In the third phase of the Employee Life Cycle, you conduct interviews. The format of interviews varies widely between organizations, departments, and even hiring managers within the same company. Assuming a professional recruiter has initially vetted your candidate, the next step is to see if the person is a good personality and cultural fit and whether they have the technical skills to do the job. Interviews may be done by individuals or by a panel, in-person, or via phone or videoconference. How you conduct an interview depends on your individual hiring goals.
Top 10 Interviewing Tips:
Interviewing isn’t that complicated and generally follows a typical format. Here’s how to be successful when you conduct interviews:
Meet on a day and time that works for all parties
Coordinating a date and time to meet is often the most challenging part of interviewing. If the candidate is currently working somewhere else full-time, they need to schedule around their work hours. Hiring managers also tend to be busy, and finding blocks of time that work for both parties is tricky. Both parties should be flexible in finding a day and time that works. Note: be sure to consider different time zones, too – don’t assume your candidates are in the same geographic location as you.
Choose the environment and setting wisely
Since COVID, many companies conduct all interviews online versus in-person. I prefer this approach because it reduces the stress for everyone, and you don’t have to worry about someone getting lost, not being able to find parking, getting through secure areas, etc. If you plan to meet online, be sure to conduct the meeting in a pleasant, clean, and uncluttered environment. If you choose not to show your background, pick an image that isn’t too bright or in any way controversial. Make sure you have a solid, high-speed internet connection and that no one will interrupt you during the session. If you meet in person, be sure to communicate your safety protocols in advance.
Minimize or eliminate possible distractions
Distractions are all around us, all day, every day. However, it’s common courtesy to give them your complete focus and attention when interviewing someone. Don’t keep your cellphone nearby, or if you must, make sure you turn it on “do not disturb” mode. Likewise, if you have computer applications running such as Slack or Teams, change your status to “Do Not Disturb,” or close the apps altogether. The last thing you need is to have sensitive comments popping up on your screen while you’re trying to pay attention to what the candidate is saying. Also, shut your door and instruct people not to bother you during the interview.
Arrive early, and start and end on time
There’s nothing worse than showing up late to an interview, whether you’re the interviewee or the interviewer. If the session is online, technical problems are prone to happen, so logging on early will give you time to resolve any issues, should they occur. As a courtesy to the interviewee, try to start (and end) on time to be respectful of their time. It’s not a small thing to sacrifice an hour of your business day to explore alternative employment.
Introduce yourself, the company, and the position
If you haven’t spoken with the candidate before, or even if you have, be sure to introduce yourself and explain your role in the hiring process, whether you are a leader, a manager, a peer, etc. It’s essential to put your position into context so the person can respond appropriately. It’s also nice to start by sharing the elevator pitch or your organization’s story, so the candidate appreciates what you do and what is vital to the company. Then, summarize the position.
Allow the candidate to share a summary of their experience
Invite the interviewee to share an overview of their professional background. Don’t expect them to run down their resume line-by-line. Instead, look for how the person has grown in their career so you can understand where they are today. Shining the spotlight on the person lets them showcase their work, passions, and accomplishments.
Ask open-ended questions
When you begin asking detailed questions, start with broad, open-ended questions; this helps the candidate feel comfortable talking and can lead to valuable insights. Continue asking probing questions to gather as much information you can since you usually have only a brief time together. You can use a script of questions or ask questions free flow; use whatever style or method is most comfortable.
Use closed-ended questions to clarify or confirm details
If there is anything you are unclear about as you conduct the interview, use close-ended questions to get clarification. These tend to be “yes” or “no” answers. But, avoid starting with this type of question, or the interview will be over in record time. Only use these when you’re unsure about something or want to make sure you understand what was said.
Allow the candidate to ask questions
Upon concluding the interview, be sure to leave time for the candidate to ask you questions. Remember that they are interviewing you as much as you are interviewing them – this is especially true given the current employee’s job market. If time runs out, but the person has more questions, provide your contact information so they can ask you any other follow-up questions you didn’t have time to answer. If the candidate doesn’t have any questions, it’s typically a red flag, at least for me. Having no questions means that the person didn’t come prepared, or they’re not curious, so watch out for this.
Close the interview with thanks and next steps
Regardless of how the interview went, thank the person and indicate the next steps. Keep in mind that if you want to hire the person, but you move too slowly, chances are that you’ll lose them to another company. Given how tight the job market is and how in-demand positions are, you can’t afford to wait to make an offer if you want to hire someone. If you need to decide by committee, reconvene immediately after the final interview and make a go/no-go decision. If it’s a go, call, make a verbal offer, and follow up swiftly with a formal written offer. If the candidate is not a fit, send a kind email indicating you went a different direction, but thank them again and with them the best of luck in their job search.
5 Bonus Interviewing Tips:
The tips above are my top 10, but here are a few more bonus tips to help you be successful when interviewing people:
- Don’t use tricks or throw surprise exercises at candidates
I have witnessed some seriously shady trickery during interviews during my career. I find this an insulting and unprofessional approach to determining whether someone is a good fit for your company. Give them an advanced warning if you plan to throw something at a candidate, such as a role-playing activity or a skills test. It’s unfair to spring something like that on a candidate without allowing them time to prepare for the exercise.
- Be present – don’t get on your cellphone or laptop during the interview
I already mentioned this tip above, but it bears repeating. Acting uninterested or distracted is another tactic I have seen hiring managers use, as a test of the interviewee and whether they will comment about the lack of attention. It’s another dirty trick that I would never do. Don’t do this – either with intention or without. It’s juvenile at best and cruel at worst. Have the common courtesy to give the candidate your full and undivided attention.
- Take notes or record the interview (if the candidate agrees to it)
It’s essential to record your impressions of a candidate because it’s effortless to fall into the psychological trap of remembering only the beginning and end of an interview. Recording the session is even better because you don’t have to take notes while also conducting the interview. If you record the session, you can also rewatch it and look for more subtle communications that happen through body language. A recording or notes also backs up your opinion when the group decides.
- Avoid topics that are illegal to ask or inappropriate given the context
You’d probably be shocked how often illegal questions get asked in interviews. It’s natural to be curious about people’s lives, but it’s not the right thing to do during an interview. It would help if you brushed up on the laws before interviewing anyone. If you cross a line and ask a question against the law, someone could sue for discrimination – so stick to the relevant facts and information you need to know.
- Allow the candidate to pause to think after you ask questions
Sometimes you will throw a question that will stump the interviewee. Rather than jumping in to clarify or re-phrase, pause a moment and let the person think. When in an interview, if I need a moment to gather my thoughts, I say: “let me think about that for a minute.” Stating this gives time for the candidate to think before providing an answer. Or, they might ask you a follow-up question to clarify what you meant. Either way, don’t rush things.
Things to do After the Interview:
- Compile your notes and perform your analysis of the candidate
After the interview concludes, review and tidy up your notes. These notes will serve as a record of what you learned in the interview. I take all my notes on my laptop using OneNote, so it’s relatively easy to organize and analyze the information. If you take hand-written notes, it might be a bit more challenging and take more time to do the same analysis, but take the time to do it nevertheless.
- Discuss your findings with the other interviewers
Regardless of whether you interviewed the candidate individually or as a group, you will need to compare notes to come to a hiring decision. Take the time to fully debate any areas of disagreement because one person might perceive something different from you, or they may have more information or insight than you do. Everyone’s opinion is valuable.
- Call for a vote on whether to move forward or terminate the process
The hiring manager usually has the ultimate decision on whether to hire someone, but the people who conducted the interviews have input into that decision. Often, the group will vote, and if the consensus is high, you can decide very quickly. If there’s dissent, the group will need to hash it out and make their points for or against the individual. The hiring manager will weigh all the information and make the final call.
- Communicate your decision to the candidate, whether moving forward or not
I have applied to many companies that sent me an auto-response email after I replied, but I never heard another word after that. How rude! I took the time to fill out a form and update my resume to apply, so I expect at least a yes or no answer at some point. Sending a response is another common courtesy that so many companies forget. Don’t be that company – be the one who respects people’s time and interest, even if it’s not a good fit initially. Who knows, they could be a good candidate somewhere down the line, and they’ll remember their experience with your company.
Final Thoughts
Although the format for interviewing is somewhat standard, interviewing people isn’t as simple as it might seem. You and the candidate are feeling each other out to see if it might be a good fit. When multiple people conduct interviews with the same person, you may have very different reactions from different people. It’s crucial to discuss the candidate’s qualifications and culture fit, but only the hiring manager gets to make the final decision. Regardless of whether you make an offer, it’s courteous to notify any candidates of the decision.
This blog covered the third stage of the Employee Life Cycle. The next topic in the series will cover the hiring process. Once you make an offer, a whole other set of activities takes place. Visit again soon to see what they are. And if you missed the first few blogs in the series, check them out:
- How to Understand the Employee Life Cycle
- 10 Ways to Attract Potential New Employees
- 10 Ways to Recruit Potential New Employees
How about you? Have you been on one end of the interviewing process or the other? What do you see as good and bad practices for interviews? I would love to hear what you have seen or recommended, so please let me know in the comments below!