For seasoned recruiting and hiring managers, determining a job applicant's leadership skills is a relatively easy task accomplished throughout the interview and selection process. Asking interview questions that elicit information about work history, career goals and professional characteristics can shed partial light on an applicant's leadership skills. However, a number of other behaviors and actions are equally good indicators of leadership skills and capabilities.
Instructions
1. Read the job applicant's cover letter again, this time with an eye for leadership skills exhibited through his writing and how he approaches the application process. For example, applicants who list the addressee's full name, title, company name and address, when none of that information was provided in the job posting, exhibit diligence, an often overlooked leadership skill that's easily recognizable just by observing the cover letter. A properly addressed cover letter shows the applicant took the time to research the recruiter's name or the hiring manager's name to make a good impression through personalizing the letter.
2. Listen to the applicant's tone and speaking voice during the preliminary telephone interview. Serious job applicants study telephone interview techniques and, as a result, come across as interested candidates you'll likely want to interview in person. The main purpose of telephone interviews is to screen applicants according to whether they possess the requisite qualifications, such as work history and experience. Job applicants who can summarize their experience so that it corresponds to the qualifications in the job posting exhibit an ability to communicate effectively, an essential leadership skill.
3. Ask behavioral and situational interview questions during your face-to-face interviews. Effective communication skills are a part of leadership capabilities, and listening is an integral part of communication. When a job applicant listens carefully to the interview questions you pose, her ability to provide complete, thoughtful answers to your questions demonstrates the ability to listen. Additionally, job applicants who use body language, intonation and verbal cues to express themselves in an articulate and confident manner may be excellent candidates for leadership roles.
4. Pay attention to the questions a job applicant asks during the interview. Again, his resourcefulness and initiative are apparent in the types of questions he asks about the job, the company and, often, your own perceptions about working for your employer. Applicants with keen leadership skills ask questions that enable them to determine whether they really want the job and whether they will be a good fit for the company. They aren't merely interested in a job without understanding the company's philosophy. Leaders recognize the interview process is as much about them selling their qualifications to you as it is about your selling them on why your company is a good place to work.
5. Observe the job applicant's follow-up. Leadership skills are obvious in candidates who aren't reluctant to show their enthusiasm about the job and who can tell you in just two to three sentences in a thank-you note why they want to advance to the next stage in the selection process.
