The Secret Sauce to Candidate Interviewing

One of the most time-consuming aspects of the hiring process is conducting interviews with potential employees. If you make a mistake, it could have a big impact on your recruitment process’s overall success as well as your business. Your ability to interview candidates effectively will have a significant impact on the caliber of hires you make. It calls for thorough planning, skillful questioning strategies, and the capacity to reliably judge the actions and responses of candidates. However, how is an interview conducted? And how do you know what to look out for in terms of behaviors and things to ask? We’ll cover the necessary techniques and advice in this guide to help you locate the best candidate for your team and make educated judgments during interviews.

Qualities of a good interviewer

• Friendly behavior.
• Ability to recognize talent.
• Must have knowledge of the open position.
• Body language expert.
• Experienced in people management.
• Effective conversational skills.
• Unbiased.
• Able to control emotions.
• Methodical
• Careful and clear notetaking.

Preparing for the interview The first stage of any interview is crucial to ensuring its success.

1. Go over the job description again to ensure you understand the role and its requirements.
2. Review the candidate’s resume and print a copy for reference during the interview.
3. Brush up on your company’s mission and structure, as well as the rewards and incentives for the position you’re looking to fill.
4. Make a list of questions to ask (use interview scorecards to help you manage questions and take notes). Bonus tip: Don’t forget to include situational and behavioral questions in your interview. These will assist the interviewer in better grasping soft abilities like critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication.

During the interview

1. Make it a conversation.

To make the hiring process more relatable, greet candidates on time, maintain eye contact, and provide a brief overview of your role and reasons for hiring. Introduce yourself and other interviewees and invite applicants to give a brief introduction. If appropriate, review their work samples or portfolio. Strategic questioning, using open-ended, specific, and wide-ranging questions, is a technique used by effective interviewers.

2. Speak less, listen more.

Interviewers who are comfortable with silence and understand the importance of allowing candidates time to think are better equipped to provide genuine responses. They recognize that pressure to provide immediate responses may hinder a candidate’s ability to articulate their thoughts.

3. Expect questions.

Interviewees should bring questions regarding the corporate culture, possibilities for advancement, and the working environment. Give further details about the company, such as how the pandemic affected operations and what the company stands for. Interviewees will gain a deeper understanding of the team’s efficacy and the company’s mission, which may not have been revealed by research.

4. Improve your judgment.

As the saying goes, don’t judge a book by its cover. You get your first impression of someone in just seven seconds, driven by your unconscious brain.

Common interviewer biases:

• Similar to me: The similar to me bias affects interviewers who find a candidate more appealing because the candidate resonates with them. This may have to do with their upbringing, past encounters, or other factors.
• Regional accents: Many people dislike certain regional accents. They may also attribute stereotyped regional qualities to someone with that accent.
• Appearance: A candidate who dresses in a manner that is not inappropriate but is not to your personal taste may be evaluated less favorably. Or someone with a bad hairstyle or bitten fingernails may cause you to attach attributes to them that are not supported by their real actions.
• Ethnic origin: It is unlawful to treat an individual less fairly because of their ethnic origin.
• Gender: It is unlawful to treat an individual less fairly because of their gender.
• Age: By discriminating against someone because of their age, you could be losing someone with all the right qualities and a wealth of experience. And it’s illegal.

Reduce your biases:

• Be aware of your own personal biases.
• Begin observing the interview with a completely open mind.
• Pay attention to the candidate.
• Listen objectively to what the candidate says.
• Suspend your judgment during the interview.
• Use notes as a useful memory jogger to help maintain objectivity when you are evaluating the evidence and making a decision.

5. Ending it the right way

Since the most information is usually shared in the last 10% of the interview, this is probably the most crucial part of the conversation. Inform your applicant when they can expect a response from you and how they will receive it. You should supply or repeat the contact information they’ll need to keep an eye out for, as well as double-check that the contact information you have for them is right. Before exiting the room or video call, thank the interviewee for their time. This brings the interview to a close on a pleasant note and gives them a favorable impression of the organization. A quality candidate is also interviewing you, so you want to make sure you give a good account of the company.

After the interview Following up with a candidate after an interview is critical, yet it is sometimes ignored. It is important to put yourself in the shoes of the candidate and tell them of the following stages. It is critical to keep them informed of expected decision-making periods and any delays. During the interview, making final judgments too quickly can harm the company’s reputation. Examine the interviewers’ performance before informing everyone about the results. If necessary, always provide constructive comments. In today’s competitive market, a successful interview process is critical for retaining prospects and securing top experts.

To summarize, the market is very competitive, so having a quality interview is critical to attracting top-tier personnel for your organization.

An effective interview also provides insight into the applicant’s ideals, work ethic, and overall attitude. It is essentially a good indicator of how well the chosen individual will fit into the firm.