Learning the lessons.

Recently I attended a course on interview techniques and how to recruit the best people. The course discussed the process from defining the job role through the advertising, interviewing and selecting the best candidate. It was mostly common sense but with a conscious effort to be both consistent and objective. To ensure that each candidate is treated in the same way and that the judgements about them are measured as and recorded in as repeatable a fashion as possible.

All the lessons were good solid lessons that put a sound structure around the recruitment activity. What surprised me when I started to put the course into practice was a source of extra learning that I hadn't expected.

Part of the method for developing the open questions for the interviews themselves was to identify the key competencies required for the roles to be recruited for. Focus was also given to the organisational values for the company as a whole. What caught me by surprise was the fact that in eliciting answers from candidates my own views were thrown into sharp relief. I was prompted to consider how I would respond to the questions and what activities during my career demonstrated the organisational values. Some of the answers the candidates gave also provided a new perspective on some current areas of concern.

Overall it has demonstrated to me that there are all manner of opportunities for learning if only you keep your eyes open.