Today’s familiar scenario is “interview a lot, hire a few!”
Interviews are often used to gauge a candidate and benefit the organization with the talent it might need. This meeting has untapped potential and remains untapped due to the immaturity, narrow mindedness or a sheer unpreparedness of the interviewer. It's also a fact that the art of conducting an interview is left to be learnt and mastered by the interviewer on their own and no one is ever trained before conducting an interview.
In the IT world, the average number of candidates interviewed, typically ranges between 5 - 20? for a position. Every candidate is interviewed for at least 40 to 60 minutes. However, the success ratio of interviews range between 5% to 20%. From an organization’s point of view, how can this success ratio be improved? Since time is a precious commodity, can the time spent be somehow turned in favor for the organization?
Listed are few tips to make the best out of every interview meeting:
- Greet with a smile: Be welcoming, comforting and express an inclusive mindset. An interview can give away about an organization and its culture as much it can say about a candidate. It's primary for everyone to uphold the values of the organization. After all, being humble and providing space is a way to win a good candidate.
- Appreciate the Candidature: Convey how you found the resume to be a better fit for the job. This will indirectly help you convey the job description and highlight the candidate the topics we will be talking about. At the same time, have an open mind to include the candidate's view.
- Speak to know more: Although the questions can be direct and to the point, a modulated tone, good choice of words can ensure the candidate operates with best of his abilities during the process.
- Provide hints: When a candidate is unable to answer a question, ensure you provide hints until an answer is arrived at. This shows how inclusive and empathetic the organization is, while it's looking for the right fit. The number of hints you gave will also reveal you the candidate's fitment and will help you make a clear choice.
- Reinforce Positively: Every smallest spark to get towards an agreement should be highlighted and appreciated. This world lacks appreciation, choosing the candidate for the job and the candidate choosing the organization to work for, is an ultimate decision and should not impact an opportunity for being good to someone.?
In all, leave an impression of the organization, even if the candidate is not a fit, they would love to be in contact with you and provide references of the possible talent you are looking for.
Written by: Santosh Iyengar
