After screening is complete, hiring managers can use a number of methods to assess candidates, including interviews, exercises and reference checks.
Much of the assessment of a candidate's competencies will occur in person. The idea is to closely approximate the job and work context and assess candidates within that. Although different tools can be used to assess different things, hiring managers need to ensure throughout the entire assessment process, using whatever tools selected, all the competency requirements identified for the job have been assessed.
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Assess Candidates comes after Screen Applications and before Offer and Appoint.
Interviews
The interview process consists of asking candidates a series of competency-related questions. The answers are then evaluated to determine if they meet the competency requirements at the level required for the job.
Hiring managers should prepare an interview guide which addresses the competencies that have been identified as critical for the candidate to bring to the job. Each question should also include the expected responses.
Please refer to Creating an Interview Guide and either the Out-of-Scope Interview Guide Template, In-Scope Interview Guide Template or Relatively Equal Interview Guide Template.
For more information on creating assessment material for Middle Managers, please refer to Middle Manager Excellence.
Refer to the Interview Process Guide for tips on how to conduct the interview itself. For interviews where Behavioural Descriptive Interview (BDI) questions are provided in advance, the coversheet for candidates, Preparation for Behavioural (BDI) Questions, is available. If you are conducting your interview remotely (by phone or online), the Tips for Remote Interviewing for Hiring Managers document is available as a resource.
A Benefits Summary should be attached to the interview guide and explained to each candidate at the end of the interview.
In addition, the hiring manager must inform each candidate that a Criminal Record Check (CRC) may be required as the final condition of employment, but that the candidate will be contacted directly by the CRC Coordinator's Office if that is necessary.
The hiring manager cannot provide a verbal offer until the CRC is complete. The CRC office will be in contact, as necessary.
The manager/supervisor is required to collect the SGEU panel rep's completed interview guides immediately following the interview, along with all other union documentation, if applicable. This is all to be put into the envelope provided by SGEU. When references are complete and an offer has been made and accepted, the manager/supervisor must send it to:
PS/GE Panel Rep Coordinator
SGEU
1011 Devonshire Drive North
Regina, SK S4X 2X4
The manager/supervisor's guides, and those of any other panel members, should be kept in the competition file and stored in accordance with the ministry's records management schedule.
Please refer to SGEU Panel Rep Guide for Managers for details and related information for virtual interviews.
Other Assessments
In addition to traditional interviews, there are a number of other assessment tool options to determine whether a candidate meets the competency requirements. If an exercise or other assessment tool is used to assess one or more of the competency requirements, it is important to have expected responses documented as well. The completed assessments are to be included in the competition file.
Reference Checks
Reference checks are usually done as the final step in the selection process and help determine whether or not the candidate is qualified. The Manager's Guide to Reference Checks will help with that process.
The hiring manager is typically responsible for conducting the reference checks and will need to prepare a Reference Check Guide to ask questions about the competencies identified for the position.
Managers should also confirm the references' relationship to the candidate and to provide information about behaviours of the candidate in relation to the competencies required for the position.
Responses received from each reference must be documented verbatim, as much as possible, in the same manner as other candidate assessments.
Alternate Assessment
In some situations, depending on context, an alternate assessment may be appropriate. For example, an alternate assessment may be appropriate if a hiring manager has observed the performance of a candidate who has been successfully performing the job for an extensive period of time on a term basis or has done so in the past.
Actual demonstration of the competencies required for the job is typically a very good and comprehensive assessment. During an alternate assessment, a hiring manager can document observations of the candidate's demonstrated competencies by using the Alternate Assessment Form. While a copy of the form is not shared with the SGEU panel rep (if applicable), the hiring manager should have a discussion about the results with the panel rep.
Evaluating Results
Evaluation of candidate responses to in-person assessments (interview and other assessments) should occur as soon as possible after the assessment so that information is fresh in the hiring manager's memory.
The evaluation of each response and exercise is to determine whether or not the candidate meets expectations with respect to each competency. These results must be recorded on a Candidate Evaluation Summary Form (Out-of-Scope, In-Scope, Relatively Equal).
All assessment information (interview, other assessments, reference checks) should be weighed appropriately and will determine whether or not the candidate meets all requirements for the job. From there, depending on employment type and scope, a selection decision can be made.
For information about merit-based (relatively equal) staffing, refer to the Merit-Based (Relatively Equal) Staffing page.
