Have you ever wondered what information you need to gather from a candidate? Do you gather the right information from the candidate? Does it effectively sell the candidate to the client, by showing the client what is not on their CV? Or do you interview a candidate and then send a stock standard cover letter over with the CV that states
1. Name
2. Remuneration
3. Location
4. Notice Period
5. Qualifications
6. Previous Employers.
Now we have all done this before, but do you do it every time? If so you are not effectively providing the information that is not on the candidates CV to the client, therefore not selling your candidate effectively.

Behavioral interviewing is a style of interviewing that asks the interviewee to draw on their experience and provide specific real life examples. As an interviewer you need to prepare a list of questions that are relevant to the core competencies of your client and the role. You will then ask a candidate 5 to 10 behavioral questions (any more and it will be a 2 hour interview) you can then assess their answer in the STAR (situation/task, action, result) format. On the internet you will find numerous websites, seminars and resources that can help you to formulate a questionnaire. If you have any questions please email me on linked-in.

The result of the interview should provide you with an understanding of the candidate’s ability to fulfill some or all of the competencies that are required to fulfill the position. Best of all you will have examples to back this up.

Your new cover letter should then provide this information in a clear concise way.
I personally add a specific experience section to my cover letter that addresses the PD or job brief that you have received from the client, then directly correlate it to the information gained in the interview. Make sure you use the specific examples to back this up.

In doing this you may provide your client with a better understanding of your candidate and your understanding of the position. Getting both right are a win for all parties involved.

On a side note 'Australian Recruitment Professionals' in Linked-in is now 50 strong which is an awesome achievment. But lets not settle there, I would personally like to see this group grow and reach far and wide across the nation. Recomending this group to your collegues and joining yourselves would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks