In my previous post entitled Quality control inspectors: an ideal profile?, I introduced the Ned Hermann model to show that only a certain thinking style tends to make a good QC inspector. Now, how to know a candidate’s profile? Recruiters can administer a full questionnaire, but it is a little pricey. In this post I suggest a few tips to use during interviews.

The single best thing to do is to see this inspector perform an inspection. One can see right away whether she is experienced in following the procedure, and whether she knows the important elements about the product (usual defects, sensitive issues…).

If you want to hire a newbie, and you want to relate this to my previous post, I tried to list a few tips below.

The major chosen at university tends to indicate an individual’s personality. Accounting or law studies are probably right on spot. HOWEVER this is not enough. There is a strong proportion of mismatches (i.e. people who choose a major but don’t like it). An English major might be a perfect fit if she enjoyed applying rigorously this new grammar and syntax… Things are not always crystal clear.

I would also suggest looking for small hints dropped during the interview, such as:

• Did she arrive on time?
• Are there typos in the resume or in the letter(s)?
• Is the formatting consistent across his resume and letter(s)?
• Did she bring everything she might need, or did she forget something?
• Is she looking for a stable job (if so, she is rather conservative, likes to plan things, etc.) or does she like new challenges, no matter the risks (in which case, she might be more on the “creative” side)?

But this is not error-proof either, since a candidate might be very careful on interview day and then reveal her bad sides later on. To complement this observation, I think open questions can work marvels. A candidate does not know what you are looking for when asking things like “what do you like to do in your free time?”, so you might uncover her true character more effectively this way.

One last word… Integrity is a must for inspectors, and I don’t know of any way of testing for it in an interview. I advise you to follow your gut feelings for that!

Other tips, anyone?