The technological progress of society and the development of digital solutions have affected society at all levels. Changes are manifested in various spheres, from some common habits and behaviors to working conditions and business. Given the changes in working conditions, more and more technological advances are also affecting the field of human resource management. In addition to the usual challenges of finding the most capable candidates and assessing their characteristics, the area of human resources has been hitherto unseen. Like all industries in the world, COVID-19 has imposed the need for a complete reorganization of work. Accordingly, the testing of potential candidates as we have known them so far has been forgotten. New technologies have introduced innovations such as computerized adaptive testing.

When it comes to abilites and assessments in an organizational context, the predictive value of cognitive abilites is also of great importance (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998). Intelligence tests are an unavoidable aspect of a quality selection process and can be a key factor for various organizational decisions. Therefore, due to the availability and ease of application, digital psychological tests have become a necessary tool for quality assessment. Also, automatic scoring and interpretation of results reduces time and necessary human resources which is why we cannot give them up. But, it was necessary to create new instruments in digital form that would slowly replace traditional paper-pencil tests.

It is not new that in line with the development of technology, digital tests are becoming more and more sophisticated. But the complete revolution in digital testing has been brought by computerized adaptive testing.  If you have not heard of this test yet, you have missed a lot. Computerized adaptive testing or abbreviated CAT is a sophisticated method of measuring a certain ability, which is based on the idea of adapting the test to each individual. Due to the optimization of the test, the time required to solve the test is also reduced. This makes the job much easier for the candidates, in terms of time and energy.

What is computerized adaptive testing and how does it work?

How is it possible that adaptive testing is individually optimized and still has all the metric characteristics of the test met? Adaptive testing involves applying only the most appropriate tasks to each individual by presenting the next one, depending on the answer a person offers on one task. The difficulty of the tasks that a person solves is constantly adjusted during the test to the development of his abilities.

The test begins with an averagely difficult task, after which the branching starts according to the results of the individual. For example, if the first task is solved incorrectly, the next offered task will be from the category of slightly easier tasks. Depending on the next answer, branching will continue. By the same logic, if a person solves another task wrong, he or she will get an even easier task. If the second task is correct, then the candidate is given a slightly more difficult task until his ability is determined. As a rule, most candidates should complete the test through about 15 tasks.

This method allows accurate computer estimation of one’s level of ability, using a significantly smaller number of tasks than is the case with classical tests. Of course, the very development of a computerized adaptive test requires a whole range of psychometric analyzes to create a smaller group of clearly defined tasks, selection and presentation algorithms. Therefore, it is not possible to create this test in paper form.

In collaboration with a professor at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb and the company Selekcija ltd started the project of developing the first Croatian computerized adaptive test. The joint work developed from a detailed analysis of tasks that have been applied for years in the selection of staff and the work of the Selekcija.hr team to the development of the final database of adaptive test tasks and the algorithm for their application.

By creating a digital testing tool, the selection process has accelerated, but it has also become more economical than it was before. Thus, adaptive testing imposed new trends in assessment, but also provided insight into the bright future of the selection process.

Advantages of adaptive testing in candidate selection

When we look back to the beginnings of computer-based testing of cognitive abilities, we can notice that in the not-so-distant past, it was tested with very simple tests. Due to the unavailability of computers, the tests had to be applied on paper. Today, almost every household owns a computer. The adaptive test on Recruiter.hr platform can even be solved on a mobile phone, so there is almost no excuse for candidates about not being able to solve the test.

Furthermore, what we often see in selection is the presence of a candidate discouragement effect when solving aptitude tests on paper. Since they are unfamiliar with standardizing test, respondents may feel discouraged and frightened by solving more difficult tasks. Then the effect of test anxiety is more pronounced. On the other hand, for some candidates, the same tests may be too easy and they may sometimes lose initial interest in solving the test. In this way, the final result of the examinee on the test depends on the level of difficulty of the question to which he answered correctly.

Thus different respondents may have the same number of correct answers, but those who answered the more difficult questions correctly ultimately have a better result. An additional advantage of adaptive testing lies in the reduced ability to rewrite or transmit test information because it generates a much larger amount of tasks that can be different each time.

The progress provided by adaptive testing benefits both, the employer and the candidate. Namely, we often encounter the problem that candidates are employed and cannot attend testing during working hours or are therefore generally unable to participate in a lengthy process. We are also sometimes inclined to test a larger number of candidates in order to select the best one. With adaptive testing, the time frame is greatly reduced and provides more time to get to know the candidate and his or her behavioral characteristics in more detail.

Conclusion

Ultimately, we can notice that the COVID-19 has shaken all the industries, but the challenges have forced us to make progress, especially in business and candidate selection. We can only imagine in which direction CAT technology will develop, but we can agree that the quality of testing has increased rapidly in the age of digitalization and adaptive testing. Given the current advances in testing, general digitization and its benefits, we’ll hardly ever go back to paper-pencil tests again.

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Very often during the selection process the best candidates are the ones who have more work experience, but is this always the case?! When they were looking for employees for their call centre, Xerox stopped assessing people based on work experience, because results showed that previous work experience was not as important for this type of position. What turned out as important is the candidate’s personality…

When selecting candidates we must ask ourselves how important is the candidate’s work experience is and what was the work culture like on his/her previous work position. When interviewing such a candidate we will often come to realize that their work task at a previous job was often repetitive, simple, that they had no autonomy or responsibility and that they were working in a work environment with flexible work morale. We can also come to the conclusion that they were mentored by expert individuals who didn’t train them how to do their job fast and efficient or who, for example, used out-dated work methods. If we reach these kinds of conclusions, this doesn’t mean we will automatically disregard this XY candidate from further selection, but this valuable information can become a basis for defining the employee XY’s prospective training.

One of the first steps in the selection of candidates is going through the CVs of the candidates who applied for the position. In the midst of the colourful CVs, it is common to “get caught” on two categories, education and previous work experience. If a candidate has ample work experience, he is usually “more interesting” to an employer than the one without work experience, regardless of the level of education acquired. But, is this really the case and what are the “traps” hidden by previous work experience?

Big employer’s experience:

“…I don’t go through the CVs anymore before deciding whether to call a candidate to an interview or not ”, says Teri Morse, who supervises the employment of more than 30,000 people in Xerox every year. Instead, they analyze data on candidates who have to pass a test with a series of different questions, which, among other things, assess types of personality and future employee’s success. They have given up on looking at CVs based on previous experience, because data showed that previous experience is not crucial for this job position!  What turned out to be crucial was the candidate’s personality…

Research:

Research somewhat confirms the employers’ experience. In this part we will reflect on more recent research conducted by authors Dokko, Wilk and Rothbard (2008) which test the influence of relevant work experience (in the same industry or profession) on job performance in a different employer’s company. The mentioned research was conducted on a sample of 771 employees and job candidates in two call centres of two major American insurance companies, during which the job performance of the employees was analysed and the development of their skills and their knowledge. The authors tested the correlation of job performance and skills with previous work experience and the work experience in the present company. As it was expected, previous work experience in other companies was connected with higher levels of knowledge and skills which resulted in better evaluations of job performance in the new companies. However, when the authors considered the employee’s initial knowledge and skills they had when entering the company, they got a slightly lower job performance, that is, they saw the „costs“ the experienced employers make for the company. Wilk et al. as expenses list old habits and ways of performing a task which are not necessarily efficient in the new companies and are conceptually called behavioural and cognitive rigidity. They state it is extremely important to make a good estimate of the previous work experience and its effect on job performance so the companies could develop a good selection process, training and socialization of the new employees. They also state that how the new employee fits the organizational structure of the new company is very important, that is, does the new company have similar work culture habits as the previous one where the employee performed the same job. If the new company’s standards are the same as the employee’s expectations which he acquired at the previous position, then we can expect the employee will soon become a part of the company and the quality of his job performance will be superb.

The study also shows that employees who spent more of their work time in insurance companies benefited less from previous work experience in other companies, while it was harder to get rid of negative effects (expenses) which shows that behavioural and cognitive rigidities are very stable (“old habits die hard”). This conclusion can be practically applied – because it points to individual differences in types of personality of the employees, that is, to the level of adaptability which can become crucial when assessing the level of employee’s success at a given workplace.

Note! Job performance can be relatively easily predicted based on the following criteria: work sample, cognitive ability test (intellectual functioning), structured interview, specific knowledge and skills test, integrity test, assessment centres and personality tests (integrity as the most important predictor and emotional stability). Methods that are somewhat less successful in predicting job performance are: recommendations, work experience, number of years spent in school and GPA. Also, in order to select the best candidate you should use as many methods possible, because that way you lower the risk of employment.

Very often during the selection process, the candidates with the most experience are the best ones, but this is not always the case! Top candidate, except work experience, has very good work ethics (high integrity; is detail-oriented and persistent), general intellectuality and good social and communication skills.

Want to know more? You can find more information on the following links

• http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/13552.pdf(Unpacking Prior Experience: How Career History Affects Job Performance; Dokko G., Wilk L.S. & Rothbard N.P., Organization Science, 2008.)
• http://www.siop.org/Workplace/employment%20testing/testtypes.aspx
• https://www.umbel.com/blog/big-data/recruiters-big-data/(Top 5 Things Recruiters Should Ask Their Big Data)
• http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e3561cd0-dd11-11e3-8546-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3CslfhAu7(Forget the CV, data decide careers)

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…Contrary to this, here the young and the unemployed believe that no one will hire them and that nothing will change, so there’s no point in trying. So this is how the see job interviews, from the perspective of a desperate man or a pessimist, and no one will hire them as such!

Proactive behavior, in the broadest sense, is every behavior the aim of which is profit – personal and for the people around us in situations in which our superiors and colleagues don’t think there’s a need for this activity and there is no business pressure that this particular activity should be performed, but there are justified reasons that this kind of behavior could lead to profit in the future.

Being proactive includes a proactive analysis of the current situation, a quality prognosis of future outcomes and solving problems which might appear in the future. Being proactive demands responsibility, additional motivation, initiative, understanding the situation, clearly communicating with your superiors, subordinates and colleagues regarding future goals, communicating with clients about their needs and predicting their needs, at the same time thinking both from a bird-eye’s view and top-down perspective, and maybe the most important thing, be ready to constantly change work rhythms. The last is probably the most difficult to find, especially in work atmospheres dominated by the „golden phrase“. “Don’t go against the current”. Cynics might say that being proactive is looking for more things to do and unnecessary „ass kissing“, but in the restless business world of capitalism and especially work, there are not a lot of people who have the luxury of waiting for change to come from the inside.

In his famous book „7 Habits of Highly Effective People“Stephen Covey lists being proactive as the first one. Special emphasis is on the word habit, which means that being proactive makes sense if it is a constant unwritten value within the company.

We can paint the picture of being proactive with the situation in which one partner wants to surprise his significant other with something he knows the other person will like, but it was never specifically asked as a present.

Reactive thinking and behaving is the opposite of proactive thinking. This sort of behavior is often in hierarchically structured and defined jobs which require performing the job a certain way. Own initiative is not clearly expressed and the emphasis lies on doing a certain minimum. For example, we can hardly ask, for example, a professional soldier, delivery man or a patrolman to be proactive.
Reactive way of thinking was beautifully depicted by John Lennon with the lyrics: “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”.

However, in the world of capitalism and work and working with people, proactive behavior is more than desirable, so we can take as an example an active approach of unemployed people to finding an employment, which leads to getting a job faster. Contrary to this, here the young and the unemployed believe that no one will hire them and that nothing will change, so there’s no point in trying. So this is how the see job interviews, from the perspective of a desperate man or a pessimist, and no one will hire them as such! In the micro-worlds of particular companies, proactive behavior leads to more clients, their satisfaction with services, better prevention of unpleasant surprises.

How to implement proactive behavior? Being proactive starts with the main people in the company, and they do, before everything else, choose their employees. Already during the selection process you can see who is a proactive person and who is not. „Proactive ones“will more or less discretely mention they make their own luck. Further on, if the head management wants, they can send their workers to take various courses or workshops which they think could increase their profit. Besides, head management can encourage workers to produce new and fresh ideas and select the ideas and proposals for improvement. Communicating about being proactive makes the workers believe the leadership of the company and reduces the fluctuation of manpower – and there are „palpable“variables. Proactive thinking can even be a certain tolerance for losers, if it a pledge for profit in the future.

As any sort of behavior can be twisted, bad and deviant, the same way when proactive behavior is concerned there are situations when it is applied the wrong way. The best example are some pharmaceutical companies which first manufacture a medicine, and then look for a disease to fit it or manufacture a medicine, and then artificially move the limits of medical parameters and so use the possibility of placing the medicine on the market.

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Luckily, there is a solution for that problem, as well There are some questions frequently asked in the job interviews and if you prepare, you will without a problem be able to wear the Miss Employment Candidate sash. I’ve found them for you and grouped into areas they refer to:

EDUCATION:

1. How much time did you spend studying, per day?
2. Have you participated in any other educational activities after finishing your formal education, and if yes, how successful were you?
3. Have you been an active member of a student organization?
4. How do your experience and knowledge make you qualified for this work position?

WORK EXPERIENCE:

1. What was expected from you in your previous work positions? Did you have to work overtime and what is your opinion on overtime?
2. Did you work with a college?
3. How often were you trusted with difficult and complicated tasks in your previous work positions?
4. What workload are you ready to do without asking to be considered as overtime work and in which circumstances?
5. Would your colleagues come to you for help in getting work done?
6. What would you say is your biggest accomplishment in your job?
7. Which employer would give you the worst recommendation and why? And which one the best?

ACTIVITIES IN YOUR FREE TIME:

1. How do you spend your free time?
2. Do you have any hobbies?

LEAVING YOUR PREVIOUS WORKPLACE, COMING TO THE NEW WORKPLACE:

1. Why do you want to leave your current job? Why did you leave your last workplace where you were employed?
2. Why are you applying for this job position?

PERCEPTION ABOUT THE NEW WORKPLACE:

1. What do you think are our company’s main activities?
2. What is in this workplace that appeals to you the most*
3. What appeals to you the least?

PERSONALITY:

1. What is the worst thing you ever did?
2. How competitive do you think you are? Do you like competitive sports? In what extent do winning or losing influence our wish to participate in the competition?
3. How do you react to losing in a certain game?
4. How often do you start an argument with your colleagues, professors and similar?
5. Describe a situation in which you felt extremely frustrated and powerless. How did you react?
6. Describe the least mature thing you ever did.
7. What do you think about the possibility of doing more tasks at the same time? How do you feel when you know you will not be able to finish a project on time?
8. How do you plan a certain activity before you start doing it? How much attention do you pay to details, writing reports, etc?
9. In which circumstances did someone rely on you in a high degree? How did you respond to that?
10. In what degree did you volunteer at certain jobs in the past? Why?
11. Describe the thing you did and which challenged you the most intellectually.
12. How would your best friend describe you? And your enemy?
13. How often do you rely on other people? And they on you?
14. To which extent do you believe that people want to use you?
15. How would you react when your superior would have a different opinion on performing a certain aspect of your task?
16. How do you usually feel after a hard day’s work? In the last two years, how many days have you missed work because you were sick?
17. Describe yourself.

COMMUNICATION

1. How would others describe your communication skills?
2. What do you think is your biggest advantage when communicating with other people?
3. Do you like to communicate with people?
4. Is it difficult for you to put your thoughts on paper?
5. How often have you had the opportunity to speak in front a large group of people?

QUESTIONS FOR PEOPLE IN THE FINAL SELECTION

1. What are you going to do if you don’t get this job?
2. If we offered this job to you, now, how would you react?
3. If you get this job and say this to your current co-workers, how will they react?
4. If they offer you more money in the old workplace to stay and work there, what would you do?
5. What else could you say and that could help us make this decision?
6. What do you think, what kind of mistakes did you do during this interview?

The post Selection of the employees – questions at a job interview appeared first on Recruiter.ba.

The real answer about the salary question is actually the diplomatic avoiding of a specific answer which can be uncomfortable, so people don’t do it. In fact, that who says the first number is no longer in advantage…

The question of salary will inevitably come up during the selection process. The way you answer this question will greatly influence whether you will get the job or not, but also the salary itself if you get the job. So it is pretty important to know what to do in order to get what you want.

First, you shouldn’t be the one starting to talk about the salary. Especially not during the first interview! As in life, here timing is everything, that is, the right moment to talk about this topic. If you ask the question in the beginning, you leave the impression of a person whose only motive for coming was money and you will probably not get the job. Be patient.

If the employer asks „What kind of a salary do you expect?“ during the first interview, it is possible that he will use this question as eliminatory one. If you say the number which is higher than the one employer is ready to give or on the other hand, if you underestimate yourself, you will probably be eliminated. So in this case the best tactics is to try to postpone your answer until the position is offered to you. You should answer that you want to know more about the responsibilities on the workplace before talking about the salary.

The later in the selection process does the question come up, the better for you. This means you have the advantage and it is likely that the employer saw your qualities and he wants to hire you.

It is important to remember there is no need to negotiate the salary before the job is offered to you, but also you shouldn’t take the job before finding out your salary and what other benefits are included in the package.

The real answer about the salary question is actually the diplomatic avoiding of a specific answer which can be uncomfortable, so people don’t do it. In fact, that who says the first number is no longer in advantage…

Negotiating about the salary can take some time depending on the skills of those doing the negotiating and both the candidates and the interviewer. One of the things the candidate can do is not express his expectations until the very end. In this case both of the parties insist on their own positions. Studies show that during the interview it is important to „mirror“the person conducting the interview. What does that even mean? It seems that if the candidate mirrors the behavior of the interviewer, it is more likely the interviewer will feel more comfortable, which will contribute to the positive impression the interviewer will have of the candidate and set him apart from all the other and positively influence the decision on his employment. If we see persevering in the negotiations as mirroring the behavior of the interviewer, the analogy is clear.
However, there’s the danger that if we avoid to answer we will leave the impression that you are not capable of assessing your abilities which can negatively influence the final decision on employment.

The other possibility is that after gathering all the important information about all the aspect of the job you are applying to, you simply answer the question. Of course, never with the exact amount, but with a salary range. Try to assume the salary range considering what you know about the company, the average salary for that specific position and considering you personally (there is a difference if you are a trainee or you have work experience and if you are applying for a position with more responsibilities).

Before you get to the interview, do some research on the salary in the company you are going to have the interview in, on the salary in your industry and generally in the job you are applying to. You have to know how much the job is worth, but also how much you are worth. With these information you will you will know how to behave when you reach this topic.

Try to reach the top of the scope. List the arguments which you will justify this. After you have said what you want and expect from the employer, don’t add new demands. Do it once, because any additional demand will have a negative effect.
If the employer offers you a low salary, don’t take the job. It is possible that this offer is just a part of their strategy and if you immediately say yes, you shouldn’t expect a raise or promotion in the future. There is a chance that saying „no“to a low salary can get you a better offer. It is a risk, so if you really need the job, be careful!

The post Asking about the salary – a tricky question at the job interview appeared first on Recruiter.ba.

The job application is maybe set up for the worst possible candidate. In the “friend of a friend” cue, but as a rule, in successful companies and firms, such employing is avoided – because the company is making a big risk such a way!

Today it is very difficult to find a young person who hasn’t at least once, encountered these words after finishing their education: “Dear Sir/Madam, you were not chosen in the selection process for the job of… or “We chose someone else who we found was better suited for this workplace…”

These kinds of notifications are first and foremost unpleasant, because they imply that the particular candidate in not good enough. Beside, rejection letter is also a sign that another hope of employment (and solving existential problems) has died. In a capitalist society (whatever it is) the worker is the one selling his know-how, skills, abilities and experience to the employer, who then sells it further on (most commonly to the end user).

Bearing in mind the constant crisis and recession there are some aspects we should remember:

1. It is possible that the interviewer made a mistake, as it is possible that the psychological tests made wrong prognosis or a mistake in judgment was made on the basis of former employment, stereotypes and so on. Also, the candidate can also wrongly assess that the workplace will solve all of his problems…
2. It is possible that the company is not hiring the best candidate for the job, but rather the worker who will make the most money for the amount invested. In some cases this explains hiring interns, which are (according to the current laws) employed, but the state is paying for them.
3. Maybe you will work more than the company will be present on the market In other words, if a worker is entering the company which is already on shaky grounds, maybe he will be the first one to be laid off when the financial balance of the company diminishes according to the “last to come, first to leave” law. Hiring fast and laying people off fast is a great stress to the new worker. It is possible that the new employer (especially if he’s incompetent or prone to blaming others) will blame you as a newcomer for the bad condition of the organization.
4. Maybe the people working in the personnel department/HR department think of you as a good candidate, but not for the said job position. For example, they are looking for a person for the sales department, and they think that you are not used to work in unstructured situations. It is possible that they will think of you when they are looking for someone for accounting, for example.
5. Maybe it is the problem of “bad chemistry” – that you misunderstood each other in the interview. Or maybe, on the personal level which doesn’t have to have anything to do with professional communication, the communication between the interviewer and you “didn’t click”, unlike someone who maybe isn’t a strong as candidate as you, know-how and abilities-wise. Not getting ready enough or candidate’s mood during the interview also are in this sphere.
6. Maybe you are a good and nice team player, and you are applying to the company ruled by unwritten rules of competition where the desire to maintain good inter-personal relations is small or non-existent. Or the other way around.
7. Maybe this job is not for you, or not in the context the company is expecting you to perform it. Maybe there were things they didn’t tell you in the job interview or they told you indirectly that they expect you to perform your job contrary to your work ethics and profession. If you really love your profession this dilemma is not difficult to solve.
8. The job application is maybe set up for the worst possible candidate. In the “friend of a friend” cue, but as a rule, in successful companies and firms, such employing is avoided – because the company is making a big risk such a way! Firstly, because it hands out the better candidates for the position to the competition, and these candidates will do a better and more work for the same money (and we all know what this means in the market). Secondly, they are exposing themselves to a big risk that the candidate will not adapt to the workplace and will not perform well. According to current laws, such worker is hard to fire – he can “hide in the sick leave”, be in cahoots with the local politician, use mobbing to blackmail and so on. In this case the company has to hire an additional worker or settle with the stagnation and general decrease of atmosphere in the work environment, because the profit is being shared also between those who are contributing adequately. So, it is not necessary for you to think about the job position which was intended for someone else. If this really is the case, the firm will get what it deserves and without any emotions from you.

What next?

1. Get informed on test results and interviews. Maybe they will not be able to tell you anything specific, but maybe you will find out about some other options about other jobs with their business partners.
2. If it is necessary, cry and scream in your pillow– After this, burn this emotional bridge!
3. Job hunting continues! People with the best references don’t get the best jobs, but rather people that don’t give up on looking, who are informed and are active on job interviews. But, some people find it easier to become (or stay) passive!

Anyhow, there’s life even after work and after loosing employment, rejection letters and bad employers (I have experience with all of the above).

The post You got a rejection letter!? appeared first on Recruiter.ba.

If you don’t ask any questions, you leave an impression that you are the kind of person that doesn’t try. Or that you are not ambitious. You are saying that you haven’t prepared, that you are not very bright or that you are scared …

A typical job interview usually ends with the offer by the interviewer to answer some of your questions. When you find yourself in this situation, use it wisely.

Two of the most common mistakes that job candidates do is that they ask questions regarding salary or they do not ask questions at all.

Question about the salary should be left for the final selection, except if it is being posed by the employer himself! Otherwise, you can come off as a person who is interested only in money, which doesn’t make you look good. Of course, there are exceptions even among employers, so there are those employers who like to know what expenses they can count on at the very beginning.

If you don’t ask a question at the end of the interview, you leave the impression of a person who is not motivated or not ambitious. You are saying that you haven’t prepared for the interview, that you are not interested in the company, that you are scared, and sometimes employers can think that you are not very „sharp“(whatever that means!).

On the other hand, you can gain advantage if you use questions, because the employer is judging you through these questions, but you have to be careful. The questions you have learned by heart and that actually don’t interest you can bring more harm, than good! Because of this it is important to adjust the questions to the context and ask that which is really important and that interests you. Also, it is possible that the examiner counters with a question of his own in which he will ask you to explain why you are interested in the topic of the question, and then you should be ready – because if you ask the question just to leave a good impression, you won’t be able to manage.

There are no rules on the number of questions. Everything depends on what interests you. Maybe you will prepare 15 questions, but won’t have time to ask everything. That’s why you need to set your priorities and ask the most important things considering the context. If you are in the first round of the interviews, ask the basic information and when you are selected for the final circle you will get your chance to ask the rest.

What can happen sometimes is that you get an answer to your question just by talking to the employer. In case that happens, you can list what you wanted to know and how you got the answer. This way you are saying that you are patient and that you listen to what the employer is saying. If you didn’t understand something, kindly ask the interviewer to explain it to you-
It is always better to ask questions that require a longer answer, rather than the yes or no questions (closed-type).Open-type questions usually get a clear and longer answer.

If you don’t know what to ask, here you can read the examples you can use. Questions listed below can be used as guidelines in forming your own questions for the employers. Of course, you have to adjust them to your own situation – the job you do, the position you are applying for and the specific employer.

• When can I expect you will reach the decision on the employment?
• If you decide to hire me, when do you expect me to start working?
• Is it necessary for me to get some sort of training before I start working? If yes, what will this look like??
• Is there a probation period?
• What are the work hours? Is it usual to work overtime? Do you work on weekends?
• What is the possibility of getting to a higher position in your company?
• Who will I work with the most?
• Who will be my superior and what is his of her work mode?
• How many employees do you have and how many people are there in the team in which I would work in if you decide to hire me?
• What are the advantages and the disadvantages of your company/organization with regard to other companies?
• What is this company/organization’s plan for the next 5 years and how important is the department in which I would work in and the job position I applied for?
• What job you did in this organization did you enjoy the most? What don’t you like and what would you change?
• How would you describe the work atmosphere in your company?
• How will the reasonability I have and my performance be measured and who will do it? Are there already set evaluation criteria? How often are the employees criticized both formally and informally?
• What are the day-to-day obligations and responsibilities of this work position?
• Can you describe the way in which this organization is managed and what kind of employee would fit the organization the best?
• How would you describe your ideal employee?
• How would you describe the ideal employee for the work position I am applying for?
• Will I have to/be in the position to travel a lot if I get the job? Are business trips often a part of the job I am applying for?
• What is the organization policy regarding moving employees into other cities?
• What are some of the skills and abilities a person needs in order to be successful in this job position?
• What is the company policy regarding seminars, workshops and employee training? Do you do additional employee trainings?
• To what extent can an employee develop his or her personal goals with counseling and help?
• I read on your webpage that the team from this organization participated in XP seminar/conference/congress. I would like to know is that the usual policy in the job position I am applying to?

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It is used in all possible situations, especially before elections, during war and after hunting. It is also used in the procedure of staff selection.

What is lying? The answer to this question is: Directly and knowingly not saying the truth when answering the question. It is used in all possible situations, especially before elections, during war and after hunting (as Churchill said). It is also used in the procedure of staff selection and not only by the candidates (code: „everybody does it, especially now when there are no jobs), but also by the employers (code: „we make false promises“).

Lying pays off if no one discovers we lied and if no one suspect what we said wasn’t true and starts checking facts. When discovered, all of a sudden lying causes a lot of trouble, because employers need someone they can trust, while workers need someone they can trust – a boss they believe and they can rely on.
It is known that the „atmosphere of mutual trust“ contributes to a stabile work atmosphere, which consequently contributes to a smaller fluctuation of workers and a lower number of sick leave and „false sick leave“. Fluctuations, sick leave and false sick leave cost the employee a lot. Also, lying on the first interview can cost you advancing in your career and sometimes even lead to terminating the business cooperation. However, if the candidate who is applying for a job is applying for the position of a spokesman for a politician, maybe lying is a good recommendation?

Apart from the conversations, that you are lying can come out in the tests. Firstly, personality test results can differ from the results of the interview. Because in the personality tests there are control scales of giving socially acceptable answers, scales of saying only the best about yourself, scales of giving uncommon answers and so on.

If the cheater wants to do „a good job on the test“, he will have to be careful about the questions that can reveal his intentions. This will take more concentration, energy, time to answer the questions, and actually more imagination that the average person needs (when someone wants to cheat, they have to be imaginative!). All of this is very noticeable, and sometimes it becomes obvious – for example, in the whole room there is one candidate left who is thinking very hard about a personality test.

Nevertheless, let’s say this step has been successfully completed. The next thing the candidate faces is the interview. During the interview it is possible to determine, using some paralinguistic signs, which are the candidates weaknesses and why. To tell the truth, if something is the candidate’s weakness, this doesn’t mean that he is immediately lying and that he has bad intentions. Today in Croatia there are some „amazing“ employers about who we cannot say anything good, so in these circumstances the candidates will probably say a couple of polite sentences and seem insincere while doing this.

However, if identical, unconvincing and empty structures are used throughout the interview, the interview will start doubting. Specifically, this implies the following:

1. unusually long pauses while answering clear, direct and exact questions
2. using buzzword verbs „I think that“, „I believe that“ and the words „maybe“, „certainly“ and similar (talking without substance and repeating words which don’t mean anything the speaker is just trying to buy time to think)
3. a sudden stutter
4. leaving out key parts and over-using emotional words
5. jumping from topic to topic and using counter-questions
6. tension and getting angry when there is no reason for it
7. unnatural movements of the body and the face

If the potential liar has passed even this test, the next method is checking out facts. Every interviewer will write at least a couple of words on the candidate, and any kind of suspicious information (including letters of recommendation) can be verified, now easier than ever. Also, the interviewer can ask for additional information with which he will verify what the candidate claims.

Interviewer can confront the candidate, he can act that he’s hooked (thus the liar believes he can lie even more) and he can simply write a NO on the candidate’s CV, calmly end the conversation and leave the candidate thinking he made a great impression.

And after all of this, if the candidate really makes a good impression, it is possible that the company will recommend such for a similar job position in, for example, a business partner’s company. The opposite also applies, if we catch the candidate lying at the interview, his chances of getting a recommendation are getting smaller.

And if the liar passed even this, final step and got the job he wanted, I am not sure he will be satisfied on the given workplace, because people of such amazing skills are desperately looking (and paying very well) for a job in another place – Hollywood.

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Many legends have been told about personality tests – from the one about it being able to read every person to that one about being able to lie and cheat on these tests …

vDuring their lifetime a large number of employees encounter the procedure of psychological testing, and this procedure usually consists of three parts: test(s) of intellectual ability, personality test(s) and a shorter or longer conversation with a psychologist.

When intellectual abilities are concerned, for adults they are defined as relatively permanent abilities of understanding new situations, unknown to the individual and characteristics of solving problems in a new situation.

There are no methods which can augment a person’s intellectual abilities, but there are strategies that can help every person to get a result according to his or her abilities.

First and foremost, you should come to the test well-rested. The first part of sleeping period helps our brain rest and the second part helps our memory and studying. If a candidate comes to the testing sleepy, there are bigger chances of not understanding the instructions and tests assignments. Memory is not only long-term remembering, but it also implies sensory (up to 2 second) and short-term memory (up to a couple of days). Without a good memory, you will have difficulties doing good on the test, that is, the result of the test will probably not represent the intelligence accurately.

Be careful with medications! Certain medications can have side-effects such as sleepiness, irritability, troubles concentrating, slowing down you psychomotor skills. You should definitely consult your doctor about taking these drugs!

Test anxiety is welcome. The average man (especially if this is a selection process for a job) feels nervous and this is a good thing. This means he cares to make a good impression and that he took the testing seriously. However, it is not good to be extremely anxious, but there are techniques and methods with which you can reduce anxiety to a tolerable level (for example, relaxation techniques). You shouldn’t take tranquilizers and various anxiolytic without consulting your doctor. Most of these pills do help your anxiety, but also slow down the thinking process and problem solving process. When alcohol is concerned, all has already been said – alcohol also affects our clarity and gives a false sense of safety and at the same time slows down the normal cerebellum functions (it is where the movement control centers are). Alcohol is an anxiolytic (reduces anxiety), but it will definitely not help you get a good score on the tests, actually quite the opposite.

Besides, if the candidate needs something like this while doing the tests, the question is how anxious will the candidate be at the very workplace, when the going really gets tough?

Personality tests have been the topic of most folk legends – from the one about it being able to read every person to that one about being able to lie and cheat on these tests. Generally, there are no right and wrong answers on a personality test, but rather a corresponding profile is modeled on the tendency of answering the questions.

Every personality test is well-tested with complicated mathematical-statistical procedures and only after it is „tested on people“.

Is it possible to lie on personality tests? Of course it is, but, the chances that a perpetrator of something like this can get „caught“are getting bigger. One of the methods is observing the behavior of the candidate during the testing itself (manipulators, whether they want it or not, think „very much“ during the testing) and the other method is applying control scales in the test itself. There are the following control scales: the scale of giving socially acceptable answers (also called „the lying scale“), the scale of describing yourselves in superlatives, the probability scale of answering the questions randomly, scale of preferences by answering YES o NO…

In short, it is advised to answer the personality tests honestly and with self-criticism, with careful consideration of the key words in these questions: always, ever, never, often, generally, in principle. In these questions „always“means – really always, „never“means – really never.

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It is not easy to withstand criticism or rejection, but believe me when I say that those who do the criticizing or rejecting don’t have it easy either. Often because they don’t know how to do it. Unfortunately, this is the main part of life and work. Because of this it is important to give the feedback, but also to get it. So, as a process feedback includes two parties – those giving the feedback and those receiving it.

When negative feedback is concerned, both parties have problems. The person giving the feedback is often worried that the person they are talking to will get the wrong impression and believe that this person will not know how to deal with what has been said. The person getting the feedback thinks they should apologize, with a whole specter of information.

When we are talking about giving feedback to job candidates, we have to list a couple of main notes:

• Immediately after completing the psychological testing or the interview you should thank the candidates and say when and how they will get the feedback.
• You must give feedback, the sooner the better!
• You should base the feedback on facts, not subjective attitudes.
• Feedback must not include your opinion about the candidates or disqualify them as people.
• Feedback should refer to specific competencies, it should be clear and complete.
• Feedback should be given in the manner appropriate for the candidate’s level (according to Cook & Cripps, 2009).

Organizations often have their own forms they use to inform people. This can be in oral or written form. Here you can download the sample form of a rejection letter or „Notification on the results of the applications“ (.doc) (or .docx) for which you can say they take into account the candidates to which it informs.

„Some people are not influenced by other people’s opinions and criticism.“ This happens very rarely and often it is a lie- We are very much affected by feedback and it is difficult, if not impossible to disregard criticism. The solution lies not in the ignoring of the negative, because that which is negative is not always wrong. We should ask ourselves what it is we are doing wrong, what needs work and how to change it. Of course, if we are aware of the fact that we are not perfect. If we believe we are perfect and other people are always to blame, there’s no helping us. Besides, we should check with other candidates, friends or through other sources if the criticism is constructive or subjective and burdened with unusual attitudes, values or experiences of the interviewer. In other words, do they have anything to do with us?

Literature

Cook, M. & Cripps, B. (2009). Psihološko procjenjivanje na radnome mjestu. Školska knjiga. Zagreb.

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Examinees know that during the interviews psychological tests are generally conducted, so they often search for „psycho tests“, „job tests“ or „interview tests” on the Internet. They seldom ask and sometimes even demand that we send them tests so they could practice the said skills. Due to numerous inquiries we feel the need to stress the following:

According to the Law on psychological work and the Rulebook on psycho diagnostic instruments the psychological tests used for staff selection (or for assessing and staff selection) are procedural and interpretative complicated instruments and because of this fall into the category of protected psycho diagnostic instruments. So, the tests used for staff assessment or for assessing work ability cannot be found on the Internet! Nor can they be applied by someone who is not a psychologist!

Situation is so serious that for a large number of tests even psychologists themselves have to take specific, additional training. Accordingly, if a person doing the job testing is not a psychologist, they are in violation of the Law on psychological work and you can sue the person, because this is the same as a laic doing a diagnosis and treating, for example, a patient with a heart problem! It is incredible, but even today there are people who (probably because they are not informed) use tests they found on the Internet in order to select candidates for employment.

Except for the psychological tests in order to assess the candidates for a certain job, tests measuring the current level of knowledge or the level of skills required for performing a certain task are also used. These are proficiency tests and working rehearsal tests, that is, tests and rehearsals of skills acquired and experiences in real samples of work assignments.

Proficiency tests are comprised mostly out of specific questions to determine the level of knowledge regarding a specific matter regarding business tasks and responsibilities. These kinds of tests are usually paper-based and lately the computer administering is becoming more and more popular. Samples of proficiency tests are tests for accountants and IT specialists. Proficiency tests usually have a high level of accuracy, however, without psychological tests we cannot find out important information on candidates’ abilities and preferences and the way the worker will possibly behave in different work conditions.

Work samples, work tests are situations in which candidates are asked to demonstrate or do one or more work activities. These kinds of tests usually have a high level of relevance in relation to the aimed (targeted) work. For example, you can ask a candidate for a job of an office machines mechanic to do a diagnosis of a malfunctioning machine. The candidates usually believe these kinds of tests are fairer than the other kinds of testing.

However, if we use work tests as a basis for making prognoses on the work successfulness of the candidates – we will probably make a mistake – because we are ignoring a whole specter of listed traits which can affect how successfully will a candidate perform his work. Besides, the whole procedure, from choosing the work sample to conducting the testing and evaluating the work done can be extremely complicated and the price of the procedure high.

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Various psychosomatic symptoms are often caused by stress from excessive worrying about the financial situation, among which the most uncomfortable ones are the symptoms of panic attack.

Strong heart beat and irregularities in the heart rhythm, sweating, feeling short of breath and tightness in chest, even visual field narrowing and vertigo – all these are symptoms of panic attacks and at its core are caused by psychological reasons, that is, they are not caused by a physical illness. Lots of people experience some or even all of these symptoms in the events of heightened stress, because they have not developed strategies to deal with stress.

When a panic attack occurs it is important to know that they are not a sign of physical illness, that you cannot die from them and that they will go away.

If we understand what’s going on to us, and they are mostly how our organism reacts to sympathetic nervous system’s prolonged activity and it is nothing abnormal, then the panic subsides and with panic, the symptoms also.

The strategy of dealing with stress can be divided into strategies directed at the problem (solving the situation causing the stress) and strategies directed at emotions.

If our finances are something that realistically are a reason to be concerned about, if we do not have enough money at the end of the month and if we are burying ourselves in debt, then the time has come for the strategies directed at the problem. So, for example, we can make a list of priorities regarding expenses and see which ones out of these are less important and thus easily discarded and how much money we can save.

Those who are hemorrhaging money can write down their expenses for a week or two and after go through the expenses and see if there is something they can give up and thus save money. In this situation using merely strategies directed at emotions is not enough, because although is does help to talk to someone about your situation and share your concerns and fears, but in the long run only solving the problems helps.
Of course there are situations which cannot be solved. In these situations it is counterproductive to use only strategies directed at problems.

People often are never have enough money, they do not have the option for additional jobs, or save a bigger amount of money (for example, single parents or people burdened with huge loans) and spend a great deal of time thinking and worrying about this problem, constantly worrying how to survive the next month, next year, „will they be able to put their children through school“ and similar.

Thereby, it is important to differentiate can the situation be solved or not. If the answer is not, trying to find a solution cannot help, doing so can only lead to more stress, it enhances the feeling of burnout, it is tiring to the whole organism and can lead to exhaustion and illness, both psychological and physical. In these situations it is important to develop strategies to regulate personal level of stress, that is make sure we are relaxed on a regular basis, that we do activities which fill our lives and that are fun and that we find people with who we can share our concerns and fears.

Sport, meditation, yoga, walking in the nature, hanging out with friends, occupying yourselves with animals and different forms of venting out your emotions (crying, screaming into a pillow, hitting your mattress, tearing paper…) can help you release stress and deal with problems on a daily basis.

It’s important to bear in mind that we somehow overcame and gained valuable experience which can help us now.

If we are extremely worried about the upcoming crisis and our finances in the world of the global crisis it is important to detect the main reason of stress. So, if we are prone to looking at the worst scenario and we are extremely worried by the economic crisis, even thought we have a stable job, our current salary is enough for living and paying our loans, the time has come to deal with our emotions, to try again, realistically assess the situation and try to be rational and no worry a lot. What does help is to talk to someone about your concerns and fears, remember what are your strong characteristics and personal traits and seek help in building your self-esteem, personal competence and developing your optimism.

If you have been worrying for a long time and you feel you are really having difficulties coping with stress and that it does affect the quality of your life, it is good to seek professional help in the form of guidance or psychotherapy. On Mondays to Fridays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. you can talk about your fears, worries, ways of solving problems and various psychological difficulties if you call the Psychological center Tesa’s psychological help line(phone number: 01/48 28 888 ). In Tesa it is possible to arrange a meeting with a psychologist and counseling is free of charge for the young (from 15 to 29) .

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