The cost of hiring the right person for a position is high (interviewing time, recruitment fee, on-boarding, induction etc) so preparing for the interview is vital.
By asking the same questions of every interviewee and making sure they are evidence-based (based on past performance rather than hypothetical answers) you can more easily make the best hiring decision and vastly improve your chances of recruiting the right person.
Identifying the skills, knowledge and aptitudes required
First step is to go back to that job description that you created at the very beginning looking at what were the keys things you were looking for, at this point you need to determine: what are the skills I must have? This candidate must have these skills
Decide what you want this employee to be able to do, say and know. Talk to people in your organisation who are doing well in the role. Find out what they do and why it works for them. In other words, create a profile of your top performers. This will help you decide which questions to ask to uncover who has the skills you want.
The First Interview
It’s good to start the interview with something completely non-threatening to make the candidate more relaxed. Run through with the candidate how long you’ll take and what the interview will consist of. Then ask them to take you through their CV in ten minutes. You’ll learn as much as if they spend an hour and you’ll learn whether they can listen well, do as asked and keep to time.
It’s also worth devising a way to assess technical capability. This might be showing you their portfolio, asking them some technical ‘expert’ questions about a particular software product or discussing an area of the market or a client or brand.
Forget about remembering everything that transpires during an interview. You’ll want to take notes so that you can review the meeting at a later time. This will be especially important if you’re interviewing many people for the same position.
Don’t forget that the candidate is also interviewing you. In addition to being skilled at asking appropriate questions, ones that will elicit a candidate’s strengths and talents, you must be conscious of the impressions you are making as well. Just as the interviewee is selling him- or herself to you and your company, you are basically trying to achieve the same result. Make sure, for example, that you know as much as possible about your company; the interviewee will be looking to you to provide that information.
Skills and behaviours – Gathering the Evidence
Remember here you are looking for examples of work when the candidate has demonstrated a particular behaviour. You can discover this by asking questions like:
What is the most difficult situation you’ve had to face?
What was the situation?
What was the task (goal/objective)
What action did you take?
What was the result?
If your candidate cannot give you a full set of answers, it is likely they do not have this particular competency.
Probing is key to success here. Often the first answer the candidate gives may look good on the surface but when you dig down more carefully you will uncover other helpful evidence. If the candidate seems to have too much ‘good’ or ‘positive’ evidence and seems ‘too perfect’ it’s also a good idea to look for contrary evidence. Most people can evidence a mistake, and if they can’t that will also tell you they are either not trying new things or operating within a very tight rein.
Motivations and Aspirations
This too is an important part of the interview. If your candidate does not enjoy the activities which make up the main elements of your role then they are unlikely to be successful. It is often helpful to ask what they enjoyed most and least about their last role. This keeps the conversation grounded into real life. Find out also in this section what they would like to do in the future to ensure you may be able to meet those aspirations.
Work Environment
It can be very challenging moving from one business style to another and from a small business to a large one. Find out from your candidate where they’ve come from and the kinds of environments they’re comfortable in.
Extras
This is a good time to confirm the candidate’s current and expected salaries and benefits, although your recruiter will already have managed this for you if you are using one. Check stuff like location (how is their journey?), capacity to travel if necessary, notice periods etc. Always keep within the law with your questions. Be careful not discriminate on grounds of age, sex, marital status, race, faith, sexuality, disability etc so it is unwise to ask questions relating to any of these areas in case they are misconstrued.
The candidate should be encouraged to pose questions and ask them how they feel about the opportunity at this stage should you wish to progress to the next stage. Let them know what the next stage is and when they will have feedback (through your recruiter) and try to stick to the agreed timeframes.
Post Interview
Evaluate how well the candidate matches up to the skills and behaviors demonstrated by the best people in your team. At this point you will not be making a hiring decision but simply considering whether you wish to progress this candidate to the next stage.
The Second Interview
At second interview you can move straight into competency-based questions. You are likely to wish to uncover more evidence of already explored behaviors and some new ones as well. It may be that you want to use a psychometric / reasoning testing or use a work-based task (copy test, presentation etc) to gain additional information as to their suitability.
At the end of this stage you may have reduced your shortlist to two candidates or you may have made a hiring decision. The final stage may involve a further meeting or presentation with a senior person from within the organisation and may often be a ‘rubber stamp’ exercise. Avoid having your whole team meet and feed back on someone – you will rarely please everyone!
