Prepare well for applicant interviews

01-04-2008 | Not Specified

Every minute spent before offering someone a job can save a lot of time and anguish later if the wheels fall off, says Jonathan Fairclough.

He's an employment lawyer for Employers Assistance Ltd which is contracted by Federated Farmers to provide an employment phone hotline.

He is presenting a series of two-hour seminars around New Zealand for farmers, and talked recently in Hastings to 18 farmers.

Fairclough says he was keenly aware of the time pressures when hiring staff, but he warned against rushing through the process.

The best place to start was with a job description, which he called the whole basis of the employment relationship.

Writing down "general farming duties" in the job description was not sufficient, he says.

If you don't have an employment contract with existing staff, it is important to involve them in the process.

He advised to give staff a few days to write down their own job description, and said it was a good nurturing exercise.

"It shuts the door on any nonsense that you are asking them to do things they are not employed to do because they have been part of the process."

When the job description is written for an existing employee, give it to them again and ask them to take it away and edit it again.

To find out if a job description is detailed enough, write down alongside each task the outcome and standards expected.

"If you can't write it down, you need to break the task into more detailed parts.

"It is not something that happens overnight, but it is an exercise which is fundamental and a cornerstone to the whole employment process."

Having a written job description enables you to write a much more effective advertisement for a new employee as well, he says.

And when advertising for new staff, a job description becomes part of the application form prospective employees fill out.

"It is all very well to get a CV, but it is absolutely critical to get the applicant to complete an application form."

Fairclough said the employment picture was like a jigsaw where all the bits fitted together. I can't over-

emphasise how important these preliminary steps are, he says.

One way to screen applicants is to get them to call a phone number which gives them two minutes to record basic information about themselves. "This is quite an interesting process and gives a lot of information. If they are smart, they will hang up and go away and get the information and ring back."

"You dial into a voice mailbox and that gets you to the sharp end of those applicants in minutes, and that can save you a lot of time as well." Then application forms can be sent out to the people you select.

Application forms also need sections on pre-employment skills testing and some health questions.

As part of the interview process, a pre-employment skills test is useful. "Make sure that happens prior to making an offer of employment. The reason we say this is that it is an extension of the interview.

"This test could be between two and four hours and will give a pretty good idea if you have the right skills being tested.

"You need a special section in the application form: Yes, I the applicant agree to participate in these skills tests, I acknowledge and accept they are not a job offer, but an extension of the interview process and that I don't get paid."

Pre-employment skills testing is very useful because you get a pretty good idea if this person will be up to scratch, and that can make managing a trial probationary period a lot easier, he says.

The application form should also have questions about health, including if applicants are fit for the tasks required.

"You might want to get them to undertake certain medical tests, for example for drugs and alcohol. The health question is designed to be specific to the job you need done."

If candidates are successful at the interview stage, now is the time to seek references and also to prepare an individual employment agreement. But Fairclough says you need to deal with this person as an applicant for as long as possible.

Invite them to discuss a generic employment agreement, with the terms and conditions you use, and go through this with them.

"You are trying to establish if there is anything in the document that is a show-stopper; you need to find out while they are still an applicant.

"Typically you find someone who looks like they are up to scratch. Great."

Then you talk about the hourly rate and when they can start, and only later on the employment agreement comes out.

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