Greetings, James and the List!

You asked [hiring a museum Director] "We are trying to come up with some
good questions
for our interviews."

I recommend looking into the Behavioral Interviewing (TM) method, by
Behavioral Technology, Inc (6260 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, TN 38119,
800/227-6855). It offers the following benefits:

1. Helps you clarify the behaviors that are successful for the job opening.
For example, a person in leadership role may need to demonstrate good Verbal
and Written Communication, Coping, Tolerance of Ambiguity, Commitment to
Task, Organization and Planning, Leadership, Team Building etc, etc.  in
addition to a host of "technical" skills associated with the museum
professions. You would supplement the Behavioral Interview with questions
that reveal  the presence or lack of these technical skills. The Behavioral
literature teaches you to formulate effective and safe "technical"
questions, as well.
2. Once the behaviors are identified, Behavioral Interviewing offers
hundreds of sample questions to select from, sorted by the desired behavior.
You can use them as is, or carefully customize them. For example, one
Organization and  Planning sample question is: "Organization and scheduling
of people and tasks is a necessary function in creating a productive work
environment. Consider your experiences in this area and detail for me a case
that illustrates your own organization and scheduling abilities." Or, in the
Coping section, " Tell me about a high stress situation in which it was
desirable to  keep a positive attitude. What happened?"  Listen carefully to
HOW it is answered, as well as what is said.  Guide the respondent to answer
from work anecdotes and live experience, not at the theoretical  level. A
"bad" answer would begin with : "I would...." A good answer starts something
like, "While at the Bennington Museum, in Vermont, back in 1995, there was a
situation....."
3. In today's litigious work place, a "script" of questions, that guides the
applicant to provide work experience stories, administered equally to each
applicant and documented to relate specifically to the job opening is worth
its weight in gold. Or lawyer's fees...which ever comes more dearly... The
interviewer, with a little practice, can deliver the questions in a natural
and easy tone, to avoid  an objectionable and stilted "script" feel. A
couple practice sessions with your peer interviewers helps in this area.
The script is used to make notes about the responses, and filed with the
resume. A Likert rating,  scaled from "strong evidence skill not present",
up to "Very strong Evidence skill is Present" helps sort the applicant,
skill by skill, for selection.

I held a position for 4 years that gave me final hiring authority over a
very large staff. I counted  127 job interviews in one year that I had
participated in! I was grateful for Behavioral Interviewing; it seemed the
best way to get past the traditional recounting of work experiences, and
down to a more in-depth assessment of professional behaviors relevant to the
job at hand. The resume tells me who is qualified and has pertinent work
experience. The interview is a tool to reveal how the applicant will apply
that experience to my unique work environment.

A Behavioral Interview also helped me manage time, as I was able to explain
to the applicant that the interview would take approximately one hour...then
stick to it. And get much more quality data than 2 to 3 hours of unguided
discussion.

If you would like some sample interview scripts that I used, send me an
email. Don't want to hog any more bandwidth on this topic. Too, I would urge
you to locate the Behavioral Interviewing books rather than my adapted
scripts.

Best of Luck in locating a "Good Fit" for your opening!

Beth Macdonald
Big Head Interactive
415/752.6511
www.bigheadinteractive.com

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