Without a doubt, interviewing is the most critical step in any hiring process. After candidates have been identified and have shown an interest in your opportunity, the interview is your first opportunity for a face-to-face meeting. A professionally conducted interview can result in many positive benefits for both the interviewer and interviewee, regardless of whether a hire is made or not. Poorly done interviews will fail to accomplish much in the way of actual information gathering and ultimately can result in a poor hiring decision which can be disastrous for both parties.

As a professional services firm, we work with a variety of companies and have assessed their hiring processes and interviewing style. As a result we have assembled a list of top interviewing practices that have worked for many of our client companies.

With this in mind, we offer the following tips on conducting better interviews:

Up-front Preparation is Key

Make sure you have defined the problems you are trying to solve by hiring this individual as well as the key objectives of the position. What results will define success for this person over the next year?

Creating a formal job description can be time well spent and can help greatly in the interview process. Listing the critical "must-haves" prior to the entire interview process is a worthy exercise and will help each interview stay on task. This list can actually act as a guide for the interview itself. Using a structured interview process will pay dividends for the time you spend in the recruiting process.

Make sure you have all travel arrangements finalized and an interview agenda sent to the candidate who will be interviewing with you. It is also helpful to send the candidate informational bios on each executive they will be meeting during the interview process. From the start, you want to give the candidate a very professional image of your company. Providing them with pertinent contact information they can use should something go wrong with the travel or accommodations you are providing is very helpful.

Have a core set of essential questions prepared that you will ask every candidate. This will help you stay on task and afford the opportunity to compare the candidates on a level playing field. There may be specific areas you want to explore with certain candidates and having these questions pre-planned will help each of your executives save time and get more from the interview.

Word of mouth is wonderful advertising. If you give candidates the VIP treatment when they visit your company, it can benefit your recruiting efforts in the future.

Sell Your Company

Interviewing is a process of mutual exploration. Each candidate should leave with a positive impression of your organization. Know why people would want to work at your company and promote these attributes. Should time allow, show the candidate the company surroundings and give them the opportunity to ask questions. You can learn a great deal about a candidate's preparedness and interest by the questions they ask during an interview.

This is not a Psychological Exercise

Often, when an executive does not work out at a new company, it is not because they were not technically qualified, but because of a cultural mismatch. An interview should address what culture a candidate is seeking and where they are most productive. Make sure to explore the reasons behind the job moves a candidate has made. If the answer seems overly rehearsed, or if the reason given causes concern, don¹t hesitate to ask for clarification. Finding out what motivated a candidate to leave a job will often times tell you a great deal about their fit in your culture. Your company culture may be exactly what the candidate needs or, conversely, you may more closely resemble a previous company they left for negative reasons.

Most interviewers are not trained psychologists and asking abstract questions in an attempt to "get into the head" of a candidate will usually not produce an accurate assessment. A better approach is to operate the interview under the format of a business meeting. Mentally place the candidate in the role you are hiring for and see how their attitude, skills and knowledge match.

Keep your questions straightforward. Focus on identifying a candidate¹s true competencies, not their "experience." For instance, a candidate may claim to have three years experience in turning around a logistics operation when, in truth, they did not lead that effort, but were part of a team. Ask also "how" they did what they did. Find out about the process they used to achieve the financial or operational results they achieved, and you will learn a great deal about their grasp of the subject matter. It is important to find out what role candidates played in the experiences they had and where they fit in their particular employer¹s organizational structure during the time they were there.

Style and Presentation

Be aware of a candidate¹s degree of eye contact, their communication style and posture. Most communication is non-verbal and a candidate¹s overall presence is important to note. This is especially important if you are hiring an executive who will be interacting with clients and customers. At the management and executive level, candidates should exude confidence and poise and take care their appearance is professional.

Asking a candidate about their hobbies and outside interests is legal and highly recommended. You can learn a great deal about how a person presents themselves and sells ideas to the outside world by having them describe an activity (such as golf) they enjoy and what equipment they play with. Typically, the person you see describing the 5-iron they hit on the 18th hole will be the person who is presenting ideas to your staff and customers!

Move Past "Gut Feel"

We hear often how an employer knew a candidate was right or not in the first five minutes of an interview. However, those first impressions can be misleading. Take the time to conduct a complete interview and then make your decision. Rarely can any real insights be gained from the first few minutes of an interview. Don¹t hesitate to ask for clarification on what a candidate said or meant, and don¹t be afraid to disagree or push back. Discuss your observations and concerns and give the candidate the opportunity to clarify. You may discover your concern was unfounded or that the candidate has a unique outlook your company could benefit from.

Debriefing

As soon as possible, obtain the input from each interviewer concerning the interviews they conducted. Refer back to the list of essential skills and proven competencies, and compare the interviews accordingly. If you have been working with a search firm who has conducted their own interviews with the candidates, assemble that information as well. Decisions on who to hire into a role of importance and financial impact should be made with care and only after you have done a thorough review of the interview results.

The Allen Austin Method

Consultants at Allen Austin utilize a Chronological In-Depth Structured Interview (CIDS) process. We find that our interview methodology virtually eliminates the guesswork associated with many interviews and helps our clients avoid costly mismatches. Many of the best-known firms do not take the time to train their consultants in advanced interviewing techniques. We feel this is the pivotal point in the search process and pride ourselves on utilizing the best practices in our industry. We have conducted interview-training sessions for client companies and would be happy to explore with if your management team could benefit from this.

Printer-Friendly Version