You receive a call setting up an interview.

If your interviewing skills are rusty—or if you seem to be landing the interviews but you are not selected time after time—you might consider contacting the Career Development Center (CDC) (http://www.csp.msu.edu/).

CDC, an office of Career Services and Placement, provides videos, books and handouts on interviewing. In the fall, CDC will offer a number of career training workshops, including some on interviewing. According to Jennifer Leedy, CDC’s Career Information Coordinator, all of CDC’s services are available to staff as well as students. (The only exceptions are the non-MSU interviews with off-campus employers.) Stop by the CDC office at 6 Student Services, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or phone 355-9510.

You could also contact an employment representative at Human Resources Employment (353-3720). They are available to discuss possible weak spots in your interviewing skills and can suggest techniques and tips that might help.

Kris Hynes, Director of Human Resource Services, suggests that in preparing for an interview you also take some time to review the Critical Performance Factors —Organizational Success, Making People Matter, and Job Effectiveness —listed on the back of your Performance Development Program (evaluation form). According to Hynes, supervisors are being trained in how to evaluate employees based on these factors.

"Since the Performance Factors are being used as an evaluation tool, it makes sense that supervisors will begin to take them into consideration when hiring," Hynes said.

The elements used in evaluating the Performance Factors, which number well over 100, include criteria such as:

· effectively and professionally works with upset customers, solving their problems;

· takes the initiative to learn new skills that would benefit the position and operational objectives;

· and "is available for work on a consistent and timely basis with infrequent unplanned absences."

View the entire list at http://www.hr.msu.edu/Depts/Comp/behavioralCompetencies.htm.

Technical skills are what determine if an applicant gets on the interview list, but "competencies" such as those listed under Critical Performance Factors are going to be important in the interview, Hynes said.

"When in an interview, applicants have an opportunity to ask questions and then give concrete examples of their competencies, such as pointing to their dependability or experience with team work. An applicant can ask about the flow of work, for example, and link specific skills to what the department needs."

For example, upon learning that the department is especially concerned that someone be available to open up in the morning, the interviewee might point to an impeccable attendance record. Or, if handling upset customers will be a big part of the job, the applicant can describe how he or she diffused a situation with someone who was irate.

"This is where the applicant can emphasize experience in a way that shows long-term employment at MSU is an asset, that your abilities will make the department look good," said Hynes.

Many CTs have reported receiving such calls from hiring departments. One CT received several of these calls from the same department. If you receive such a call, please contact your UR or a Contract Administrator.

Employment Representative Gene Rummel of Human Resources Employment thinks interested applicants should go ahead with the interview, even if they receive such a call, because it gives them a chance sharpen their interviewing skills and make connections for future opportunities.

CTU believes that persuading a CT to back out of an interview because the department favors someone with less seniority is violating the spirit of MSU’s stated commitment to the career development of its members.

"According to our contract, departments are supposed to interview candidates according to seniority," said CTU’s CA Dan McNeil. "To have someone else in mind before you start interviewing, smells like a violation of the contract."

It is important to note that if a CT drops off the list of individuals to be interviewed (up to four applicants from the hiring department and up to eight from the University at large, based on seniority), the list can be supplemented with an additional name, the name of someone with less seniority, perhaps with the name of someone from off campus.

Although it is not usually obvious, some CT applicants have actually been told that they were passed over because they would cost the department more money.

"It’s true that departments will not always recognize the importance of experience," Hynes said. How departments determine who is the best qualified individual on the list is subjective. "It is up to the applicant to show why the experience is important," she said.

"Do not assume that someone knows that, just because you’ve been here 20 years, you know how to do things," Hynes said. "This must be specified."

If you have reason to believe that you were denied an employment opportunity because of your salary level, CTU needs to know. Bring such situations to the attention of your UR or a Contract Administrator.