Arnolfo’s Interview
?Scott and Martin were the ones responsible for servicing and repairing the irrigation systems within 35 parks and all the street landscape areas in the Zinfandel and Sunridge areas of Rancho Cordova, California.?We were given the green light to hire another full-time irrigation technician to help us with all the maintenance and repairs throughout the park district.?The Human Resource Manager asked me to come up with the questions for the interview and submit them to her for review to make sure we complied with existing state and federal laws.?She was surprised at one of the questions that Scott and Martin had developed and she wasn’t sure it would be applicable.?After listening to them, she relented and the question remained as part of the interview.
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?The day of the interview came.?Scott and Martin were part of a four-person interview panel along with the Human Resource Manager.?Arnolfo was only one candidate that had applied for the position.?As the questions were asked, Arnolfo was nervous and struggled with the answers.?The Human Resource Manager was not impressed with him and felt he was not a viable candidate for the position.?It came down to the last question for the candidate to sell himself for the job.?Scott picked up a small cardboard box and placed it on the table where Arnolfo sat.?He asked, “Arnolfo, can you show us how to put together a swing joint and explain how it works?”
?Arnolfo looked inside the box and saw several PVC connections and pipe.?He smiled.?He knew exactly what to do.?Arnolfo was in his element – his comfort zone.?He quickly assembled the swing joint and easily explained how it worked.?Scott and Martin knew they had the right person for the job and the Human Resource Manager learned something that day.??Sometimes candidates for a trades-type position have a hard time explaining how they do certain assignments with just words alone.?There are times that it is important to have the candidates do a hands-on demonstration to show they have the skill sets, knowledge and abilities to do the job.