Human Resource Management Competencies-Interview Package

Outline

This is a report on the topic Human Resources Management Competencies – interview package. The report throws light on the various steps the management should take care of before planning and scheduling an interview. The interview package for the post of a summer school teacher has been done in this report. The package includes job analysis, job description, job specification and a score criterion table. Finally, the conclusion has been given for the report.

Introduction

Human resource management is a management function concerned with hiring, motivating and maintaining people in an organization. It always takes care of the people of the organization (Aswathappa 2008, p.5). “Human resources are the people that staff and operate an organization.” (Article about “human resources definition” 2009). It is the function of the HR department to recruit people for the organization. The HR professionals of the company should always commit towards immediate competency development. The HR competency which matters the most is developing a strategic and strong vision and defining various roles in the organization. These constitute the key factors for success. A basic HR competency framework is represented as follows:

Among these competencies, the recruitment function comes under the last role – Specific Competencies. In this report, a position for which an interview is conducted is identified and an interview package is made ready for the HR professionals of Department of Education and Training, Queenslander. “Our purpose is to engage Queenslanders in life-long education and training to enrich the lives of Queenslanders. “ (Department of education and training 2006).

Objectives

• To conduct the interview effectively.
• To reduce the interview bias.

One basic HR principle is to choose the right person for the job. The appointment of the right employee at the right place at the right time helps in reducing the turnover rate and reducing the cost of recruitment.

Job analysis

It is the process of collecting job related information which will be helpful in preparing a job description and job specification. It lays the foundation for employee hiring. A typical job analysis will give information about the work activities, job context and personal requirements. Job analysis usually includes evaluating the duties and responsibilities of the current employees and analyzing the job skills, duties and responsibilities that need to be got done by the new entries filling the position (Heathfield 2009).

Job description

Recruiting an efficient candidate is very difficult and hence “a good hire starts with an excellent job description.” (Job description 2005). Job description usually includes listing of the job title, tasks, duties and responsibilities involved in the job. In this case, a position of a summer school teacher is taken into consideration. The job description may be made as follows:

1. Job title:Summer school teacher.
2. Classification: TCH.
3. Department: Education and training.
4. Objectives of the job: Enhance literacy and numeracy outcomes of students.
5. Duties and responsibilities of the job: Understanding the needs of students, meeting their demands etc.
6. Salary : $58.38 per hour.
7. Reports to: Head of the department and school head master or in charge.

Job specification

This includes listing of qualification, skills, and abilities of the candidates. Job specification also deals with the working environment, conditions, stress level and hazards related to that specific job (Job specification 2007).

The qualifications for the school teacher may include:

Education: a qualified degree with PGCE (post graduate certificate in education)

Experience: “These positions are only open to all teachers currently permanently employed with the Department of Education and Training or have an active application for employment submitted to the Department.” (Job search 2006).

Communication skills: excellent and effective communication skills.

Usual physical fitness: sensory demands like see, speak, and hear.

Responsibilities: planning, preparing and delivering the classes efficiently, maintaining the teaching quality and knowledge level, providing for the emotional, physical and social well being of the students, maintaining student records, intensive participation in decision making and evaluation of the curriculum and maintain an ethically disciplined interpersonal relationship between the school and the society.

Interview process

The applicants are first screened for choosing the eligible candidates for the position.

After short-listing the eligible candidates, a personal interview is scheduled and the short-listed candidates are intimated through mail or post. Before scheduling the date and place of interview, the HR professionals should be aware of choosing a comfortable venue and time with regard to the candidates who are short-listed. The interview process may include a panel interview, in which a panel of members of the school will participate. The interview questions should be prepared in advance and should be given to each of the panel members. After the interview of every candidate is over, choose from them the right one for the position. The selection process may be on the basis of the scores allotted by each of the panel members.

Selection process

The panel members should be provided with the candidate’s resume and a note pad to note the scores for each of them. The panel members may include the principal or the head of the institution, head of the department, a teacher from the specific grade, an HR professional and a member of the Parents Teachers Association (Your interview process 2009). Each one will be given a set of questions, which are prepared in advance.

After the questioning section of each panel members, they may ask the candidate to deliver a lecture or conduct a class for the students. This process may be evaluated by other two members who are very good at teaching. This process is the ultimate step of evaluating the performance of the candidate. After completion of both the rounds of interview, the management may ask the candidates to leave the place and inform them that they will be intimated later after selecting the right one. As there are two rounds of interview and two sets of interviewers, the final decision can be taken only after discussion among them. The score card will be evaluated and thus the management will reach to a decision to choose the best from the short-listed candidates. The average score given for their performance may be as follows:

The highest score has been given to the teaching capabilities possessed by the candidate. Then comes equally weighted knowledge level and communication skills. The behaviour or the attitude gets a score of 15 and the physical appearance gets a score of 10. As this job is meant for only the permanent employees of Department of Education and Training, the score given for experience criterion is low compared to the usual interview score sheet. From this score card, the management can evaluate the performance of the short-listed candidates by assigning them the scores. Thus, through this interview and selection process, the management of the school can hire an efficient teacher for their summer school.

The interview should be conducted in an efficient way to avoid errors which may occur mainly as Go Error and Drop Error. Go error is a condition in which the management chooses a wrong candidate and go ahead with his/her performance, with no other way. Drop error is another condition where the management loses a good talented and efficient candidate because of their inefficient selection process. Both these conditions are highly serious. Hence, while preparing for the interview; management must be aware of avoiding all these errors.

Conclusion

Thus, through the various steps explained above, the human resource professionals could make the interview successful. Before starting an interview, these steps have to be addressed well so as to receive an efficient outcome. The job analysis part is the most important one to be addressed and then comes the preparation of the questionnaire for the interview.

The questionnaire could be prepared on the basis of the score card already done. According to the weight age given for each criterion, the questions should be prepared so that the evaluation of the candidates will be easier and efficient. The evaluation must be done in an efficient way so that the best candidate is selected from the short listed ones. The evaluation and selection can be efficient only when the interview process and the selection process are effective.

Only through doing the job analysis of the vacant position, the management can do the selection process effectively. The management should know their need thoroughly and should prepare the questionnaire accordingly. The decision about the panel members should be taken very carefully so that they can get a good result. The objective of the management will be to conduct a structured interview and to reduce bias. The bias might occur in two ways, as go error or drop error, both should be minimized. Hence the HR professional should design the interview package accordingly to conduct the interview in an effective way.

Appendix

Interview guide

1. Date:27^th August 2009
2. Time: 10.00 am – 4.00 pm
3. Venue: Gold Coast
4. Category: Education and training
5. Position/ job title: Summer school teacher
6. Work unit: State School/State High School/Special School or other educational institution Primary functions involved: understanding the needs of students, meeting their demands etc
7. Contact name: Samantha Donovon
8. Job ad reference: QLD/SOC10293/09

Interview questions

1. Tell us about your educational background.
2. Explain career goals for the next 5-10 years?
3. Suppose you have a new idea for parent-school communications that you want to try; how would you go about it?
4. What do you think are your professional strengths?
5. Suggest a plan to improve school-community relations?
6. What support services should the school provide, If some troubles arise with a student?
7. List out some ways to measure a teacher’s effectiveness.
8. Explain the reasons why you believe that you are the best candidate for this post
9. What would you do if you suspect a female student has hidden a box cutter in her undergarments?
10. What does the word success mean to you and explain how much you value the same? (School administrator interview questions n.d.).
11. What kind of assessment tests are you planning to give the students?
12. Explain how would you stay updated in your field?
13. Why did you choose teaching as your profession?
14. If I cross check your references by contacting them, what do you think they will tell about you? (Sample teacher interview questions 2004).
15. Why do you want to work for our school?
16. Do you have any questions for us?

Reference List

1. Aswathappa, K 2008, Human resource management-, 5^th edn, MCGraw Hill Companies.
2. Article about “human resources definition”: what is human resources- definition of human resources 2009, About.com: Human Resources.
3. Department of education and training 2006. Queensland Government.
4. Heathfield, SM 2009. Job analysis, About.com: Human Resources.
5. Job description. 2005. HrVillage. Web.
6. Job search: job details: education and training summer school teacher South Coast region- identified school sites across the region 2006. Queensland Government.
7. Job specification: job description. 2007. Super Jobs Online.com.
8. Sample teacher interview questions: teacher interview questions on personal qualities 2004, Best Sample Questions.
9. School administrator interview questions n.d.
10. Schoonover, SC. 2003. Human resource competencies for the new century, Schoonover Associates.
11. Your interview process. 2009. A to Z Teacher Stuff.