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Human Resources Articles

How Mentoring Fosters Career Development

Mentoring among employees can be a great tool for fostering overall career development for your staff. It provides an eye toward career development that can last a professional lifetime. That means using mentoring to build attributes that are effective today as well as farther down the road. Some abilities, such as people skills, are not easily taught in the classroom or through online courses. Still, these abilities are pivotal to your staff’s ability to interact with customers and with each other in the office. Mentoring opportunities are ideally suited to this kind of skills and knowledge transfer. One reason mentoring arrangements work is that topics discussed between mentor and mentee are typically kept confidential. If an employee is having difficulty working with some of her team members, for example, she can comfortably discuss these dynamics with her mentor in a way that’s not possible in a structured setting or with an immediate supervisor. Mentors must be trained to bring to HR’s attention any mentee concerns that could amount to unlawful harassment or discrimination, or any other possible violation of company policy. Mentors can prove to be especially valuable resources as their partners continue along their career development paths. For instance, a mentor can recommend ongoing learning and training programs that can best serve a mentee’s career goals. If a company position opens up that represents a form of career advancement, mentors can suggest effective strategies to pursue that opportunity — or why it may not be a suitable fit. Here are some more ways mentors can assist in your company’s career development efforts:

• Helping to identify an employee’s long-term career goals: Many people — those in the early stages of their work life in particular — often fail to take the time to consider how they want their careers to progress over time and what that progress actually entails. A mentor can kick-start for an employee the process of beginning to think long term, not merely where he wants to be next year.

• Acting as a dedicated role model: Instead of an employee having to reinvent the career wheel, a mentor can serve as a living, breathing example. The mentee can emulate the behaviors and attributes of someone who’s already taken a similar (and successful) career development path.

• Unlocking the power of networking: Career development doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Mentors can introduce their protégés to others who can prove to be invaluable points of contact and perhaps become additional role models.

Human Resources Articles

How to Prepare to Interview a Job Candidate

Your ability to get the most out of the interviews you conduct for your business invariably depends on how well prepared you are. Here’s a checklist of things you should do before you ask the first interview question:

• Thoroughly familiarize yourself with the job description, especially its hiring criteria. Do so even if you draw up the criteria yourself.

• Review everything the candidate has submitted to date. That includes a résumé, cover letter, online profile, and so on. Note any areas needing clarification or explanation, such as quirky job titles, gaps in work history, or hobbies that may reveal aspects of the candidate’s personality that can have a bearing on job performance.

• Set up a general structure for the interview. Create a basic schedule for the interview so that, as the meeting progresses, you reserve enough time to cover all the key areas you want to address. Having a rough schedule to adhere to will help you begin and end the session on time, allowing you to be more efficient and showing that you respect the candidate’s time.

  A phone screen is a great use of time to provide the candidate an opportunity to answer general questions you have and for you to determine if he’s worth the time investment to bring on-site for an interview.

• Write down the questions you intend to ask. Base your questions on the areas of the candidate’s background that deserve the most attention (based on the job description and your hiring criteria). Keep the list in front of you throughout the interview.

• Hold the interview in a room that’s private and reasonably comfortable. Clear your desk, close the door, and either set your phone so all calls go to voicemail or have your calls forwarded somewhere else.

Try not to schedule job interviews in the middle of the day. The reason: You’re not likely to be as relaxed and as focused as you need to be, and you may have a tough time fighting off interruptions and distractions.

Human Resources Articles

Five Questions that Reveal the Most about Job Candidates

The job interview is perhaps your best opportunity to determine if a potential hire will succeed with your firm. But most applicants now have ready-made answers to standard questions such as "Where do you see yourself in five years?" Here are five questions that can help elicit more candid responses:

1. "What interests you about this job, and what skills and strengths can you bring to it?" The answer shows how interested the applicant is in the position and how well prepared she is for the interview. Strong candidates should be able to correlate their skills with specific job requirements.
2. "Can you tell me a little about your last job?" How a person answers this question can help you determine his passion and enthusiasm for his work and his sense of personal accountability. Be wary of applicants who bad-mouth their employers.
3. "How have you changed the nature of your current job?" A convincing answer shows adaptability and a willingness to take the bull by the horns, if necessary. An individual who chose to do a job differently from other people also may have qualities such as creativity and resourcefulness.
4. "What was the most difficult decision you ever had to make on the job?" What you're looking for is the person's decision-making style and how it fits into your company culture.
5. "What sort of work environment do you prefer? What brings out your best performance?" Probe for specifics. You want to find out whether this person will fit into your company.

Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons. Inc.

Copyright © 2013 Robert Half International, Inc., as to Author-Created Materials