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The OperationsInc Navigator
January 20, 2011

Greetings!

The Navigator is published every other week and is filled with the latest HR related news, practical tips, answers to our reader's questions and a whole lot more! We welcome your participation in the makeup of this periodical. Send your feedback, ideas and input to:

[email protected]

In This Week's Edition...
  • Directing you to HR Solutions
  • Announcing Our New and Enhanced Training & Development Services
  • The 25 Strangest Interview Questions of 2010
  • Employers Reveal Outrageous and Common Mistakes Candidates Made in Job Interviews
  • What's on Your Mind?
  • Searching for Inspiration? A Few Words of Wisdom...
  • Ask Yourself...
  • Legal Disclaimer

  • Announcing Our New and Enhanced Training & Development Services
    Heather Trotta

    We invite you to learn more about our full suite of Training and Development Services led by Director, Heather Trotta.

    Click HERE to learn more and to view Courses offered in January & February or contact Heather directly at: 203-322-0538 or [email protected]


    The 25 Strangest Interview Questions of 2010
    Pencil

    A job-posting and community site for job-seekers, has compiled a list of the oddest interview questions of 2010. Goldman wins the number one slot. with this doozie: If you were shrunk to the size of a pencil and trapped in a blender, how would you get out? Among the other odd questions:

    • How many ridges are there around a quarter? (Reportedly from Deloitte)
    • What is the philosophy of martial arts? (Aflac)
    • Explain to me what has happened in this country during the last 10 years (Reportedly from Boston Consulting)
    • Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 how weird you are (Reportedly from Capital One)


    Employers Reveal Outrageous and Common Mistakes Candidates Made in Job Interviews
    Interview

    According to a recent survey, When asked what the most outrageous blunders they had encountered interviewing candidates were, hiring managers reported the following:

    • Provided a detailed listing of how previous employer made them mad.
    • Hugged hiring manager at the end of the interview.
    • Ate all the candy from the candy bowl while trying to answer questions.
    In addition to the most unusual gaffes, employers shared the most common mistakes candidates made during an interview:
    • Answering a cell phone or texting during the interview - 71 percent
    • Dressing inappropriately - 69 percent
    • Appearing disinterested - 69 percent


    What's on Your Mind?

    Because we want to best serve our readers, we feature a segment of our Newsletter where you can submit questions directly to our OperationsInc professionals. Do you have a question related to the management of the Human Resources function? Email it along to [email protected]. The best ones will make it into a future newsletter, along with the answer... and those that don't get published will still receive a response.

    This week's question:
    -Can part-time employees be classified as exempt?

    --- Office Manager, Retail

    Answer:
    In short yes. You can classify them as Exempt yet pay them hourly or pay them a fixed rate. You need to be careful about dealing with the time missed or shorted on a shift for the person you pay a fixed rate, which in most cases would be a wage and hour violation. Bottom line - get an expert to help you map this out.


    Searching for Inspiration? A Few Words of Wisdom...
    compass


    "We may need to solve problems not by removing the cause but by designing the way forward even if the cause remains in place."

    - Edward de Bono


    Ask Yourself...
    OI

    How Strong Is Your HR Backbone?


    Legal Disclaimer

    Information provided in The OperationsInc Navigator is researched and reviewed by the HR experts at OperationsInc. The information in every issue of The OperationsInc Navigator is in part gathered via information available in the public domain, as well as in part the original, copyrighted work of OperationsInc and is protected under U.S. copyright laws. As such, you may not reprint or publish in any format any article or portion of article The OperationsInc Navigator without the express permission of OperationsInc.

    OperationsInc provides the information in this e- newsletter for general guidance only. The information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional human resources, legal, or other competent advisers. Before making any decision or taking any action, you should consult a professional adviser who has been provided with all pertinent facts relevant to your particular situation.

    We encourage you to pass along any issue of The OperationsInc Navigator by forwarding it to friends and colleagues.


    Directing you to HR Solutions
    Direction

    INTERVIEW QUESTION OF THE WEEK

    Each Newsletter we will publish an interview question which hiring managers can utilize to better qualify candidates for hire, along with our analysis of the answers you may receive and their meaning.

    This Week's Question
    - Give me an example of when you felt you were able to build motivation with your co-workers or subordinates.

    GAUGING THEIR RESPONSE ---
    For those that lead it is important that they can represent the ability to motivate those they supervise. It may be an equally important skill even for those at a staff level. It's not good enough for someone to say they are a good leader. You need / want to see evidence of this ability. The best way to do this is to ask for examples of past behavior; past successes. Careful to listen for actual actions on the candidate's part vs. actions attributed to others.

    HR Best Practices Tips

    --Using Personality Assessments

    Even in the most complete and comprehensive of interview processes there are flaws. We are never REALLY sure of what we saw in the candidates and what we learned about them. It all boils down to an educated guess about their fit for the job and ability to perform at the level needed. One way to reinforce what we think we know is to conduct personality assessments, a testing regiment for the candidate that in less than an hour can tell us far more than we ever could hope to learn by the typical interview cycle. DiSC is one of many tried and true options on the market worth --- well --- assessing.

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