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Without the interviewers’ awareness, they might be asking discriminatory questions during an job interview session. Their intention is to find out more about the candidates, however, the following sound discriminatory questions should be avoided:

• What is your religion?

This question is usually asked when the potential candidates are required to work shift / 24 hours on call. The interviewer intends to find out whether the candidates are required to do prayer or willing to sacrifice their prayer time if they are called back to work.

• What is your marital status / Do you have any children?

This question is usually asked to find out how much time could a candidate dedicate to his job / how is the social relationship of a candidate. However, these have nothing to do with the marital status at all. A married candidate doesn’t mean not able to commit to his job, vice versa, as well as a single candidate not necessarily do not know how to socialise.  

• How old are you?

This question is usually asked to find out whether the candidate is "mature". However, age and whether being mature is not really co-related. The candidate shall be tested via non-discriminatory scenario-based questions.

It is alright to have the above questions on the job application form, as they are basic personal information of the candidate. However, it shouldn’t be explore further, or if has to, it should be done in a more careful and professional way.

Would you hiring decision based on the academic performance of your candidates, especially for fresh graduates? If yes, you might be interested to know which are the high performing varsities in Malaysia. According to The Times Higher Education (THE) Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the five Malaysian varsities which are ranked in Asia’s Top 100 are:

1. Universiti Malaya (UM) - 39th

2. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) - 51st

3. Universiti Science Malaysia (USM) - 69th

4. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) - 82nd

5. Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) - 90th

The above ranking is distinguished by both quality and high productivity of research of such varsities.

However, the above ranking is just served as a guide, and it is believed that there are many high quality candidates produced by other Malaysian varsities which are not ranked in the list. It is then the responsibility of the hiring / HR manager to identify the quality candidates.

At the beginning of your career path, you look for jobs, by flipping through newspaper, browsing through internet, or any other method, you name it.

When you are at middle management level in your organisation, you are still looking for a job using the same method. You are wondering why there is no headhunter calling you, while there are so many out there!?

Perhaps you may prepare yourself to get headhunted with the below tips, besides being outstanding within your organisation or field or industry:

• Understand how headhunters work

In order to get headhunted, you must first understand what makes the headhunters tick and how they scour the industries, countries, and even region to identify the right candidates for their clients. They are professional networkers, who collect names of prospective candidates by thumbing through directories in different fields, reading articles about an industry, and asking people for leads. Knowing this, you may attract the attention of a headhunter by writing article or books, being quoted in the press as an expert in your field, networking at industry convention, professional associations, etc. In short, either you make yourself "visible" among the rest, or what you need to do is networking, which required you to meet people who will pass your name to a recruiter, who may then put your name on his / her source list.

• Be proactive and send your resume to headhunter

There is no harm to recommend yourself to a headhunter. The fact is that many headhunters will still advertise as one of their methods to get the right candidates. In case they are not advertising the vacancies of the most desirable jobs, you are creating a good opportunity for your career by being proactive.

• Handle headhunters with care

When you do get a call from a headhunter, speak as professionally as you would when talking to a prospective employer. Bear in mind that headhunters work very closely with employers, and they will make the final recommendation to the employers on the potential candidates to be interviewed. You will be judged on everything, from your telephone manners to whether you ask intelligent questions and give thoughtful answers. It is not only your performance during interview.

These questions do not ask people to describe their specific jobs and what they did, but to find out they way they think, what makes them who they are. Find out the purpose behind these questions.

1. "What is the next thing you have to learn?"

- To identify attitudes towards learning. To look at ability for self-assessment.

2. "Imagine it is six months after you have been in this job. You said to yourself, "I’m glad I took this job because…"

- To identify what is really important to them.

3. "What does the day look like on those mornings you get up and say to yourself, "I can hardly wait to go to work today because…"

- To identify what is important, and what motivates the person.

4. "The next morning you say to yourself, "I really don’t want to go to work because…"

- To identify the demotivators.

5. "If you were financially freedom and didn’t have to work, what would make you want to go to work? How about the work, the company, the people or anything else would be so appealing that money didn’t matter?"

- To find out values.

6. "In your career, describe your biggest success. What made it so?"

- To find out what they accomplished and why they thought it was great. To help assess their skills.

7. "In your career, what is the one thing if you had to do over again, you would do differently? Why? What would you do?"

- To determine if they learn from their mistakes. To determine if they can admit mistakes.

8. "Imagine your best boss, describe his/her best trait."

- To determine how they view their boss and what is important.

9. "Imagine your worst boss, describe his/her worst trait."

- To determine if they can balance between answering the question and putting a positive spin on it or fall into whining about how bad their situation was. Depending upon the answer, you may ask something about their preferred work environment.

10. "What is your greatest strength and why?"

- To know them better.

11. "What is your weakness?"

- To identify whether they do self-assessment and have self-knowledge of themselves.

Behavioral interviewing is interviewing based on discovering how the interviewee acted in specific employment related situations. The logic is that how the interviewee behaved in the past will predict how he/she will behave in the future, whereby this interviewing technique believes that past performance does predict future performance.

In behavioral interview, an employer has decided what skills are needed in the potential employee and will ask questions to find out if the candidate has those skills. Instead of asking how the candidate would behave, they will ask how did he/she behave. The interviewer will want to know how a candidate handled a situation, instead of what he/she might do in the future. Behavioral interview questions will be more pointed, more probing and more specific.

In order to prepare for a potential behavioral interview, a candidate is advised to refresh his/her memory and consider some special situation he/she has dealt with or projects he/she has worked on. On top of this, review the job description from the job posting or advertisement, in order to get a sense of what skills and behavioral characteristics the employer is seeking.

There are no right or wrong answers for behavioral interviews. The interviewer is simply trying to understand how the candidate behaved in a given situation, to determine if there is a fit between the candidate’s skills and the position the company is seeking to fill. In general, the STAR technique is a good approach to response to behavioral interview questions: describe the Situation one was in or the Task one needed to accomplish; describe the Action he/she took, and the Result.

It is normal for an orgainisation to perform reference check on her potential employee. In Malaysia, most reference checks are done in traditional way, by calling the applicant’s former employers, testimonial by the former employers, police check, etc.

Has any employer thought about doing reference check via the applicant’s personal webpages, such as Myspace, Facebook, or blog? In fact, I feel that it is not a bad idea. The challenge of today’s recruiter is the ability to get the candidates who are not only job fit, but organisation fit. The personal webpages of the candidates somehow able to tell the social group and the characteristic of the candidates. If the candidates are writing a work-related blog, it could tell the job knowledge of the candidates.

However, this must be done carefully to avoid any discrimination and invasion of policy. Perhaps in this IT savvy century, employers could add an optional column in their Job Application Form for the candidates to indicate their personal webpages, if the candidates are prepared to share. This would assist the recruiter in their decision making, and might benefit the candidates!

It’s a big challenge for recruiters to get right candidates for organisations. Making an incorrect hiring decision will cost a lot to the company, directly, it would be in terms of money and time; and indirectly, the productivity of the company.

According to research conducted by Gevity (the company serves as the full-service HR department for small and medium-sized organisations), the following are the five major reasons that lead to hiring mistake:

1. Relying Strictly on Traditional Recruiting Sources

- There is a wide range of options beyond putting advertisement on paper, which is the most traditional recruitment method. The options include online recruitment, university job fairs, recruiters and employment agencies, the own organisation’s website. More and more organisations report that many of their hires come from internet-based sources. It is convenience to the job seekers, and therefore, the pool is there. Some companies also use their staff as recruiters, which usually called staff referral program, either with or without fees paid to the staff. This is an efficient method as the staff know the people they refer, and they don’t want to be the one responsible for bringing a bad apple into the company.

2. Offering Candidates Uncompetitive Compensation

In a very competitive labour market, organisations need to focus on the total package, including cash, health insurance, retirement plans, opportunities for growth and advancement, a positive work environment, and flexibility.

3. Failing to Market Your Company

- Recruitment is not solely recruitment, and recruiters need to act as a sales person. Treat potential candidates with respect, as they are customers, and add a strong "sell" segment to the interview. Showcase the organisation’s strengths, opportunities, and positive culture. Tailor one’s "sell" to what the applicant has revealed about what he or she is looking for in a new job.

4. Wait until someone leaves, to fill up critical positions

- Talent management and succession planning are two important elements in 21st century HR management. Good HR people must be able to "foresee" turnover, and when a position opens, HR can fill it quickly with top talent.

5. Hiring Solely on Job Fit, Not Organisation Fit

- Most managers tend to focus on "job fit", but research shows that organisation fit is often more important. Skills can be taught, but not attitude.

Many candidates are expecting career advancement (a higher position) or at least salary adjustment while looking for new jobs. To be firm in asking for a sky-high salary may show confidence, or otherwise. In fact, the candidates are advised to take the following factors into consideration in negotiating for a higher salary:

Position Applied and Job Responsibilities — If a candidate is applying for a higher position with greater responsibilities, he / she can ask for a higher salary, compared to if he /she is applying for a  position which is same level with his / her current one, with expectation to gain more / different exposure and experience.

Understand Own’s Values — A candidate will have leverage if he / she is in high demand elsewhere. However, he / she is advisable to void acting overly confidence or cocky.

Be Reasonable — From research, a candidate knows that the offer is low. However, he / she is advisable not to be confrontational. It is a calculated risk to walk away from a job offer. The employer might call the candidate back with a revised starting salary or they might just close the candidate’s file and hire someone else if they feel he / she has been greedy, arrogant or overly demanding.

Be Prepared to be Flexible — If a candidate is serious in his / her application, he / she is advisable to consider agreeing to start at the salary level they are offering, so long as they offer additional bonuses for specific accomplishments. Be prepared to define them. Money is important, but consider the complete compensation package. Negotiate other perks and benefits and get them in writing. Ask about the frequency of potential salary increases. Try to create win-win situation with any negotiation.

1. Can you please described your current boss’s working style?

- This is to compare the candidate’s current boss and future boss, whether they have any similarity.

2. Do you prefer to work / work well independently or in teamwork?

- Personal Assistants / Secretaries work closely with boss(es), therefore it is more important if they are able to work independently, secondly they must be able to work as a team, as they need to do some coordination works for the boss(es).   

3. Do you usually work late in your current job? What is your activities after work?

- As long as the boss is still in the office, most Personal Assistants / Secretaries are required to stay with the boss. This question is to test whether the candidate is willing to work late / if they have any major commitment after work.

4. Tell me the best boss whom you had worked with so far.

- This is to test the candidate’s preferred boss.

5. Have you dealt with difficult people / situation before? Tell me an example.

- This is to test whether the candidate has experience in handling difficult boss(es) / people / situation.

6. What is your expectation working as a Personal Assistant / Secretary?

- This is to test whether the candidate understands the functions of a Personal Assistant / Secretary, and whether the available job meets their expectation.

7. Are you the only Personal Assistant / Secretary to your boss? / Do you have any assistant? / How is your working relationship?  

- This question is to check whether the candidate works with others in their current job and further test whether they are able to work well in a team.

8. If you have choice, what type of boss that you wish you could work with?

- This is to check the candidate’s preferred boss.

9. What is the biggest challenge in your work that you have had so far?

- This is to check whether the candidate is able / willing to take up challenges / bigger challenges.

10. What is your biggest accomplishment in your job so far?

- This is to check which job function gives the candidate the biggest satisfaction / the candidate’s preferred job functions.

The use of body language is important in creating a favourable impression to the interviewers. Candidates could demonstrate their confidence, personality and interest in their application through appropriate body language.

Appearance – As a rule of thumb, it is always best to wear formal for an interview. This means a jacket for ladies, a shirt and tie for men, and no loud print.

Pre-interview Impression – While in the waiting room or reception area, pacing the room nervously, sitting slumped in a chair or frowning at the receptionist can all work against a candidate. A warm smile and a firm handshake is a great way to start the interview. The candidate is not advisable to sit until invited by the interviewer. Switch off the mobile phone before enter to the interview room. Remember to stand and sit upright as slouching will give the impression of not interested in the job or a sloppy worker.

Facial Impression – Maintaining good eye contact, smiling and nodding appropriately while listening to the interviewer projects a good impression. Avoid staring, squinting or glancing away as flitting eye movements can be distracting.

Arms and Hands – It is advisable to place on the lap if the candidate is sitting across the table from the interviewer. An open palm gesture is commonly regarded as a sign of openness and sincerity while a cross arms around chest is a strong sign of defensiveness.

Unconscious Gesture – Such as shaking legs under the table, biting nails, touching hair, fiddling with rings / earrings or constantly glancing at watch give the impression of nervous, not confident, uninterested or in a hurry to get out of the interview.

Private Space – Always respect the personal space of your interviewers. Avoid standing or sitting too close to them as this might annoy them or make them feel awkward. Do not tough their personal belongings like photo frames, paper weights or stationery.

The right knowledge, confidence, clear communication and positive body language should all come together to create success in job interviews.