Is Your Interview Team Representing Your Company Well?

By: Laura Bleacher

Let’s face it…most people have never been coached or educated in interviewing techniques. As a hiring manager you may likely have experience in this area but what about the rest of the interview team? What about the individual contributors who are meeting with candidates for culture and personality fit? This may be the first time they’ve ever been part of an interview panel. Do they know what they’re doing and what questions to ask? What about the long-term employee who is being passed up for a promotion and interviewing their “competition” for the position they’ve been eyeing? Would they be the best person to involve in the interview process? Choosing your interview team well, and knowing they are prepared to represent your company positively, are extremely important.

So how do you determine who should be on the interview panel? Meet with your team members individually and determine who has conducted interviews before. Ask them to provide some examples of questions they’d like to ask and guide them in areas where you want more information about the candidate. If they are hesitant to participate, lack strong communication skills, or express they are too busy at the moment, you may want to pass on including them as an interviewer. If someone on your team has never been part of the interview process before, determine if they’d be a good panel member by role-playing in a mock interview. This will provide some invaluable insight into their thought process on interviewing, and how well they conduct themselves in this sort of situation.

If you feel there are some team members who could use interview coaching or tips, there are a lot of wonderful resources on-line that you could direct them to prior to beginning the interview process. This will not only help them to prepare some thought-provoking questions but will also give them a boost of confidence to feel ready for candidate meetings. Of course, you could always provide a list of questions for them to rattle off, but this can come off as impersonal and generic to the candidate.

Another way to make sure your interview team is representing your company well is to provide them with examples of things NOT to do. It’s amazing how many people don’t understand interview etiquette, and they will many times ask personal questions or make inappropriate comments in an attempt to break the ice.

I had a candidate remove herself from consideration of a job opportunity because someone on the interview panel got too curious when asking her why she had a 6-month gap between positions on her resume. She responded to say there were a lot of personal issues going on at the time and he replied, “Like what?” She obviously became uncomfortable, but he kept pressing her for details until she asked him to move on to the next question. After the interview, she declined to move forward in the process because of this interaction. Most people would understand not to dig into someone’s personal life in this way, but do not assume your team knows the dos and don’ts of interviewing.

Here is a general list to keep in mind:

DON’T:

• Ask a candidate how old they are.
• Ask if they have children or plan to have children.
• Ask about their relationship status.
• Ask about their race or ethnic background.
• Ask about their sexual orientation or gender preferences.
• Ask about their religion.
• Ask if they have a disability or any health concerns. If the candidate has a disclosed or obvious disability, you may ask if they need any special accommodations to make the workplace more comfortable or accessible.
• Ask how much money they made in their last position. (This is illegal in many states)
• Tell them personal information about anyone else in the company.
• Rush, interrupt, or act disinterested in the candidate’s responses. They should feel important and like a priority during their time with you.
• Answer your phone or check emails/messages during the interview. Keep it silent and away from arm’s reach.
• Make negative comments about the company or divulge financial information/stability.
• Share confidential information about the company. If it is necessary to share certain confidential information, you may want to have the candidate sign a non-disclosure agreement prior to the interview.

DO:

• Ask why the candidate is interested in your company.
• Ask why they are looking for a new position.
• Ask what their ideal team environment looks like.
• Ask what their coworkers would say they are really good at.
• Ask what their career goals and aspirations are.
• Ask what their target compensation is.
• Ask questions that are custom to the role you’re hiring for. Focus on hard skills and soft skills to determine fit.
• Ask behavioral and situational questions to gauge their ability to manage time, make decisions, manage stress, and determine emotional maturity.
• Ask for clarity if some responses are limited or not very clear.
• Ask open-ended questions to allow the candidate to provide more detailed and thoughtful answers.
• Provide compliments and positive reinforcement throughout the interview if their responses are aligning with your needs and values.
• Provide plenty of time for the candidate to ask any questions they may have.
• Offer to give a tour of the office/building if the interview is on-site.
• Give timely feedback, even if you’re not interested in pursuing them. They may consider another position with your company in the future, and you don’t want their interview experience with you to be negative.
• Create a different and intentional experience between first and second round interviews.

You may think the lists provided are a given, but I can assure you that an inexperienced interviewer may breach one or many of the “don’ts” if not informed and guided properly. The questions you and your team ask in an interview create first impressions and begin to build a foundation for the entire hiring process. The questions asked not only establish the interview conversation and your opinion of the candidate, but also the candidate’s opinion of you and your company. Take your time to prep yourself and your selected interviewers as much as possible, and you will have a much higher probability of landing an amazing candidate while providing a positive interviewing experience!