Customer Reviews

Interviewing Techniques for Managers (Briefcase Books)

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The author focuses on behavioral interviewing techniques that are suitable for a variety of circumstances including job interviews and performance appraisal interviews but also touches on customer interviews and problem-solving sessions with peers. Behavioral interviewing is a technique that stresses questions about past or present behaviors rather than hypothetical or general questions. A behavioral question, for example, would be "give me an example of a time when you..." as opposed to "what would you do if...".

I found the organization and advice very useful especially the STAR behavioral questions techniques and the chapter on recognizing the difference between what the person SAYS and what (s)he MEANS. In fact, I use STAR (Situations, Tasks, Actions & Results) questions in almost all job interviews since reading the book and the difference in terms of the quality of the answers and information I got is very palpable.

The book makes for a friendly and an easy read that provides plenty of practical and useful advice. However, I found that it was a little too focused on the technicality of the interview process. For advice on how to recognize the top performers in job interviews or for specific recruitment advice, I found "Hiring the Best" by Martin Yate extremely useful.

I found this book a very interesting read. I picked up this book to gain insight into the current interviewing practices I may face in a potential job search. As a consequence, I was not the target audience for this book. Still, the author kept me engaged, and provided useful examples of how interviews can be utilized to bring more information to the interviewer. Turning it around, the same skill allows the interviewee to gain additional and useful information from the interviewer. In both cases, if used, these behavioral interviewing techniques are bound to garner a better fit between the employee and the employer at the end of the day.

Keith