you fall pregnant and want to leave and have babies." Scared me right off having kids for another 10 years! Today I was checking out a blog post by my favourite internet teacher - Ed Dale when I came upon this ad We have a couple of openings in Melbourne and Manchester for Interns to assist in running our Internet business. You will be paid! You will not be paid much...; We are looking for people who have a lot of enthusiasm and really want to make it marketing online. It might surprise you to know that I have been an intern! It might surprise you more that I was a multi-millionaire at the time! I really wanted to know the information marketing business from the ground up - so I took a commission only position with an organization so I could learn the ropes from the inside. I did it for a year and it was invaluable. I also went and lived with Gary Halbert in Miami for a month. That was one hell of an experience! Lets be clear - you won’t be doing glamourous work BUT you will see how everything hangs together and be on the inside working with Dan, I and the rest of the team. There will be a lot of admin type work and you will need to know your way around a Mac (notice that I said Mac) if your applying for the position and want to work remotely - a mac with leopard is a must - we live on iChat! Dan, Rob and I spent about six hours yesterday working on forward plans for our business and we did it all on iChat The way I see it you will be with us for about a year - I would of hoped by then you would be raring to go out and start making info-products of your own. While I’m happy to consider “virtual intern” arrangements - in truth, we are both going to get a lot more out of it if you are living near-by, if i need you to help me with a location shoot holding the camera - it’s going to be a bit hard doing that from Boston. For the Melbourne position, there is an option for us to provide accommodation, internet, computer etc as part of the deal. In Manchester you’ll need to talk to Dan! For the right person this is a golden opportunity. You will need to be a go-getter (duh!) and if you have seen/read “the devil wears prada” - you’ll have a great idea about the level of direction you will get (I’m kidding - mostly...;) Interviews will be conducted via iChat and in person at Melbourne and Manchester You can send your application to eddale@mac.com (now here’s a tip - think about your application, I barely passed high school, attended two classes at collage and as evidenced by the seven deliberate spelling mistakes above can hardly string two words together. CV’s make me sleepy - who you are, and what your prepared to do, what you love and what get’s you up in the morning (apart from the alarm clock!!) is far more interesting. In Fact, what you HATE doing and can’t stand is even more useful - a great job application is just like a good sales letter (or video...;.)) One final thing - In your application answer at least this one question Think back to when you were little and you wanted to be a ballerina, fireman, six million dollar man, eric estrada on CHiPs (careful, we all have dreams...;.) what did your parent of the opposite sex say to you about your dream?? Have at it - Quick Movers get bonus points Don't you love that last question (and the ad)! It truly reflects the company, the people you will be working with and doesn't pull any punches. A great example of an employment ad.So what did you want to be when you were little. Apparently I wanted to be a teacher when I was very very little (and have 6 kids. Done that one, 2 of my own and 4 I raised for a few years with a previous partner). What did my father say about that dream? "Hey the holidays are good, you are paid well and you always have a job." As he was a uni lecturer at the time I think the answer was more of a reflection of where his mind was at in the middle of yet another school year! So - over to you. What did you want to be when you were little and what did your parent of the opposite sex say to you about your dream? Oh - and the job's still open with Ed - just get in quick! Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony Labels: human resource management, recruitment |
Monday, 17 December 2007
HR Tips - Recruiting through thought
| When you need to recruit, take time to think through the role in detail. Too many businesses leap into recruitment without planning the person they need to fill the role best. As a result they get a mismatch in personality or skill. Think through what tasks need to be performed and to what standard. Do you need a bubbly extroverted person to talk with people or a quiet person who prefers just to get on with the job? What sort of skills are needed to be able to successfully perform the role? What personality traits and work ethic do they need to fit in with the team Where do they live? What sort of salary expectations should they have? The time taken in thinking through your ideal candidate will pay dividends when it comes to advertising, interviewing and selecting. Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony www.heartharmony.com.au Labels: hr tips, recruitment |
Sunday, 9 December 2007
HR Tips - What Google can teach you about recruitment
| Recruitment and selection is not an easy artform. How do you attract the attention of people you want to have work in your business? New Scientist reported in July 2007 of one of the strategies Google uses. Giant billboard ads appeared in Silicon Valley the USA and other places where geeks hangout with the message (First 10-digit prime found in consecutive digits of e).com. Unless you knew what you were looking for this would be total gibberish. But the answer was the first 10-digit prime number in e (one of the most revolutionary numbers in maths - if you want to learn more about e read New Scientist 21 July 2007). The answer 7427466391 appears in the 101st digit of e. For those that figured it out and went to 7427466391.com another even more tricky maths challenge awaited. Those who figure that out correctly were taken to another website from Google - asking them to submit their resume to Google's research laboratory. So - what can we learn from Google's recruitment?
Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony Business development for small to medium businesses through human resources
Labels: Google recruitment, hr tips, marketing articles, recruitment, selection |
Wednesday, 28 November 2007
HR Tips - HR Planning
| Most people understand the need to plan their business and their marketing, but the need to plan for their team often gets pushed down the list. Your people will make or break the implementation of your business vision and direction. Unless you have the right team with the right skills at the right time in the right place your vision won't be realised. Once you have planned for your business direction stop and ask:
Until next time Ingrid Cliff Heart Harmony http://www.heartharmony.com.au/ Business development ... through human resource management Labels: hr planning, hr tips, recruitment, skill assessment |