Great Performance !

In this lesson, you learn the importance of practicing good listening skills during the interview. Listening Actively, Talking Freely
Several years ago, I completed a graduate program in therapeutic counseling. My hope was to be able to help people regain control of their lives after experiencing some type of psychological trauma.

One of the things I learned back then, and have since had reinforced more times than I care to count, is that counselors really can’t help anyone until they know what the problem is—and counselors can’t know what the problem is until clients tell them.

Active listening skills, one of the most important tools that a counselor has to work with, help encourage clients to talk freely and openly about problems and difficulties that they’re facing. And the more freely a client talks about problems, the better equipped the counselor is to help. Getting people to talk about subjects that they may not want to discuss is the first step in any effective therapeutic intervention.

Plain English

Active listening An interview technique, with origins in the field of psychotherapy, that helps assure candidates that the interviewer is listening to them intently. Active listening involves encouraging candidates to talk openly and freely by often reflecting back to them
the meaning of their communication, both verbal and nonverbal, in ways that promote further exploration and awareness.

Interviewing candidates for employment involves the same basic challenge. To hire the right person for a job, it’s necessary to gain a real understanding of each candidate who applies. It’s important to know who they are, how they think, what their goals and aspirations are, and whether they have the competencies needed to be successful in the job.

But to evaluate each candidate fairly and accurately, the interviewer must obtain the necessary information, and that means getting the candidate to talk even about subjects that may be uncomfortable to discuss (past failures, weaknesses, problems with former employers or coworkers, and so on). The more the candidate talks, the better the interviewer understands the candidate and can decide whether he or she is qualified for the position.

TIP

Be sure that your questions about a candidate’s weaknesses or past failures have direct application to the job he or she is seeking. Past problems that involve a candidate’s personal life are not appropriate for discussion during the interview process.

Taken From: 10 Minute Guide to Conducting a Job Interview

When managers don’t ask the right questions (in interviews and in reference checks), their organizations run the risk of being sued for negligent hiring if the candidate is hired and later does something and someone gets hurt. Managers also run the risk of causing their organizations to be sued if they ask the wrong questions and learn things about a candidate that are unrelated to a candidate’s qualifications and suitability for the job under discussion.

Managers must attend training seminars and workshops on hiring to help keep up-to-date with changes in employment and civil rights law. They should also work closely with their organizations’ legal counsel whenever they have a question or concern about a hiring situation.

The 30-Second Recap

• Federal and state laws, as well as rulings from the courts, often regulate questions that can be legally asked of a candidate.
• Questions that are considered unlawful or inappropriate for interviews are similarly unlawful and inappropriate for use in employment applications.
• Interview questions should always be related to the essential functions of the job being sought.
• Avoiding potential legal problems involving claims of discrimination is the best strategy.
• Structured interviewing keeps the interview focused on job-related issues, thereby avoiding unplanned questions that can become the basis of discrimination claims.

Taken From: 10 Minute Guide to Conducting a Job Interview

Examples of inappropriate questions include these: “How tall are you?”; “How much do you weigh?”; “May we please have a photograph of you to attach to your application?”

Each of these questions is an example of an illegal pre-employment inquiry. Although this kind of information may have been routinely requested in applications for employment decades ago, today this is a surefire way to become embroiled in messy litigation.

Employers may inquire about the height and weight of a candidate if there are established minimum standards that have been determined to be essential for the safe performance of the job. In all other situations, personal questions of this nature should be avoided.

Taken From: 10 Minute Guide to Conducting a Job Interview

Examples of inappropriate questions include these: “Please give us the name, address, and telephone number of your nearest relative whom we should notify in the event of an emergency.”

Asking for the name of a relative could become the basis of a legal action for discrimination based on national origin, race, or even marital status.

The employer can’t ask for a relative’s name; limit this request to the name of “someone to contact in the event of an emergency.” The candidate may provide the name of a relative in response to the question, of course.

Club Memberships

Examples of inappropriate questions include these: “What clubs do you participate in regularly?”; “List all the lodges, societies, and clubs to which you belong.”

Unless you can demonstrate that this information is somehow related to the essential functions of the job, it’s best to avoid this line of questioning completely. Club memberships may indicate the race, color, religion, national origin, or ancestry of its members; that information can become the basis of a discrimination action by an unsuccessful candidate.

Taken From: 10 Minute Guide to Conducting a Job Interview

Examples of inappropriate questions include these: “Do you belong to a labor union?”; “Are you for or against labor unions?”; “Have you ever been a member of a labor union?”

The National Labor Relations Act prohibits the discrimination of employees or applicants for employment who are members of labor unions, or who favor membership in labor unions. Furthermore, the act prohibits employers from questioning employees or prospective employees about their union membership preference.

Avoid this kind of question altogether.

Military Service

Examples of inappropriate questions include these: “Have you ever served in the armed forces of another country?”; “If you’ve served in the U.S. military, did you receive an honorable discharge?”

Employers may ask about a candidate’s U.S. military service but may not inquire about military service to another country. Questions about military service outside the United States may compel an applicant to disclose information about national origin, which may become the basis of a discrimination action.

When inquiring about a candidate’s U.S. military service, frame your inquiries in such a way as to probe for skills and abilities acquired during the period that may have direct application to the job for which the applicant is being interviewed. The training that a candidate received as a member of the armed forces is usually valuable, and questions about it are always appropriate.

Taken From: 10 Minute Guide to Conducting a Job Interview

The gang also presented an opportunity for longtime employment. Before crack, it was just about impossible to earn a living in a street gang. When it was time for a gangster to start supporting a family,
he would have to quit. There was no such thing as a thirty-year-old gangster: he was either working a legitimate job, dead, or in prison. But with crack, there was real money to be made. Instead of moving on and making way for the younger gangsters to ascend, the veterans stayed put. This was happening just as Read the rest of this entry »

Examples of inappropriate questions include these: “Have you ever filed for bankruptcy?”; “Have you ever had your wages attached?”; “Are there any judgments against you?”

Such questions have been held to be unlawful when asked prior to a job offer being made. Employers may make an offer of employment contingent upon a credit check, as long as the employer abides by the conditions of all applicable state and federal laws, and can demonstrate
that only those with good credit histories can perform the essential functions of the job.

Also, because some minority groups are economically disadvantaged, their credit histories tend to be adversely affected. Under the disparate impact theory, using credit information to make final employment decisions can be held discriminatory. Again, this is especially true when performance of the job is not affected by the poor credit history of the employee.

Be careful about using credit history. The burden of proof is clearly upon the employer to show a direct relationship between performance of the essential functions of a given job and the credit history of the employee. Be sure to consult your corporate attorney if you believe that credit checks are important to your selection process.

Taken From: 10 Minute Guide to Conducting a Job Interview

Black street gangs in particular flourished in Chicago, with membership in the tens of thousands by the 1970s. They constituted the sort of criminals, petty and otherwise, who sucked the life out of urban areas. Part of the problem was that these criminals never seemed to get locked up. The 1960s and 1970s were, in retrospect, a great time to be a street criminal in most American cities. The likelihood of punishment was so low—this was the heyday of a liberal justice system and the criminals’ rights movement—that it simply didn’t cost very much to commit a crime. Read the rest of this entry »

The cocaine was easy to come by, for the invention of crack coincided with a Colombian cocaine glut. During the late 1970s, the wholesale price of cocaine in the United States fell dramatically, even as its purity was rising. One man, a Nicaraguan émigré named Oscar Danilo Blandon, was suspected of importing far more Colombian cocaine than anyone else. Blandon did so much business with the budding crack dealers of South Central Los Angeles that he came to be known as the Johnny Appleseed of Crack. Blandon would later Read the rest of this entry »

Now for another unlikely question: what did crack cocaine have in common with nylon stockings?

In 1939, when DuPont introduced nylons, countless American women felt as if a miracle had been performed in their honor. Until then, stockings were made of silk, and silk was delicate, expensive, and in ever shorter supply. By 1941, some sixty-four million pairs of nylon stockings had been sold—more stockings than there were adult women in the United States. They were easily affordable, immensely appealing, practically addictive. Read the rest of this entry »