JYS Consultants-P o siPower Concepts, Inc. www.posipowerconcepts.com
It’s Not a Chit-Chat: Interviewing Customers for Effectiveness
This is a PosiPower Workshop where all elements of training begin with self
Presenter: Jordana Y. Shakoor
Copyright protected Interviewing Customers for Effectiveness
In order to become an effective interviewer, you must be able to project and demonstrate a positive self-image. You also must be able to incorporate the applicant's education, skills, interests, and experience into a profile that may be used to place the applicant into a suitable job, work program, and/or educational program. In addition, our customers/clients are diverse with a variety of concerns. They need help in one form or another. Sometimes they may not even realize what kind of help they need. It will be your job to help them find the service that best meets their needs. Some customers may come with a list of demands. They will try and tell you what they want, when, where, and how they want it. In this course, you will learn how to be in charge of the interview. Good customer service techniques are a vital component of the course.
Introductions: PosiPower introductions designed to create positive energy
Open discussion: 1. Why be positive? 2. Why will the interview go more smoothly if you interact in a positive and professional tone? 3. Why dress professionally for the interview? 4. What is professional attire for the interview?
Small Group Activity
Lunch
Topical discussions:
What is your interview image? Are you dressed for the interview? Build and enhance interpersonal skills Do you feel qualified to conduct the interview? Assess your interviewing space Be culturally sensitive The difference between acceptable chit-chat and sabotaging chit-chat Promote excellence and increase productivity by getting correct responses Improve employee retention and customer satisfaction PosiPower Ways to interview and not chit-chat What is your action plan?
Q & A & Evaluations:
2 What's your interviewing image?
Before we get into the content of what to say in an interview consider the image that you present. If the image is too strong one way or another, it can get in the way of a productive session.
Be honest and describe the image you believe you display during an interview with an applicant.
The applicant may see me as______
Why? ______
3 SETTING UP AN INTERVIEWING AGENDA.
Before interviewing the applicant, it's important to review what information you will need to know. Of course, if you have been working at the agency for a number of years, you'll probably know what is required of the applicant. However, it does not hurt to refresh your memory of the procedure. This exercise is also good for the potentially new worker.
In the space below, make a list of what you'll need from the applicant.
1. ______
2. ______
3. ______
4. ______
5. ______
6. ______
7. ______
8. ______
9. ______
10. ______
4 Interviewing Customers for Effectiveness
Small Group Activity
1. Describe an interview that went badly. (Why)
2. What did you learn from the experience?
3. What could you have done differently?
4. Describe an interview that started badly but ended well.
5. What did you do that turned the situation around?
6. Why do you feel the customer responded?
7. What did you learn from the situations?
5 DO YOU FEEL YOU'RE QUALIFIED TO BE AN INTERVIEWER?
List five ways your skills match the needs of your job.
1.______2______3.______4______5.______
List three areas you need to improve upon in order to interview competently.
1.______2.______3.______
6 How do you like your interviewing space?
I plan to make the following improvements______
7 Be aware of Cultural Differences.
One way you can fight the tendency to stereotype is to do a little self-education. To avoid falling into the trap of prejudging your applicant, remember that each applicant is a unique human being and should not be handicapped because of your own biases. In fact, for every stereotype you can think of, you can also think of several other people who defy that stereotype.
In a small group, list some stereotypes about certain applicants.
______
List 3 ways you can become more culturally sensitive.
1.______
2.______
3.______
8 Exercise
In small groups, list 5 ways not being cultural aware may create problems during an interview.
1. ______
2. ______
3. ______
4. ______
5. ______
9 ARE YOU READY?
Before beginning the interview, go over the following checklist to make sure you have properly prepared for the session:
____ My office/workstation is neat and presentable.
____ I have read over the application and have the appropriate forms on my desk.
____ I have arranged not to be disturbed for the time allotted for the interview.
____ I have arranged the furniture in a manner suitable for our discussion
____ I have prepared questions that are designed to elicit the specific information I need in order to make a fair assessment.
____ I know my job responsibilities.
Planning Your Questions
The main part of the interview will focus on asking questions of the applicant that are designed to reveal strengths or weaknesses about the applicant. When you prepare for the interview by reading over the application, you consciously plan what you will need to ask the applicant.
While there is nothing wrong with preparing a list of questions, it is not a good idea to read from them. By doing this you take away the personal flair. Prepare an outline. Plan to take notes during or directly after the interview.
10 Be prepared to listen
During the interview be prepared to listen. Keep your questions short and to the point so that the applicant has time to reply fully. If there are any discrepancies or contradictions in the information on the application, you may ask about them early in the interview. In this way you can clear up any concerns and be better able to concentrate on learning more about the applicant.
Exercise
In small groups of 4-5, go over an agency application. Next, role-play taking the information. Demonstrate both positive and negative ways to interview an applicant.
Describe the negative situation. What barriers were created?
______
Describe the positive situation. What barriers were removed?
______
11 My Action Plan
List three things you will do differently as a result of the training today:
1.
2.
3.
12 Bibliography & Sources
1. Avoid Being a Chatterbox During Job Interviews: Andrea Coombes
2. Power Etiquette: What You Don’t Know Can Kill Your Career, by Dana May Casperson
3. Interview Basics – Career Development Center – Arts & Science Career Services, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
4. 2003 Spherion Emerging Workforce Survey, By Harris Interactive of Spherion Corp.
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