Conducting a Successful Job Interview

You’re a Manager with a growing team and you’ve gotta do some job interviews. Pretty easy, you think- but not necessarily! There is a skill to a successful interview and getting the best out of it. That is, getting to know the real ‘person’, not just the candidate they want you to see! Clearly identifying their experience and where there are strong synergies and any gaps. From there you are armed with the knowledge and the data to make the right hiring decision.

Also, we must not forget that the interview is a two-way street. You are also being assessed by the candidate.

A few suggestions from the ‘school of hard knocks’ to get the best results:

1. Take half an hour before an interview to familiarise yourself with the candidate that you are about to meet and ensure that you know the areas which are of most interest and what you clearly need to cover. Being prepared will help you get the most out of the interview, but it will also assist in building rapport with the candidate. We also have to be careful in our preparation not to have too many preconceived ideas or opinions, just identify the areas of interest in which to explore.

2. Try to put the candidate at ease and make introductions relaxed and not robotic- be warm and ease their nerves. Someone that is too nervous, won’t be at their best and you’re not identifying the real candidate.

3. Start by describing the role and where it fits into your organisation. However, try to bring the role to ‘life’. Don’t just ‘read out’ a Position Description. As I say, bring it to life and where it’s critical to the organisation and your objectives.

4. I always find conversational interviews to work the best, as opposed to ‘stilted’ questions. We certainly need to focus on any technical skills but don’t forget to enquire around softer skills. This can be done by asking how the candidate does certain things – how they managed different matters or solved problems. This will give you an insight into their soft skills. It’s about open questions rather than closed ones and learning from their response.

5. Look to get information and data that goes beyond the resume. For instance, you can seek to find out what KPI‘s they held in their most recent role and how they went against those KPI‘s. Why were they successful? What were the challenges etc? You’ll get meaningful data and insights far above a list of responsibilities or ‘bullet point’ achievements that accompanies a typical resume.

6. As indicated, I prefer conversational interviews and therefore not having exclusively behavioural questions. I think there needs to be a balance, so you understand the full person. I believe, as indicated, that behavioural questions are good for identifying soft skills.

But also find out what responsibilities and objectives they held in different positions. How did they contribute to their organisation’s strategy? Get them to comment on that relative success but also why they may have left a particular company or position. Remember the best predictor of future performance is past performance! Ask about the candidate’s ambitions and the environments they have liked working in etc. And don’t forget to ask why they are interested in your role!

7. In my view, a good interview for a senior position will be at least 1.5 hours. Take the time. Research, in fact, shows that candidates can be at their best behaviour for 45 to 60 minutes. Thereafter, their filters begin to drop and you see the real person. So, get to that and you also get the data, as I explained previously.

8. Listen! Often the answers a candidate provides begs another question. Ask it even though it’s not necessarily in your prepared script. I’ve actually been in a number of client interviews as a panel member, where the client didn’t quite pick up on the need for further questioning as they were already onto the next question in their list of questions to ask. So let the interview flow, don’t let it become stilted because you get a little bit too preoccupied by ensuring a certain list of questions you’d prepared are asked in that order.

9. Provide the opportunity for the candidate to ask questions. You often learn about the thought processes of the candidate by the questions they ask- so this is important. Remember again that the interview is indeed a two-way street.

10. In concluding, confirm the next steps in the process and timeline clearly.

Conclusion

Interviewing does actually take some skill and we get better through experience and getting the data to inform the right hiring decision.

OI Partners provide a 12 month guarantee on candidates placed because of our thorough process and interviewing techniques.

We have also sat on panels with our clients and often find that we are able to add value there.

Above all, enjoy the interviews. Make them a rewarding and informative process and you’ll be a positive step towards building a high performing team.