SL Applicant Interview Assessment

SESSIONAL APPLICANT INTERVIEW ASSESSMENT

Interviewing Candidates

Academic units may choose to interview short-listed candidates.  Faculty and Academic Staff Relations and DHR encourage search committees to practice behaviour-description interviewing because the technique has been shown to avoid discrimination, and to result in clearly defensible selection decisions. For more information on behavior-description interviewing, please contact FASR.

Questions should be developed so that responses will provide information directly relevant to the requirements of the work assignment. This allows the search committee to assess the candidate in relation to the established requirements for the work assignment and in relation to other candidates.

The Sessional Applicant Interview Assessment Template (attached below) provides sample interview questions that address interpersonal skills, delivery of course content, planning and preparation, and learning culture. A model for subject specific questions is also present.

Questions and interview assessment processes should be consistent for all candidates. Questions must also be consistent with human rights legislation. Questions that ask a person to reveal information such as their family status or age, for example, are not permissible. An excerpt on permissible and non-permissible interview questions from the Ontario Human Rights Commission's guide, "Hiring? A Human Rights Guide", is provided in the Appendix.

The committee should agree on the order of questions to be asked during the interview and ensure that each member of the search committee understands the criteria, the related questions, the corresponding and appropriate range of responses and weighting. Each committee member should be provided with a hard copy list of the questions for use during the interview, and space should be provided for committee members to make notes.

The following points should be considered in conducting the interview:

  • Ask probing questions. They help to ensure that the committee is getting all the information they need to effectively evaluate the candidate and help to ensure that the candidate understands the question. Always ask for specific examples, and allow for periods of silence
  • Make sure the candidate does most of the talking

Provide the candidate the opportunity to ask his/her own questions (generally at the end of the interview)

Course Name:

Course Number and Section:

Primary Interviewer:

Candidate Name:

Secondary Interviewer:

CUPE 3913 Unit 2 Seniority Points:

Date:

Time:

INSTRUCTIONS FOR INTERVIEWERS:

  • The prepared questions assess for teaching competence generally.  You can develop subject specific questions in the space provided (and additional space). 
  • Use this form to evaluate candidates’ responses to the interview questions.
  • Ask the questions clearly and do not hesitate to repeat the question if the candidate so requires.
  • Take notes, as necessary, in the space provided.
  • Ask questions in the order they are presented and remember to score each response against the behavioural anchor descriptions provided before moving on to the next question. 
  • If the candidate has difficulty answering, after an appropriate amount of time has elapsed, you can move on to the next question. You must, however, go back to the skipped question before you conclude the interview.
  • After the interview, discuss your ratings and decide upon a combined rating for each question.

SUGGESTED INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT

Introduce yourselves to the candidate by name.

  • Before we begin the interview today, I would like to tell you about us and about the type of interview we will be conducting today. This will help you understand the interview process. It will also help us to ensure that that there is a consistent process across all candidates.
  • My primary responsibility at the University of Guelph is to _______(role/position)_________.  My co-interviewer is primarily responsible for _______(role)____.
  • As you know, today we are interviewing job candidates for placement as Sessional Lecturers.
  • The type of interview we are conducting today is called a Situational Structured Interview.  My colleague and I will present you with a number of situations, and ask you what you would do in each situation. Please take your time in responding to the questions. You will be given as much time as you need to respond to each of the questions. 
  • We find it helpful to jot down a few notes during the interview to help remind us of your answers.  Please do not consider the number of notes we take as a reflection of your performance on the interview.
  • After the interview, I will leave some time to answer any questions you may have about University of Guelph or the Sessional Lecturer work assignment.  So, we are now ready to begin. Before we start, do you have any questions about the interview?

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS: This skill relates to interaction with students/ TA’s in and outside the classroom.

Question:   You are aware that a student in your class is struggling with course material. Another student tells you that the student is having personal problems. What would you do?

Behavioural Anchor Description

Not Acceptable = 1

Acceptable = 3

Outstanding = 5
  • Do nothing, and ignore the information
  • Approach the student about personal problems, and offer help
  • Give home number for students to contact at any time
  • Remind students in class that you are available for help if anyone is having problems with academic material
  • Remind the class of services they can use for personal problems
  • Approach the one student about their academic performance
  • Encourage TA’s to be aware of any students that might be struggling, and reinforce what has been said in class
  • Bring in someone from counselling services to come speak to the class briefly
  • Approach the student and offer for them to come see you during office hours
  • Specifically approach all students in the class who are struggling and encourage them to come see you for office hours
  • Offer additional office hours, if students need it
  • Publically acknowledge that the course is challenging, and that it may take more time to get through it, and make students aware of resources that they can use for personal problems

NOTES

 

 

 

 

 

Score

 

DELIVERY OF COURSE CONTENT: This skill deals with presentation skills, presentation tools, and management of the classroom during class time.

Question:   You are delivering a lecture on specific content that you have lecture material prepared for, but a few students seem very interested in a specific aspect of the topic and ask a lot of questions. What would you do?

Behavioural Anchor Description

Not Acceptable = 1

Acceptable = 3

Outstanding = 5
  • Ignore the student questions and continue with planned content
  • Spend entire class on student questions, and cover no planned content
  • Say there is no time to address questions given all the content that needs to be delivered
  • Decide to cut or postpone some planned content, in order to take up all of the student questions
  • Focus on the student questions, and eliminate planned content from the lecture and class
  • Rush through the planned content, in order to take up student questions
  • Acknowledge there are interesting questions, but state that we really need to get through the content.
  • Offer to meet with the students who have questions either in office hours or another time that works for them
  • Tell them you know it is an important issue, ask the whole class if they want to spend time discussing these questions. If so, spend 5 minutes discussing them, and then get back to the planned content. If not, meet with the smaller group of students outside of the class

NOTES

 

 

 

 

 

Score

 

PLANNING AND PREPARATION: The skill deals with any general course and specific class preparation.

It includes skills such as prioritizing, organization, course design, and selection of course content.

Question:   You have agreed to teach a course in the next semester for which you have a lot of knowledge and expertise. You have only been given a week to prepare, but you have been given access to the teaching material of the professor who has taught the course in the past. What would you do?

Behavioural Anchor Description

Not Acceptable = 1

Acceptable = 3

Outstanding = 5
  • Refuse to teach the class
  • Have TA’s design the course
  • Use the prior instructors material completely, without evaluating it
  • Prepare no material, and make the class discussion based
  • Evaluate and use the prior instructors material
  • Design your own course as you go, by adjusting the prior instructors materials before each lecture

 
  • Use the prior instructors materials as a starting point and resource, but adapt the material to your style and knowledge
  • Recognize your own areas of expertise and the other professor’s areas of expertise and integrate both materials accordingly
  • Redesign and plan as much as possible during that week using your expertise and knowledge

NOTES

 

 

 

 

 

Score

 

LEARNING CULTURE: This skill deals with fostering an environment that inspires learning.

Question: You are teaching the class a theory that you support, and a student raises their hand and states that there has been a new study contradicting the theory you are presenting. What would you do?

Behavioural Anchor Description

Not Acceptable = 1

Acceptable = 3

Outstanding = 5
  • React defensively or challenge the student
  • Ask the student to talk to you after class
  • Shrug the student off
  • Ask the student to leave
  • Ask the student for the reference so that you can read the article yourself
  • In an encouraging manner, ask the student if they want to come up and share their ideas with the class
  • Acknowledge that the paper exists, but that it does not change your opinion about the theory
  • Integrate it with the theory you are talking about, and acknowledge the similarities and differences
  • Read the article and follow up next class. If it does challenge your theory, acknowledge it
  • Share the article with the class, and have them give perspectives in a follow up class

NOTES

 

 

 

 

 

Score

 

SUBJECT SPECIFIC QUESTIONS: These skills and knowledge relate to

Question 1:       ?

Behavioural Anchor Description

Not Acceptable = 1

Acceptable = 3

Outstanding = 5
  •  
  •  
  •  

NOTES

 

Question 2:     ?

Behavioural Anchor Description

Not Acceptable = 1

Acceptable = 3

Outstanding = 5
  •  
  •  
  •  

NOTES

 

SUGGESTED CLOSING STATEMENT

  • That was the last question for our interview today.  I want to thank you for your interest in the assignment and for taking the time to come in today. I realize that this was a challenging interview. 
  • We will be reviewing the interview results, so you should hear from us by the (day) of (month).  (Specify means by which candidate will hear results – e.g., telephone, email, letter).
  • Before we finish, do you have any questions you would like to ask?
  • Thanks again for coming in.

SESSIONAL APPLICANT INTERVIEW SUMMARY SCORESHEET

CANDIDATE NAME:

DATE:

Question

Raw Score

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

/5

DELIVERY OF COURSE CONTENT

/5

PLANNING AND PREPARATION

/5

LEARNING CULTURE

/5

SUBJECT QUESTION 1

/

SUBJECT QUESTION 2

/
 
TOTAL SCORE

/

 Interviewer (Signature):

 
       

Providing Feedback to Candidates

It is the responsibility of the Chair of the Committee to thank applicants for their participation in the process and to indicate the outcome of the process. If an unsuccessful candidate subsequently requests, in writing, that specific reasons be provided for their not being selected as the successful candidate, the Chair is encouraged to consult with Faculty and Academic Staff Relations to prepare a response. While it is important to provide meaningful feedback to candidates, it is also imperative that the confidentiality of information of other applicants be respected and protected.

 

sl_interview_assessment.docx

Applicant FAQ Categories: