Page 54 - Nutrition Counseling and Education Skills: A Guide for Professionals

Dairy, Fried foods, In baked goods, Convenience foods, Table fats, and Snacks) instrument used to evaluate
adherence to Step 1 and 2 diets of the National Cholesterol Education Program. It concentrates on recording
foods and portions contributing total fat, cholesterol, and saturated fat.21,22

Other short assessments include, for example, a 16-item questionnaire including photographs of foods
being developed for Spanish speakers who are low-income and a lower-literate population.23 Other examples
are an online calcium quiz to screen for insufficient dietary calcium, a Brief Calcium Assessment Tool
(BCAT) with 16 items,23,24 and a FFQ to assess intake of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.25

CASE ANALYSIS 3

What questions would you ask related to Mrs. Maynard’s family and lifestyle?

Preemployment Interviews

Interviewing skills are equally important in management positions where they are used to screen potential new
employees, to obtain information from current employees, and to explore solutions to problems.26 Managing
human resources is a responsibility in many positions. An example is the preemployment interview used by a
manager with prospective employees.

In preemployment interviews, several applicants are interviewed for a position to assess the person’s
credentials and skills for the job. After reviewing the application and resume, the interviewer communicates
information about the job. A structured interview uses preplanned, standardized questions related to the job
duties and requirements from the job description. Each applicant is asked the same questions.4,5 This will
decrease stereotypes and increase validity. Asking different questions of each applicant makes comparisons
difficult.4 A variation is to provide specific situations and ask how the person would respond.

One of the keys to finding out how a person will perform on a job is to analyze examples of past
performance. A behavioral interview asks the person about actual situations from a previous job and how they
were handled.4 Competency-based hiring uses job descriptions emphasizing the knowledge, skills, and
behaviors the person needs to perform the job, rather than a list of duties. In addition to knowledge and
expertise needed to perform, behaviors may include, for example, computer and interpersonal skills. Other
behaviors needed for success, such as initiative and collaboration with team members, are identified and
discussed. Behavioral-based interviews focus on past job performances, challenges, and experiences as a
measure of how a potential hire will perform on the job.27

Collecting previous examples expands on one’s understanding of the candidate’s work history, knowledge,
previous experience, and motivation. The person may be asked to describe how a problem was solved or a
decision was made, about a satisfying or challenging experience, or something learned in the past. Since
Internet sites provide preemployment questions with answers, a behavioral interview specific to what the
candidate has done and how it was done can be more helpful. For example, a person claiming computer skills
needs to provide specific examples of what he or she has done.

Most interviews proceed in three stages or components: (1) introducing the process, (2) questioning by the
interviewer as well as the interviewee, (3) with a closing including information on next steps and a timeline for

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