Prep & Planning
Before interviewing, a manager creates this document which outlines the duties, responsibilities, and working conditions of the role.
Answer: What is a Job Description?
This Ontario Act protects employees and applicants from discrimination based on race, religion, or age.
Answer: What is the Ontario Human Rights Code?
In this common style, every candidate is asked the exact same set of questions in the same order.
Answer: What is a Structured Interview?
This refers to the non-verbal cues a manager should watch for, such as eye contact, posture, and fidgeting.
Answer: What is Body Language?
Managers do this to verify a candidate’s past performance and character by calling previous employers.
Answer: What is a Reference Check?
This list of "must-have" qualities, such as education level or specific technical skills, is often used to filter resumes.
Answer: What are Job Specifications?
True or False: It is legal to ask a candidate if they have a reliable way to get to work at 8:00 AM.
Answer: True
"Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult customer" is an example of this type of question.
Answer: What is a Behavioral Question?
This "Halo Effect" occurs when a manager likes one thing about a candidate and lets it overshadow their flaws.
Answer: What is Interviewer Bias?
This formal document is sent to the winning candidate, outlining salary, start date, and benefits.
Answer: What is an Offer Letter?
A manager might use this to compare all candidates against the same set of criteria to reduce bias.
Answer: What is a Selection Criteria (or Rubric)?
This term refers to the employer's duty to adjust the working environment so an employee with a disability can do their job.
Answer: What is the Duty to Accommodate?
This interview style involves a group of people interviewing a single candidate at the same time.
Answer: What is a Panel Interview?
A manager should spend about 80% of the time doing this, and only 20% of the time talking.
Answer: What is Listening?
To maintain a good "Employer Brand," a manager should send this to candidates who were not selected.
Answer: What is a Rejection Letter (or "Thank You" letter)?
This type of recruitment involves looking for candidates within the current organization.
Answer: What is Internal Recruiting?
Asking a candidate "When did you graduate high school?" is a "hidden" way of asking for this protected piece of information.
Answer: What is Age?
"How would you handle a situation where a teammate wasn't pulling their weight?" is an example of this "what-if" question type.
Answer: What is a Situational (or Scenario-based) Question?
This technique involves repeating back what a candidate said to ensure clarity and show you are paying attention.
Answer: What is Active Listening?
This term describes the process of integrating a new hire into the company culture and providing initial training.
Answer: What is Orientation or Onboarding?
To ensure a smooth interview, managers should "prime" these people—the other employees who might meet the candidate during a "meet-the-team" session.
Answer: Who are the Stakeholders?
These are the "essential duties" of a job that an applicant must be able to perform, with or without accommodation.
Answer: What are Bona Fide Occupational Requirements (BFOR)?
This "free-flowing" interview style is often criticized for being prone to bias and difficult to compare between candidates.
Answer: What is an Unstructured Interview?
Candidates are often encouraged to use this 4-letter acronym (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to answer behavioral questions.
Answer: What is the STAR Method?
Before a final hire is made in many Ontario sectors (like education or healthcare), this specific background check is required.
Answer: What is a Vulnerable Sector Check (or Police Background Check)?