The purpose of this report is to advise the hiring committee of XYZ Enterprise of an interviewing strategy to fill in the open position of Senior Level Executive Assistant

MAN 373 Written Assignment 4

Scenario: You are the Human Resources Director of Recruitment for XYZ Enterprise, and chosen to
develop an interview strategy to fill an open position of an Executive Assistant.
The purpose of this report is to advise the hiring committee of XYZ Enterprise of an interviewing
strategy to fill in the open position of Senior Level Executive Assistant. Our ordinary objective is to
present everyone involved in the hiring process with the most effective questions and selecting process in
an interview. The human Resources department is responsible for reviewing resumes and scheduling
interviews for potential employee candidates. All interviews of potential candidates are conducted in the
accordance with the EEO (Equal Employee Opportunity) Act. XYZ Enterprise is an equal opportunity
employer and has always followed a stricter set of guidelines. Complete allegiance to the guidelines is
necessary and any inclinations removed. It is of most importance that this position and the possible
problems of hiring the best competent professional for this role considered.
Candidate applications and resumes obtained through several job postings on primary job
recruiting websites. The Human Resources department selects the best candidates for the initial in person
or virtual interview. From the selected available candidates, they were able to narrow it down to the top
five chosen by the committee for the second interview. After the second round of interviews is completed,
the top two candidates will be scheduled for a meeting with the Vice President of XYZ Enterprise for the
final decision.

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Job Description & Requirements
A Senior Level Executive Assistant will be responsible for providing executive level support to
the Vice President of XYZ Enterprise. Performs complex secretarial and administrative duties in support
of the Vice President, and assists in coordinating the general functions of the office.
According to the nature of this role and its impact on the executive department, the following job
requirements are mandatory:
1. 8 to 10 years of experience supporting high level executives is required
2. Oversees the administration of the vice president’s office; sets priorities; enforces
regulations; monitors procedures and recommends changes as appropriate.
3. Participates as a member of the vice president’s council and serves as a liaison for the vice
president to council members and other internal or external constituents.
4. Arranges meetings, conferences, special events, and luncheons for the vice president.
5. Maintains the vice president’s appointment schedule; makes travel arrangements; manages
the vice president’s unit calendar of events.
6. Develops and prepares agendas for various departmental meetings; coordinates and attends
meetings as appropriate; prepares and distributes minutes to appropriate personnel.
7. Performs complex and confidential secretarial duties relating to personnel issues; maintains
confidential and sensitive information.
8. Assists in the scheduling and planning of the annual budget process; tracks financial
reporting requirements and budget calendars.
9. Tracks and reconciles all budget accounts for the unit vice president.
10. May have approval authority with budget responsibility as assigned by the vice president.
11. Monitors progress of unit and college-wide projects (i.e. PDP evaluations, establishing goals,
etc.); ensure deadlines are met; reviews completed tasks; ensures changes are made as
appropriate.
12. Screens calls and visitors to the unit vice president’s office; answers inquiries; conduct
research and responds to requests for information.
13. Routinely responds to complaints; researches and resolves or refers to appropriate
personnel.
14. May serve as recorder for appropriate Board of Trustees committee meetings.
15. Monitor and coordinate Instructional Service Agreement.
16. Proven experience of working with senior leaders in a company

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18.
19.
20.
21.

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Ability to maintain a high degree confidentiality
Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (all applications)
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Organizational and time management skills are essential
Bachelor’s Degree is required

It is essential for the hiring committee to be aware of the possible barriers to the effective
interviewing such as differing intentions, bias, confusing facts with inferences, nonverbal communication,
general effects of first impressions and organizational status of the hierarchical rank (Hynes 2011). When
dealing with connotations and confusing facts, it is very important no to jump to conclusions.
Acknowledge the interview process makes some individuals nervous and that first impressions are hard to
manage during the process, where disadvantageous standards advocate to surface more than the
complimentary ones.

Recognize your objective first. The goal is to get the information that written data cannot easily
reveal, including applicant’s ambitions, motives, and personality traits. During the interview, you can
clarify inconsistencies, fill in the resume, and experience gaps.Decide on whether you are trying to gain
general information, obtain specific data, or persuade someone to accept an idea (Hynes 2011).
Remember that the initial interviews already have been done and general information about the candidates
has been obtained and attached to their files. Your next step is to get to know the applicants, analyze their
skills, and determine whether they will be right fit for the company. Prepare your questions in advance.
Review the information that has been obtained; it will help you to avoid irrelevant content. Decide on and
develop a questioning strategy, which will help you to reach the interview’s goal. Choose between
structured interview, unstructured interview, and semi-structured approach (Hynes 2011). There are three
kinds of questions that should be asked during an interview: Clear close ended, primary-secondary, and
neutral-directed. Ask questions in an interrogative sentence depending on the type of the solution you are
endeavoring to get, superior general replication or concrete solvent. The upfront question orchestrating

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withal the interview more expeditious and ascertain you get the needed selective information. In
Integration, it will avail you to eschew obscure worded questions that could be arduous for the candidate
to answer. When felicitous, it is underlying to ask ended scenario predicated questions, where an applicant
has to react to a typical on the romp billet. It will springiness you a sense of how this individual might
react in a challenging situation on the job. Be flexible whenever possible. If you ask a pre-developed
question and do not get a gratifying answer or not enough information has been provided, ask adscititious,
follow-up questions. Do not just peregrinate to the next question, this way you will not be able to
accumulate enough information.
Time
Time is an essential part of an interview process. Try to allow enough time to plan and to conduct
the interview. In general, it is better to allocate too much rather than too little time (Hynes 2011).

Make sure the consultation is not too long or too short-circuit. It is important not to make the
candidate feel rushed. Allow enough time for the candidate to answer enquiry. Decide for yourself how
much time will be dedicated to asking questions and how much of the company information is revealed.
Try to listen more during the beginning of the interview with general questions, then let the candidate
talk. It is a good estimation to talk about the company at the end of the interview. This avoids the
applicant telling what they might think you might want to hear instead of being honest.
Record keeping
Take detailed notes and keep records. It builds a professional atmosphere and makes the applicant
feel listened to, respected, important and inspired. Most of us will not be able to remember how every
applicant answered every question that was asked. Taking notes will help to keep track of their answers. It
will also allow managers to be specific about why certain decisions have been made and how they came
to conclusions about the applicants. Create a summary of each individual after the interview has been
completed. It is a good idea to use rating system. It will minimize the possibility of making a wrong

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decision beforehand. An Additional option is to have a routine form that reports on the same areas for
each applicant or record answers to the same questions (Hynes 2011).
The interview process can get quite challenging for any organization. Following these few
techniques will help you to reduce any involuntary biases that frequently compromise even the bestplaned interview strategies and will also help us to hire the most qualified candidates to be a part of XYZ
Enterprise team.

Works Cited
Class Specification Executive Assistant. (2007, July 16). Retrieved February 16, 2016, from lbcc.edu:
http://www.lbcc.edu/PersonnelCommission/documents/ExecutiveAssistant.pdf
Hynes, G. (2011). Managerial Communication: Strategies and Applications (5th ed.) Boston, MA. In G.
Hynes. McGraw-Hill/Irwin.