Preparing for a Selection Committee Interview

The Selection Committee will receive, after the submission of applications, Statements of Selection Procedure submitted in response to the RFQ. The Consultant will then review and determine whether these statements are comprehensive enough to justify the selection of candidates. The committee will assign a score to each candidate agreed upon by the entire Selection Committee and the Review Committee. The entire score may be derived from the sum of all the candidate scores for each selection criterion (rating area). The candidate score is then subtracted from the overall candidate score to obtain the final candidate score.

The Selection Committee may use the Summary of Evaluation to determine the overall effectiveness of any candidate. The Selection Committee will discuss and select candidate Questionnaires to evaluate the candidate’s suitability for the position. These questions will be used to select a candidate for inclusion in the interview process. The interviews may be recorded in advance or at a later date for review. The Review Committee will also consider statements in which the interviewer asks questions to be addressed by an applicant in response to specific interview questions.

In some cases, the selection committees will not conduct a session with a candidate prior to selecting him/her for an interview. In such instances, there is no need to conduct a session of a detailed sort with a potential candidate until after the selection process has been completed and the candidate has been formally invited for an interview. The interviewing process usually occurs once the Selection Committee has chosen the candidate to interview. Interviewers may use a pre-screening procedure to determine whether a candidate is suitable for a position. Candidates who have previously interviewed with one of their companies may be advised by their previous employers to avoid interviewing with the Selection Committee. If an employee of a company with whom an individual has previously interviewed has been invited to interview with the Selection Committee, this individual should not accept or decline an invitation to interview.

During the selection process, the selection committee members may individually screen candidates. Members of the selection committee may use a standard questionnaire on which they ask a series of questions on personal characteristics that are relevant to the job. The answers made by these individuals are then compared with the answers given by the candidate to various standard job performance measures. An employee’s answers to standard job performance measure questions can provide valuable information about what types of questions will likely be asked during the interview.

When a person is invited to an interview, he/she should arrive at least fifteen minutes prior to the scheduled interview time. A person should wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothing such as a dress, skirt or pants when attending a Selection Committee interview. This applies to all employees regardless of their position in the Company. The mere fact that a person is wearing a business suit to a Selection Committee interview, however, does not mean that the individual will necessarily be asked to wear a suit to the actual interview.

Open communication between the candidate and the Selection Committee is critical to the success of a candidate’s interview. Candidates need to be prepared to address any questions that the selection committee members have about their background, education, work history, etc. In addition, candidates should provide feedback regarding the topics that the interviewers raise during the interview. In other words, candidates need to listen to the Selection Committee to learn more about the organization, to try to understand what the organization’s goals are, and to become better acquainted with the hiring and selection processes. By participating in an open dialogue with the selection committee members, candidates will develop a better sense of how they fit within the organization’s structure and how they wish to be perceived by coworkers, management, and clients.