Interviewing Skills

Date: Thursday, April 20, 2006
Time: 01:00 PM ET / 12:00 PM CT / 11:00 AM MT / 10:00 AM PT [Prevailing Time]
Presenter(s): Linda A. Pappajohn - SantoraBaffone CPA Group
Objective(s):
The ideas and tips covered in this MAPCast will help you get a clearer picture of how the candidate will behave and perform in your firm.
Field of Study: Personnel/Human Resources
Program Level: Basic
CPE Credit: 1 Credit Hour
Delivery Method: Group Internet-based

No advanced preparation or prerequisites are required for this course.
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Course Description

Even though it is a challenge today to find potential employees, hopefully your hiring decision is based on gathering more information than, “Yep, she’s breathing!”

In this MAPCast, you’ll learn –

• Who should conduct the interview
• How to conduct a comfortable interview
• How to use the candidate’s resume to dig deeper
• What questions to ask to uncover a candidate’s true behavior and performance on prior jobs
• How to hear what the candidate is really saying and explore further
• When to use assessment tools

The ideas and tips covered in this MAPCast will help you get a clearer picture of how the candidate will behave and perform in your firm. And, don’t you just hate surprises after the person starts work?

Presenter and Moderator Bios
Linda A. Pappajohn, CPA

Linda is a Principal of Santora CPA Group and heads up its HR Consulting Division. She has been with the firm for 18 years. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts. Her prior accounting experience was as a controller of a large real estate accounting service company in Boston.

She has implemented compensation and bonus plans, evaluation and goal-setting programs, and has written personnel policy manuals and competency-based job descriptions. Some of her most recent major consulting projects include:

Development of a revised personnel payment plan for the State of Delaware's Department of Justice (DOJ). She worked with the Attorney General's Office and the State Personnel Office to develop a competency based job criteria structure for the five DOJ divisions.

She serves as the Human Resource Manager for a subsidiary of a large British chemical company that spun off from its U.S. affiliate. They out-sourced all of their HR functions to her. Besides systematizing their payroll and benefits, she developed a performance evaluation and goal-setting program, wrote personnel policies and procedures, and advises them on all HR issues. When they formed an out-of-state joint venture, Linda handled all HR matters for the combining of work forces and downsizing, and the payroll and benefits administration. She is currently involved in HR due diligence work for them regarding the acquisition of other specialty companies.

Linda has implemented a compensation system for a large nonprofit client with group homes and a school that complies with some of the more complex regulations under the Federal Labor Standards Act. Some of the issues involved sleep time, on-call time, and 7-days on/7-days off work schedules. She also worked with department heads to develop the way these changes were communicated to employees so there was no loss of existing employees.
Linda has also written ADA job descriptions for a national association to use as a handout to its 500 member companies.

Linda was the national president of the Association for Accounting Administration. She was the recipient of the CPA Services, Inc.'s Firm Administrator of the Year Award and has had articles published in The Journal of Accountancy and The Practical Accountant. Recently, she has spoken at various national accounting industry conferences (AICPA and the Association for Accounting Administration) on developing competencies and performance appraisals, developing compensation and benefit plans, and hiring/recruiting/firing techniques.

She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management. Linda also was elected to the Board of Governors at the University & Whist Club in Wilmington, and is the Chairperson of the Club's Human Resource Committee.

Cost
$25.00 for CPAFMA Members / $40.00 for Non-Members / Free for PAFMs

Delivery System

  • All programs are delivered using the Zoom platform.
  • Confirmations will include log-in instructions.
  • Participants are able to participate using any device with an Internet connect (if the device does not have speakers, the participant can also dial-in) or they can participate with audio only by dialing in.
  • All registrants will receive a link to the MAPCast’s recording by email within 48 business hours of event’s conclusion.
  • There will be assistance available to help with technical and connectivity issues up to 10 minutes prior to the start of the presentation.

Registration

All registration is done on-line with the names and email addresses of each individual guest. Log-in details will be emailed to all registrants approximately 1-2 days prior to each session.

Refund Policy

CPAFMA will not issue refunds for MAPCasts. If a registrant is unable to participate in the MAPCast and sends written notice to info@cpafma.org 48 hours prior to the session, a credit will be provided for a future MAPCast. Alert the CPAFMA staff member monitoring the MAPCast if technical difficulties are encountered and technical support will be provided to eliminate problems with future MAPCasts.

Additional Information

Live participation is required for CPE credit and polling questions must be answered to show active participation. All registrants will receive an email following the session with links to the slides and/or handouts, and a link to the MAPCast recording (unless otherwise stated). If you are unable to participate in the live session, you can still watch the recorded session, but you will not be eligible for CPE credits.

For more information regarding CPAFMA MAPCasts or administrative policies such as complaint and refund, contact the CPAFMA Headquarters at 937-222-0030, or info@cpafma.org.