Job interviews get new twist in Islands
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
The six applicants sat in a nervous semi-circle yesterday, uncertain what to expect next from a job interview unlike any other they've had.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
They already had been asked to stand and introduce themselves one by one, portray a character from a movie or television show that personifies them and then improvise the difference between good and bad service in a restaurant — all in front of the managers of the soon-to-open Kona Brewing Co. restaurant in Koko Marina Center. And in front of everyone else trying to get hired by the restaurant.
Kona Brewing Co. conducted job interviews by having candidates do skits. Sherri Fujii pretends to serve beverages to candidates Sarah Oishi and Jay Rea as general manager Jeremiah Neal listens from the back of the room.
Then Sarah Oishi, who was applying as a waitress or bartender, was handed a child's plastic Transformer toy and told to sell its virtues on the spot.
"We're looking for personality, character and drive," said Jeremiah Neal, the restaurant's general manager, who needs to hire 70 people before the restaurant opens in mid-December. "We also want to see how quick they are on their feet because a lot of guests will ask you questions that will take you off guard."
The company is the latest Hawai'i business to add a twist to the well-worn job interview. As part of its hiring process, the company includes group role-playing to reveal the characteristics it wants in its employees — specifically team work, natural leadership and lots of personality.
Kona Brewing Co. and other businesses still use job applications, references and one-on-one interviews. But they add the group interview toward the end of the process for the candidates they like best.
Scott Schroeder, director of the school of business at Chaminade University, said businesses increasingly are turning to group interviews and what he calls "behavioral simulation" though improvisational skits and role playing to find good employees.
"If you have people go through things that they would encounter on the job, then you're more likely to see how they will perform, rather than merely asking them how they would react to a particular situation," he said.
It's also important to have several managers rate applicants to weed out any biases of a single manager, Schroeder said.
Any company can tailor behavioral simulations to whatever the job requires, Schroeder said.
Conducting successful group interviews: • Have several managers rate each candidate and compare their scores. • Create general scenarios that allow job candidates to display their creativity and personalities, such as improvising a fictional or real character. • Watching the groups prepare for skits can be as important as the actual performances because job candidates often show leadership, teamwork and listening skills.
But businesses such as Tiki's Grill & Bar in the Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel find group interviews particularly useful in a service-driven economy like Hawai'i's.
Interview tips
Tiki's, which has about 200 employees, conducts group interviews with 20 candidates every two weeks.
"We're watching them to see how they present themselves," said Greg Montgomery, a manager and partner at Tiki's Grill & Bar. "Who's the leader in the group? Who's listening? Who cares and who doesn't? We want to see who sits in the front of the room or the back of the room, who volunteers. We also watch the others to make sure they're watching and being courteous."
The managers at Tiki's also toss in a final twist at the end of the hour-long group interview: They have each candidate list three people — other than themselves — who they think should be hired. Then they list the one person who should not.
The candidates' votes typically match the managers' assessments. "Especially the one who shouldn't be hired," Montgomery said.
The group interview process at the Kona Brewing Co. made Kelli Yamamoto, 31, appreciate the company's philosophy even more.
She went into the interview two weeks ago expecting to answer questions about herself. Instead she found herself in a cramped office at the Koko Marina Center along with five other job candidates.
"It was really, really different," Yamamoto said. "I can talk to people, no problem. But when I have to stand up in front of other people, ho. Even with a group of six, I was nervous. It was like an audition."
Yamamoto still hasn't heard whether she's getting a job. But even if she doesn't, Yamamoto believes she has learned valuable lessons about the way managers can communicate their company philosophies beginning with the job interview.
"Afterward, they had a long talk with us and it was unreal," Yamamoto said. "Their whole goal is to keep people. And what makes people stay is making them happy."
At the end of yesterday's 90-minute group interview, Neal sat in a circle with the six job candidates, tugged at his aloha shirt and pointed to the rubber slippers on his feet.
"We don't tuck in our shirts and we're a pretty laid-back place," he said. "But we definitely want professional service."
Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8085.
