Let’s be honest – interviewing isn’t as straight forward as it first seems!
There are lots of things to balance… being a good representative for the organisation, accurately reflecting the reality of the role, all whilst trying to determine if the person you have in front of you is the right person for the job.
On top of that, research tells us that the costs of hiring the wrong candidate are huge due to the impact on productivity and training and turnover costs.
But the good news is, interviewing is a skill that can be honed.
Read the top 10 tips for interviewing below to enable you to conduct effective selection processes and recruit the right people.
Top 10 tips for interviewers
1. Change the balance of power
Interviews should be a two-way process: a dialogue. Employers are assessing whether the candidates are suitable. But, candidates are also assessing if this is the organisation they want to work for and if they can work well with their prospective manager. Being aware of this dynamic will allow interviewers and interviewees to establish a positive working relationship early on.
2. Be friendly, warm and welcoming
Hiring managers should acknowledge that formal interviews can be a daunting experience for some candidates and cause a lot of anxiety. Aim to put candidates at ease to get the best out of them; hiring managers can do this through welcoming candidates with a smile, offering them a drink and asking how their journey was. It’s best to avoid going straight into formal questions and answers and instead establish a positive, safe environment at the start of the interview. It’s important to create an excellent first impression, because you are representing your company as the candidate’s potential employer.
3. Find the best setting for the interview
Interviewers should arrange for a quiet space to hold their interviews with no disruptions. It’s key that interviews are held in a private location and not somewhere public where the discussion could be heard by other employees or customers. If the interviews are somewhere busy with lots of passers-by, the candidates may become self-conscious and fail to effectively communicate their abilities during the interview. It’s the interviewer’s role to get the best out of the candidate and enable them to really showcase their skills during the process.
4. Provide background information
Provide lots of detail about the company near the beginning of the interview (history, how it operates, the culture) and the role (the responsibilities, day to day tasks, the department) to allow the candidate to make an informed decision about whether the position is the right fit for them. The time the interviewer takes to run through these details will help to put the candidate at ease rather than asking them to talk first. This background information could be described as the interviewer’s ‘sales pitch’. However, you shouldn’t oversell or over promise, as new employees will only feel disappointed in the long term.
5. Prepare, prepare, prepare.
It’s not just the candidate who should prepare ahead of an interview. As an interviewer, you should also do your homework. This should include reviewing the candidate’s application and being aware of their experience before meeting them. This will mean that candidates will not need to regurgitate their employment history and will be pleased that you’ve invested time in them. This will demonstrate to the candidate that you value the time and effort they have put into the process. In addition, establishing the basics ahead of the interview will free up more time to get under the skin of the candidate’s ability and assess their suitability for the role.
6. Pre-plan questions
Take time ahead of the interview to compile a series of questions which are relevant to the role. Interviewers should aim to pose a mix of different types of interview questions. For example, behavioural questions will help us understand how a candidate performed or reacted to something. These often start with ‘tell me about a time when…’. Also, situational questions focus on hypothetical situations in the future. These are good questions to compare candidates’ responses to the same problem. Always link the questions to key competencies required for the role (e.g. organisation skills, time management, resilience).
7. Follow a structure
Best practice tells us that scoring interview answers is the fairest way to determine who should be offered the role. The key thing to remember is that each candidate should have the same opportunity to answer consistent interview questions to showcase their knowledge and experience. When interviewers follow a structure, it is easier to score each answer against set criteria, but try to avoid being too rigid.
8. Actively listen and be patient
It’s important to give your candidate sufficient time to answer a question you’ve asked them. You should avoid the temptation of interrupting and allow candidates to provide their answer fully, to ensure their thought process isn’t disrupted. If you feel the candidate needs to tell you more, try to ask probing questions to prompt candidates and help them on their way. For example, “why do you think that approach didn’t work”.
9. Clearly outline next steps
Be proactive during the interview and clearly outlining where you are in the process. For example, tell the candidate when interviews are due to conclude, how many candidates you have left to see, whether there is another interview stage or if you’re looking to make a decision following this round. You should also confirm when the decision will be made and when they will hear from you.
10. Be decisive
In the current labour market, you must make quick decisions. This doesn’t mean that the decision should be rushed or hurried through, but interviewers shouldn’t drag their feet following the conclusion of an interview process. It’s easy for the demands of our day-to-day role to take precedence, however the risk of not being decisive could mean that the best candidate for the role gets snapped up by another company. This would result in the hiring manager returning to square one in the recruitment cycle, putting direct pressure on your existing team while the vacancy remains open.
As ever, if you need to discuss any issues or problems you come across when you perform interviews, please do get in touch with Carrie!
