Corporate Group Interview Training

H-Training’s Corporate Group interview training is a comprehensive programme for staff members wanting to progress in their careers. H-TRAINING has worked extensively across a range of businesses, from SME’s to big tech and a large corner of the Irish Public Sector, supporting corporate groups in the adoption of the Competency Based Framework.

We have seen how this process has evolved and mutated into what it has become today. In doing so we have seen how many groups have a lack of understanding of the purpose and framework of the interview process. The group approach enables the organisation to provide focused support to the group and this can lead to discussion better engagement and more returns from your group.

Competency based interviews have changed how we present for interview in Ireland in a relatively short period of time. It is a mere twenty-five to thirty years ago that an interview only focused on people’s experience and little else. Additionally, Competency Based approaches to interviews continue to grow in popularity and have now become much more popular in the private sector. H-Training has partnered with many world class organisations in honing aspects of their selection processes to acquire and retain the best people they can.

Having worked in this area we have gained extensive experience of how best to support Interviewees to identify, implement and manage the correct competencies and structures to ensure that their interviews are effective and based on the role in question.

From years of consulting across its range of expertise, H-Training can attest to the centrality of the recruitment process in the success of any organisation. From our founder Helen Hourican’s HRM consultancy, to developing high-level managers all the way to supporting clients identify and realise their career direction, the people an organisation recruit are at the heart of its success.

To be successful at interview, candidates need to understand the competencies that are required in the role and they should develop examples of where they have demonstrated these competencies. These examples need to be taken from their work over the past two to three years and in any case no longer than five years. Candidates need to demonstrate each competency in a clear and succinct manner.

Some groups we meet have an awareness of the competency approach and need to just hone their skills, while others are somewhat confused by the concept. It is essentially that in addition to knowledge and experience, the interview board will need to know how you plan for yourself, your team or the organisation depending on the seniority of the role. The board will also need to know how you make decisions and how you engage and influence others.

One of the biggest areas of challenge is candidates learning off facts about the organisation as they prepare for the ‘catch out’ question and the candidate feeling they need to know the ‘right’ answer. This focuses on the ‘test of knowledge’ and while the candidate will certainly need to know certain facts about the organisation, especially if they have worked there for some time, knowing these facts does not make you fit into the role on offer. The organisation needs you to demonstrate your ability in terms of planning, decision making or leading the team. The inability to demonstrate in these other areas is the biggest challenge in interviews today. While the recruitment process is also not an exact science and the human factors can easily be influenced and nudged in directions, it is critical that the candidate demonstrate their experience in the competencies outlined. Our Corporate interview Group training will give your team the tools to be competitive and remain objective throughout the interview.

Some of the biggest challenges for candidates to the interview process come from a lack of preparation. Candidates need to have considered the evidence of their capability for the role drawing on situations they were delivering, ideally in the past two years but no longer than 5 years. Candidates need to be able to recall this information readily at interview and thus convince the Board of their suitability for the role.

H-Training delivers a blended learning approach to its Corporate Group interview training.

As with all of our programmes we allow our participants to take some time and reflect on the material and then return with new questions and insights into the process. We deliver dynamic and engaging material that will inspire learners to think anew and recognise the competency-based process as an important and greatly impactful system to deliver at interview. In addition to this we also provide training with more general interview approaches based upon your teams defined criteria and all that this encapsulates.

H-Training offers training days for Corporate interview groups of up to 15 people in one half day.
We also consult with organisations on how best this training can give their people an understanding of the interview process and link the recruitment process to the response level required. It often improves the morale in the group and supports them to focus on communicating their competencies rather than on any unfairness they feel in the approach. In many areas it leads to further discussion regarding the competencies and to greater individual awareness of areas such as decision making and planning. This awareness is often discussed with other colleagues thus furthering the development of competencies in these areas.