Research by talent management specialists A&DC has shown that the economic downturn has already impacted on the questions used at interview. Six months ago, the most 'popular' question dealt with stress tolerance, but employers are now most interested in hearing how candidates manage conflicting demands, asking them to describe a situation where they had a number of conflicting demands on their time, and to explain how they dealt with it.
According to Rory Fidgeon, principal consultant, A&DC, "The reaction to the credit crunch is far-reaching - even in interviewing processes. A year ago interviewers wanted to know about candidates' stress tolerance. That made sense - in expanding markets, organisations need to innovate, diversify and push strategic agendas.
Fidgeon adds that "in a credit crunch, organisations batten down the hatches and aim to get the most out of the resources they've got, which is reflected in the most popular question selected from CBI-Smart. The strategic emphasis has changed and seemingly, organisations want to make sure every one is contributing to planning, organising and defending their market position. It's interesting that there's tangible evidence that markets react to the credit crunch through interviewing too."
