Strategic Human Resources Planning & Staffing

Text book  Phillips, J.M. and Gully, S.M. (2015). Strategic Staffing. 
Pearson/Prentice Hall. (3rd Edition)

Chern’s, an upscale clothing retailer that was founded 20-years ago, currently has 19,000 full- and part-time employees that work in its 140 stores located primarily in the Midwest and East Coast of the United States. Providing superior customer service has been the company’s main business strategy and this has successfully differentiated it from its competitors. Although the company’s products are expensive, the high product quality and excellent customer service have made the company successful. The owners of the company believe that customer service is the essence of selling and that because the firm’s sales associates are in direct contact with customers, they are the core drivers of the company’s performance. As such, Chern’s tries to identify and select the right people, train them, and give them the tools and autonomy they need to be successful as sales associates. Successful employees are rewarded with above-average base salaries, full benefits, and a generous commission based on sales volume. Last year, 42 of Chern’s sales associates sold at least $1,000,000 in merchandise. Because Chern’s has a strong reputation for customer service, quality, and selection, it enjoys very positive brand recognition and is consistently named one of the top three retailers in regional customer surveys.
Job Description:Chern’s is seeking sales associates at its flagship store in New York City. The ideal candidate is a sales professional who can execute the company’s customer service strategy by building long-term relationships with clientele. Candidates should be entrepreneurial in spirit, have a drive to be successful, and desire to make money. Excellent customer service and sales skills are required. Previous experience in retail and/or clothing sales is a plus, but not a firm requirement.
Pages 398 – 406 in the textbook display eight candidate resumes that have applied for the sales associate position at Chern’s. Assume that you are the hiring manager at the flagship store in New York. Review each of the resumes carefully and then select four that you would invite to a face-to-face interview. 
1. In your post, list the four candidate names that you invited to interview and provide a brief explanation as to why you invited each candidate.
2. Using the information presented in the textbook and journal articles, craft a structured interview guide that contains at minimum five quality and relevant interview questions. At least three of the questions must be either behavioral or situational questions. You do not need to provide an answer key, benchmark responses or relative weights for this exercise (although this would be an important next step). Craft your questions with care so that you could adequately assess each candidate’s skills, abilities, knowledge and other relevant factors.