2 messages:

1)-------------------------------

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Inteview questions -- L.H. Kevil
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 10:38:30 -0400
From: Linda Meiseles <LIBSRLZM@MAIL1.HOFSTRA.EDU>

all, after all the obvious questions, like the ones mentioned before, I
ask the same two questions that the serials librarian asked me at my
first library position. do you like mystery novels, and do you enjoy
crossword puzzles.
if i receive an enthusiastic response then i know for sure the person
will work out. after 14 years as a head of a serials dept. these 2
questions have served me well.

linda meiseles
serials librarian
hofstra university
libsrlzm@hofstra.edu

2)-------------------------------
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Interview questions -- Linda Newborn
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 07:39:31 -0700
From: Diane Moore <diane.moore@csun.edu>

> AS someone who has more often been an interviewee rather than an
> interviewer, I was wondering if before you interview people with those
> questions: do you have an idea of what is a good answer.

When we are interviewing for an open position, we do have an idea of
what
constitutes a good or not so good response to our interview questions.
We
know what qualifications we are looking for in a candidate, and we try
to
formulate our questions to let us determine if a candidate has those
qualifications.  So we talk a lot about our questions as we come up with
them - will this question get the candidate talking; will this question
help
us learn what we want to know; is the question just a "yes or no"
question
(we try to avoid using these); is the desired answer so obvious that
everyone will automatically give the same answer (telling us nothing)
...
You kind of have to have some idea what you expect them to say, and what
is
a good answer for the candidate you will eventually hire.

In our case, we not only ask questions, but we have the candidate
perform a
few tasks that may serve to show us what they really know and if what
they've told us is true.   For example, for a serials position, we might
hand the candidate a journal volume, along with three or four sometimes
ambiguous successive title printouts, and ask them to decide which of
the
records the volume in their hand belongs on.   Or we hand them a book to
hypothetically catalog, and again give them printouts to decide
between.  We
find that nearly every candidate we interview tells us he or she
possesses
great attention to detail, but the tasks "separate the men from the
boys,"
so to speak.  If a candidate with "great attention to detail" tries to
catalog a book using a micro record, or thinks the v.10 in their hand
goes
on a bib record that clearly says it's for v.20-45, maybe their
attention to
detail isn't so great.  That's just one example of why it's important to
remember that a candidate can TELL you anything to your face.  It's good
to
have other ways to verify their skills (tasks, references ...)

I don't know how you could hire someone without some preconceived ideas
of
how your ideal candidate might answer your questions.  You have to know
who
you're looking for before you can find and hire them!

Diane Moore
diane.moore@csun.edu

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Inteview questions -- Jerri Swinehart
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 15:03:01 -0500
From: "Kevil, L H." <KevilL@missouri.edu>

Hi Jerri,

Here are our questions:

        Questions for Library Clerk Candidates

+ Can you meet the physical requirements listed in the job
description?
Characterize your manual dexterity.
+

+ Foreign language knowledge

+ Are you able to work 8-5?

+ Are you able to work up to 4 hours straight on a PC or terminal
(with
breaks)?

+ How much library experience do you have?

+ How much automation experience do you have

+ What do consider to be your strengths and weaknesses?

+ What made you decide to apply for this position?

+ What can you bring to the job? What can the job give you?

+ How detail-oriented are you?

+ What circumstances or situations at work have caused you the
greatest
frustration? How do you deal with frustration? Give actual examples,
if
possible.

+ Discuss actual people problems you have had in the workplace & how
you
handled them. If no actual examples, discuss how you would handle a
hypothetical problem of your choice

+ Discuss your organizational skills. (ever-changing environment,
flexibility, etc.,)

+ What qualities would you like to see in your own supervisor?

Hunter

L. Hunter Kevil,
Collection Development Librarian,
176 Ellis Library,
University of Missouri-Columbia,
Columbia, MO 65201
Voice:  573-884-8760
Fax:    573-882-6034
E-mail: KevilL@missouri.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen D. Clark [mailto:sdclar@mail.wm.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 1999 9:55 AM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: Inteview questions -- Jerri Swinehart

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Inteview questions
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 15:17:15 -0400
From: Jerri Swinehart <swinehar@OAKLAND.EDU>

        Shortly I will be interviewing candidates for a Serials Clerk
position. My predecessor in the manager's position apparently
destroyed all extant copies of interview questions. While there are
interview questions that apply across ALL positions in Technical
Services, are there other questions that would be beneficial to ask?
It
occurred to me, for example, that a question about being
detail-oriented
would be appropriate. Anyone have any suggestions?

        If this is not of interest to the list, please e-mail me
privately.

        Thank you.

        Jerri Swinehart
        Manager-Technical Services
        Oakland University
        Kresge Library
        Rochester, Michigan 48309-4401
        swinehar@oakland.edu
        (248)-370-2478

"Denial is a wonderful place to live but you have to watch out for the
crocodiles."