Students in this course will improve their interviewing skills and evaluation techniques through discussion, lecture, role-playing and videotaping so they can make more effective candidate selection and hiring decisions.

While this course is focused on the needs of staffing professionals, managers, and supervisors, other employees and even students who are active in the job market will gain distinctive interviewing skills.

Discussion topics include how to prepare job descriptions; review resumés quickly and accurately; plan, control, evaluate, and document the interview; and use effective questioning techniques in the interview process. You will study specific skills for behavioral, technical, and executive interviews, conducted by telephone, in person, or via videoconference.

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of the course, you should be able to

• Conduct an effective, legally compliant, initial phone or video screening interview of selected candidates.
• Apply a structured, flexible interviewing process using a structured interview framework.
• Prepare and execute a resumé-based interviewing agenda to elicit candidate decision-making information.
• Review and learn behavioral interviewing questioning skills, using the C.A.R. technique (Candidate provides Context, Actions, Results of previous work situation).
• Practice using situational, self-assessment, and open-ended interview questions to discover the "missing 10 percent" of candidate information to guide hiring decisions.
• Evaluate a candidate’s behavioral evidence from interview question responses against the essential job requirements.
• Familiarize yourself with federal and California legal guidelines for the interview process using quizzes and role plays.

Professional Credit

HRCI®---PHR®, SPHR® and GPHR® general recertification credit: 6.5 hours.

SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® 6.5 PDCs.