Hints and tips

1. Stop judging bodies, handshakes and smiles. Most hiring mistakes are made when the Interviewer judges applicants on the surface impressions.
2. Look for evidence of positive attitudes, a high degree of motivation, emotional stability and maturity, the right aptitudes and a temperament style that fits the job.
3. Fundamentally, people don’t change. The best indicator of future performance is past performance. Look for a pattern of past behaviour, activities, interests and attitudes. Judge the history.
4. Develop a relaxed, conversational style. Come across as supportive, friendly and accepting.
5. Develop a repertoire of questions. Ask open-ended questions.
6. Listen actively. Eliminate distractions and interruptions. Be encouraging and easy to talk to.
7. Show respect for each applicant. Leave each feeling good. Be tactful. Project a favourable impression of your organisation.
8. Treat people the way you would want to be treated. Beware of asking directly personal or sensitive questions that might violate the applicants’ human rights.
9. Check references thoroughly. People who have worked with the applicant in previous situations can be a valuable source of information to complement your interview findings. The higher the better.
10. Be very selective. Make staffing decisions your number one priority.

If your organisation has a McQuaig Unlimited Access package for then you have ready access to many features you may not know about.

Unique to The McQuaig Psychometric System is the Self-Development Survey™. This Report is for use by the candidate individually, or with a manager or coach.Case study: discover how Caffe Nero are using The McQuaig Self-Development Survey™ to develop their staff

• The McQuaig Self-Development Survey™ Report will:
• Help you to identify and optimise your strengths
• Manage development areas that decrease your effectiveness

The strength of The McQuaig Self-Development Survey™ is that the employees feel they own their Reports and develop a healthy attitude towards profiling.

This role benchmarking tool helps you and your colleagues define and benchmark the behavioural requirements for any role.

It provides a list of targeted, role-specific interviewing questions to draw examples from the candidate’s past experience.

Case study:discover how one client saved £45k in 12 months by implementing the McQuaig Job Survey

The McQuaig Job Survey® will:

• Build an “ideal” benchmark and enhance the role specification
• Help you to define the role thoroughly and build an outline of major responsibilities and challenges.

Research has shown that it is temperament, attitudes and emotional maturity, as opposed to education and technical designation that lead to success.

The McQuaig Do’s and Don’ts Report is perfect for coaching and developing.

Case study: discover how the Do’s and Don’ts helped one organisation double in size

The Do’s and Don’ts will help managers coach and develop their staff. The Reports will increase the understanding between manager and team member.

The McQuaig Word Survey® should be completed every 18 months – 2 years to make sure you are getting the best out of your people. Ensure they get the feedback they deserve and it’s already in your package!

This one page report is a simple, easy to understand overview of an individual for a manager.

The McQuaig Management Overview report helps managers get the best out of their people, creates opportunity for dialogue and it’s already in your package!

Unlike other psychometric systems we don’t charge for every use you make. You can assess every candidate within the departments covered by your Unlimited Access.

Test all candidates to make sure:

• you don’t miss the ideal candidate because their CV wasn’t suitable
• you get the most from the 1st interview

You can call at anytime for support from your McQuaig Associate and The Holst Group.

3 ways you can use this support:

1. Tricky profile? Call and we’ll talk it through with you.
2. Reached your shortlist? Call with the candidate’s McQuaig Word Survey® scores and we’ll help you differentiate between them.
3. Get more from McQuaig Online. Call and we’ll help you find extra features you’re not using.

In situations where the interviewer knows the candidate, the internal interview can become an informal chat. This decreases the interviewer’s objectivity and may give the impression that the decision is already “in the bag”. This can cause disappointment later on.

The interviewer should have a list of job-related questions written and stick to an agenda.

With internal candidates, there is an assumption that since we already know the person, we can skip the process of using standardised tests to assess personality factors or hard skills. This can often lead to sudden surprises once the employee starts the new role.

Model employees, when faced with new challenges and pressures, will often display a side of themselves that lay dormant in their prior role.

While a key advantage to internal hiring is the ease with which detailed and comprehensive references can be obtained, there is also the habit of relying on the candidate’s reputation or hearsay. Conduct formal reference checks and, since in most cases, you will have access to performance data, make the most of it.

A candidate who is unsuccessful in his or her bid for a job should never hear about it from someone else. Contact unsuccessful candidates the moment a decision is made.

With external candidates, less information is always better when providing reasons for rejection. The opposite is true for internal candidates. Companies that want to retain and develop their best people need a structured approach.

Unsuccessful candidates, especially high potentials, should be given feedback on why they were not the best candidate and “gaps” should be linked to a developmental plan. This is a critical part of the succession management process and should be mandatory – not optional – for the candidate and hiring manager.