HR's role in interview process

njjel · March 2002

I am curious as to how other companies handle their interview process. Do you as human resources/personnel sit in on the interviews and if so do you take an active part in the interview and at the conclusion, are you afforded the opportunity to give your input on the candidate? At my work place it seems they would rather not have HR invovled in the actual interview at all. I'm wondering what others do?

kaw413 · March 2002

Our HR department doesn't get involved in the interview process. This may be because we have an internal recruiter that schedules the interviews and brings them in. Once that is done, the applicant will meet with one or two hiring managers. The only time our HR department gets involved is if we decide to hire that person; then all the paper work goes to us to send offers, etc.

System · March 2002

We are involved in the hiring process in certain cases. In the area of sales, our sales manager does the initial interview, but we also sit down and meet with the candidate. Sometimes we are asked for feedback and other times we are not. We are also not involved in the hiring of the production crew or the design positions.

We are however very much involved in the hiring of administrative personnel. We are a one person HR department with 60 employees.

Hope this helps.

AnneHa · March 2002

As the one-person HR person in an organization with 80 ees, I handle all hiring functions, from recruiting through orientation. I am required to 'manage' all interviews with candidates whether for entry level positions or top administrative positions. Our turnover is low (9%)so this is not as onerous as it could be in a larger organization. One benefit here is that I can spot (and remove) inappropriate info from applications and resumes before they are reviewed by other staff members. No matter what you ask for on the application form, some candidates always think more is better.

I have found that using a structured format for interviews with a set of written questions for each position works well for us. I usually prepare the questions (based on the job description) and give them to the supervisor of the open position for input. Also, by sitting in on all interviews I can make sure that no one strays into dangerous territory with their questions or idle commentary. Our managers and supervisors have really 'bought into' my participation and are very satisfied with the process.

Gillian · March 2002

We serve as a consultant and trainer. We usually do some prescreening but we think that the hiring manager can make the best decisions - after proper training re. the legalities of course. We are asked sometimes to be more active, which we will do and certainly will, if something gets out of whack.

slewis · March 2002

I am a one person HR office with 175 employees. I do the initial interview and then they go to an operations manager for a second interview. After that the applicant leaves and the ops mgr and myself meet to discuss the interview. When the decision is made to hire everything goes through me.

WT · March 2002

Each corporate culture is different. Here, HR does the initial interview and screening and then brings in supervisors from the appropriate area for second interviews. HR has responsibility for recruitment and hiring issues and retains final authority on terminations and discipline. Your situation may be different. Questions that need to be answered would be: 1. Who has responsibility for overall recruitment and hiring? 2. If a new hire does not work out, who has the task of termination if coaching does not work out? 3. Is the HR function dispersed out through supervisors so they hire, discipline, coach, and fire without HR? 4. If supervisors get into a mess, do they work it out or do they then run to HR and drop the situation in their lap?

If HR has to fix it in the end, they should have input from the beginning. However, if supervisors do all of it and it is working well, why would you want the added aggravation and responsibility?

HR's role in interview process

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