PIHRA Scope - Spring 2009 - (Page 15) can easily customize. You need to write short descriptions that explain how your education and experience relate to the key tasks and responsibilities for your future position. For example: KEY RESPONSIBILITY • Consult with senior managers to implement strategic initiatives RESUME STATEMENT • Led special task force to identify recruitment sources for new job titles needed to produce future products; worked with vice president of engineering and other key executives to determine required workforce skills for new manufacturing techniques; researched programs offered by educational institutions; prepared first draft report and worked with task force members to prepare final draft; led successful presentation to Executive Committee; implemented recommendations to prepare for future product and workforce needs. You need to prepare a resume statement for each job responsibilitylisted in your sample job descriptions and postings. You should have them ready to cut and paste into a resume format. The resume you submit should be tailored from your experience examples. Each example should demonstrate your ability to do your future job successfully. question. You need to have a prepared answer that makes the interviewer want to know more about you. Your answer should take no more than 45 seconds. It should summarize your key skills and relate them to the duties of your future position. For example: Interviewer: Tell me a little bit about yourself. You: Thank you. I would like to introduce myself by telling you that I am an HR professional with seven years of experience. I have a degree in Psychology. I completed the UCLA HR Certificate program. I am certified as a Senior Human Resources Professional with a California designation. I have been an HR professional in three organizations. I was a recruiter in my fi rst position. I am proud of the fact that the one-year retention rate for the candidates that I recommended was 92 percent. I was an HR manager in a two-person office in my second position. I was the fi rst HR manager in the company. We established a full-service HR program that gained the confidence of management by fi nding innovative ways to support their goals without compromising key HR principles. Finally, I was an HR manager in my last company. It was a three-person HR Department. Unfortunately, the company went from 400 employees to less than 60 during the economic crisis of 2009. The systems that I put in place allowed management to make key business decisions with accurate HR data during those challenging times. You need to write your answer out. You need to practice it in front of a mirror until it becomes second nature to you. You need to solicit feedback about it from your mentor or someone else you trust to be honest with you. Then you need to start all over again with each of the other questions you expect be asked in an interview. POST INTERVIEW Do not go to your car immediately after an interview. Find a quiet spot (preferably under a tree). Write down every question you can remember from the interview. Go home. Start the next day by looking at your list of questions from the interview. Write an answer for the next time you hear each question. Do the same thing after every interview. Start a fi le of interview questions and answers. Review your fi le before every interview. CONCLUSION INTERVIEWING You may have interviewed hundreds of candidates in your role as an HR professional, but how many times have you been interviewed? It isn’t something you do every day. It is something you need to prepare for and practice. You should begin preparing for your fi rst interview long before it is scheduled. Start by making a list of the questions you expect to be asked. The fi rst question is pretty standard – Tell me a little bit about yourself. Most candidates fumble their way through an answer to that Looking for a job is a job. It is a job that you probably have not had to do very often. You need to become an expert at it. It is not the job of an HR professional. It is the work of a job applicant. You need to develop new skills and techniques that get you back into the working world. ■ Mike Deblieux, SPHR, writes HR Concepts to provide insights into fundamental human resources principles, issues and concepts. Mike can be reached at 714-293-9036 or mike@ deblieux.com. Spring 2009 PIHRAScope 15
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.