Tips to Make Your Hiring Process an Easy One

The ENABLE Division of Small & Associates, Inc. is a job placement company serving Bergen, Passaic, Essex, Hudson and Union Counties. ENABLE specializes in assisting persons with disabilities to find and maintain employment through a network of support services. Our staff members participate in many job interviews with our applicants and often are asked for interview tips. This is the first in a series of articles about the Hiring Process, adapted with permission from The HR Answer Book.

Do You Ask Incisive Interview Questions?

Just as candidates should prepare for interviews, an employer needs to prepare as well. The first step is to conduct a brief prescreening to determine whether the candidate meets your basic requirements. This can be done over the telephone, at a career fair or in person. When you are ready to conduct the full interview, outlining interview questions in advance will help you obtain all of the information that you need.

  • Review the resume and prescreening material as a starting point for questions to clarify, verify and elaborate on the information provided.
  • Ask behaviorally based questions rather than ones that elicit feelings or opinions. Rather than asking, “Are you a team player?” ask the candidate to describe a time when he or she worked cooperatively with others on a project.
  • Use open-ended questions — questions that cannot be answered with a “yes” or “no.” Open-ended questions start a conversation in which you will learn if this candidate can help your company.
  • Avoid common, overused questions such as asking the candidate to describe strengths or weaknesses. Answers to standard questions are likely to be rehearsed and uninformative. A more effective question is “Describe the strengths you would bring to this position.” Following these tips will help you gather the information that you need to make the best hiring decision.

What is an Illegal Interview Question?

If a question does not relate to the candidate’s qualifications and ability to do the job, there is no reason to ask it during an interview. Questions that focus on age, sex, marital status, race, ethnicity, religion, disability and sexual orientation are illegal. Many questions that may appear innocuous can actually be discriminatory. The following are sample questions that can and cannot be asked in three common categories:

Marital Status:
Questions such as, “Can your husband watch the children?” and “How much does your wife EARN?” do not relate to the applicant’s ability to do the job. Instead, try work-related questions such as “Are you available for overtime?”
Race or National Origin:
It is illegal to ask questions such as “What country are you from?” or “What kind of name is that?” or “Is English your first language?” You may ask if the candidate reads and writes English, if that is job-related. You may also ask whether the candidate has the legal right to work in the USA.
Disability:
Employers cannot ask about disabilities during the pre-employment process. “Have you ever filed a Workers Comp claim?” or “Do you have a disability that interferes with your working?” are illegal. You can ask how a candidate would perform a particular job. You can also ask about attendance records at previous jobs, since absences can be caused by many reasons.

As a rule, designing questions with the purpose of bringing out information about the candidate’s work experience, skills and judgment will best equip you for making sound hiring decisions.

If you would like more information about hiring qualified persons with disabilities, please call Kathleen Wilson, ENABLE Director at (973) 533-1662. To learn more about our company, visit us on the web .

Adapted from The HR Answer Book: An Indispensable Guide for Managers and Human Resources Professionals by Shawn Smith, JD and Rebecca Mazin (AMACOM; April 2004 $24.95)

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