Q. Are positions at all levels advertised to Tampa Electric team members first? How long is it advertised to team members before being advertised to the public?
A. Union covered positions are bid within the covered group first. The period is seven working days determined by the contracts with the IBEW and OPEIU. Non-covered positions may be marketed to internal team members first for the same seven-day period or may be marketed to both internal and external groups simultaneously. This decision is at the discretion of the hiring manager/supervisor and recruiter and is often related to market availability, skill set requirements, and applicant pool diversity initiatives.
Q. How long will interview results be considered for the job applied for or for a similar job?
A. Six months.
Q. What types of interviews exist in the selection for excellence process?
A. The types of interviews include:
Q. What factors are considered when selecting candidates to be interviewed?
A. The job will determine what to look for in applicants. The following factors should be considered: accomplishments, education, number of years of work-related experience, degrees, certifications, credentials, frequent job changes without career advancement, gaps in employment history and salary history. Creativity, writing and organizational skills may also be considered if applicable to the position. Motivational fit may also be identified in either a cover letter or objective statement.
Q. Who is involved in selecting candidates to be interviewed?
A. A recruitment professional presents qualified candidates to the hiring manager/supervisor. Qualified candidates are those internal and external candidates meeting the required skills. Together, they will determine which candidates move forward to testing and/or interviews. At times, other members of the department management or HR may assist in this selection.
Q. How are interviewers selected?
A. The hiring manager/supervisor along with the recruiter will be responsible for selecting an interview team. For entry level, non-exempt positions, an interview team may consist of two or three interviewers. For salaried exempt positions, three interviewers shall participate. The Targeted Selection (TS) interviewers must have completed the training program and must be of a higher position level than the applicants for the position. For example, when hiring a supervisor, there should be three manager level or higher employees on the interview team. If hiring for a manager, three directors or higher shall participate on the interview team. In the event a hiring manager has not been trained in TS, that manager may participate in the selection process as a technical interviewer and may attend consensus, but shall not be considered as one of the TS interviewers.
Q. Is there a difference between internal versus external interviewing?
A. The interview process is the same for both internal and external candidate interviews.
Q. What are the guidelines for making a decision to promote someone from inside a department versus posting a job for others to bid?
A. Natural progression promotions do occur within certain job families throughout our company. Recently, a number of lateral moves have been made in the interest of team member development and/or job enrichment. Lateral moves are not considered promotions.
Q. Has anyone measured the relationship between the management testing results and actual success within this company? Is it a valid measurement of success?
A. First, the internal Testing and Assessment Group (TAG) determined what knowledge, skills, abilities and dimensions were critical to supervisory and management positions.
Second, after the requirements have been determined, then the TAG sought out highly valid instruments. All assessments used at the supervisory and management level are “off the shelf” instruments. They have been designed by professionals using a national database of thousands of participants to ensure test re-test reliability and validity. Before these instruments are purchased, the TAG ensured general reliability/validity in nationwide studies.
Third, the tests are then evaluated based on the performance and success of applicants in the selection process. We review how well the candidates perform on the test in comparison with their performance in the interviews and other parts of the selection process.
We also review evidence of 360 performance in correlation to in-basket scores.
Q. Please explain the consensus process.
A. Consensus is the process of sharing behavioral data gathered in the interview process and discussing the rationale for each rating. The same rating criteria used in the performance management process is used in Targeted Selection. One interviewer starts by explaining what behavioral data he/she collected. The other interviewers ask clarifying questions and also present additional behavioral information. After discussion, the group comes to a shared conclusion for each dimension on each candidate.
Q. What happens if the interview team cannot reach a consensus?
A. Consensus is a required step in the selection process. Members of the interview team must be in agreement that an applicant is acceptable for hire. There may be times when more than one candidate is acceptable for hire. The hiring manager/supervisor is the person who owns the outcome of the decision. He/she does rely on input from the other elements in the process, including the interview team, ratings/consensus, critical dimension ratings, technical interviews and simulations/assessments.
Q. What background checks are conducted for new hires?
A. Background checks include:
