Page 135 - You're Hired! Interview Answers

PeoPLe-BaSed QueStionS examPLe inteRview anSweRS ‘People’ answers do not have to be ‘soft and fluffy’ – the interviewer will want to
hear a degree of objectivity being applied – but at the same time the answers
do need to make reference to the issues listed above. Otherwise the risk is
that the interviewer will come to the conclusion that this person does not ‘do’
people. As a result, scores on the people competencies are likely to be low.

3 Better answer:

“OK, well after the merger at my last job it was clear that the marketing

department was overstaffed and that we would have to make some
redundancies. This is never easy, so I first spoke to HR to make sure that the
process was crystal clear. We drafted a letter explaining all the details but I
wanted to communicate the change personally, so I decided that I would call
a meeting with the marketing team to tell them myself and then hand out the
letters to cover all the detail. I wanted to let them know that we recognised how

difficult this would be and that we hadn’t made the decision lightly.”

interviewer: So how did people respond?

“I think telling them face to face paid off. Clearly they were concerned, but

they were able to ask questions there and then – I didn’t want bad information
to start all kinds of rumours going – I had Brian from HR with me, so between
us we were able to answer all their questions about the process and about
timing. Interestingly, a lot of the concerns were about how ongoing projects

could be finished. I thought that said a lot about the dedication of the team.”

This sequence pushes a lot of important buttons in terms of ‘people’ answers
and it is worth reviewing them.

n It recognises the importance of the ‘personal touch’; communication in
a difficult situation is handled face to face rather than impersonally. This
is not to say that face to face is always better, but in the context of this
question it shows that the person is not shying away from a challenging
interpersonal situation.

n There is recognition of the ‘human nature’ aspects of the situation; people’s
fears and concerns are acknowledged and a rationale for dealing with
them is explained – all provide signs of the emotional intelligence that the
interviewer is looking for.

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