Submitted by dmbaldwin on
in
Forums
Greetings All,
Have a question. Tomorrow I start interviewing potential admins. This is the first one I've had to hire an admin in probably 7 years. Any suggestions anyone may have, or questions I should ask during the interviews? Also any podcasts I should listen to? I have listened to the three parter on relating to admins. Great stuff for sure.
Thanks for all your help!
Dave
Hiring a new Admin:
The interviewing series (and the extras on the weakness question, leadership style, etc).
The registered members podcast for June 07 is particularly good for your situation - how to prepare to interview someone.
Last point: make sure your questions elicit details of what the admin DID, how they did it, etc. Theory is insufficient. It's all about what they did.
John
Hiring a new Admin:
Thanks John.
I have the podcast up and listening to it now.
Dave
Hiring a new Admin:
Dave,
I recommend the 'Quick and Dirty Interview' cast. While I have a prepared interviewing instrument that I like, the information from that podcast lets me walk into every interview feeling prepared.
On a side note: Have lots of energy. I find that interviewing people is just as taxing on my side of the table as it is on theirs.
Hiring a new Admin:
Hi Dave
From my handy dandy set of standard questions;
*Can you tell me about a situation you have been in when you had to communicate with a number of people at varying levels. How did you adapt your style to reflect the different needs?
*Describe a great team you have worked in. What do you think made if effective? What did you like about it? What did you learn from the experience?
*Over the last year what do you consider to be your main achievements? What difficulties did you encounter? How did you overcome these?
*Give me an example of a time when you have managed a number of priorities simultaneously. How did you manage this situation? What was successful/unsuccessful?
*How do you maintain your personal standards when under pressure? How do you deal with pressure?
*Tell me of an occasion when you anticipated change and talk me through how you dealt with it in order to implement the change.
*Tell me about a time when you solved a problem and you had to convince someone to work differently. How did you go about convincing them?
*What's the biggest setback/failure you've had at work? How did you deal with it? How will you prevent it happening again?
*How do you manage your own development? What actions have you taken to enhance your development in the last 12 months?
*How do you establish the skills needed to carry out a role? What will you do to ensure you gain them?
*Who are your current customers? How do you go about establishing their needs and how do you know you have satisfied them?
And then technical questions such as:
*Have you used xyz package and if so how much?
*Do you have xyz skills and if so, how much do you use them currently?
I hope that helps,
Wendii
Hiring a new Admin:
Wendii & Julia,
Thanks so much for the advice. I'm almost done with the one podcast John reccomended yesterday. I'll get the other one in before interviewing today. I love the questions too!
Thanks again. I'll let you all know how things go.
Dave
Hiring a new Admin:
So, things went really well. The two podcasts were invaluable and the questions you gave me Wendii really helped. I now have a new admin.
Thanks to you all!
Blessings,
Dave
Hiring a new Admin:
Well done, and thanks for the update!
John