Prepare The Right Questions
Research shows that the best interview questions are behavior-based, as past behaviors are some of the best predictors of future behaviors. Design the questions so that candidates can describe how they behaved, or how they would behave, in a particular situation.Youll be able to predict how a candidate will respond to or behave in a similar situation in the future.
Preparing To Conduct Interviews
You expect candidates to come to interviews prepared: having researched the company, written down questions, and appearing energized and professional. Interviewers need to do the same.
To get ready to conduct interviews:
Heres some more advice on interview preparation:
Conducting A Personal Interview Is A Chance To Delve Deeper Into Your Prospective Employees Skills And Achievements Youve Heard About Their Work And Life Experience On Their Resum And Over The Telephone Now Its Time To Meet Them Face
The main purpose of an interview is so an employer can get a sense of the applicants passion for the job, their initiative, career goals, attitude, company culture fit and communication skills. The question is, how do you conduct the perfect interview to ensure you take on the right candidate?
If youve ever conducted an interview when there was awkwardness and you didnt click with the applicant, you will probably have decided theyre not the right fit for the job. However, this might have as much to do with the questions youve asked and your approach, rather than their inadequacies. The meeting might have left the candidate with a negative impression of your company, which is something you dont want to perpetuate.
Think about any interviews youve experienced as an applicant and remember what worked and what didnt. What made you feel uncomfortable? Did the interviewer put you at your ease, or was there an awkward atmosphere? When you put yourself in the applicants position, it can help you to become a better interviewer, with more empathy.
The average job interview lasts between 30 and 45 minutes, so you dont have much time to form a picture. Read on for advice on the various interviewing techniques you can employ to conduct the perfect interview.
1. Put the interviewee at ease
2. Listen more and talk less
3. Questions to focus on
4. Staying professional
5. Take notes
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Helpful Tips For Effective Exit Interviews Amid The Great Resignation
Exit interviews are no new concept but many HR managers are recently realizing the importance of this final touchpoint while offboarding employees to improve their retention strategies. They can be a great way for HR to understand why an employee left, and what can be done to keep others from leaving, as well as learn about other opportunities for improvement. To conduct an effective exit interview, HR should ask open-ended questions that will get candidates talking about the things they liked and disliked about their job, what they felt was missing from their day-to-day work life, and any other insights they may have had while on the job.
And now that were still amidst The Great Resignation, stay interviews and exit interviews are all the more crucial.
How To Ensure Culture Fit
Company culture is one of the five most important factors job seekers consider before accepting a new job, according to a Glassdoor survey. In our Top 25 Companies for Culture & Values list, we found shared themes including having a supportive, team-oriented atmosphere, a family-like environment and genuinely standing behind company values. Highlighting these characteristics can help you attract talent, and help you hire someone who will fit into your companys culture.
General Culture Fit
To elicit a candidates values and work behaviors, be sure to ask questions about work habits, ideal role, problem-solving, and how they handle challenges. For each question, analyze the response based on how well it complements the way other employees at your company function.
To develop questions, list your companys values, then craft an associated question designed to illuminate how a candidate might react or behave in that environment or circumstance. For example, if agility is one of your values, consider asking a question such as, Tell me about a time you were thrown into a new environment and how you handled that. Then, evaluate the candidates response based on how well they demonstrate that they can embody that value.
Team Culture
General Tips
Acknowledge your own bias. If youre aware of the biases you might hold, you can check them in the interview process.
Cultural Fit Question Worksheet
General Cultural Fit Questions
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Tips On How To Conduct An Effective Interview
8 Tips on How to Conduct an Effective Interview
The goal of interviews is to hire the right talent the best candidates for a specific job. However, conducting an interview can be challenging, but hiring the ideal candidate makes the process worthwhile. Coming up with the right strategies, structure, and preparation on how to conduct an interview makes all the difference in your companys hiring process. However, the majority of recruiters assume they know how to conduct an interview and hence fail to plan effectively.
Conducting interviews is just one step in the hiring and recruitment process where preparation and structure are paramount to make the process successful. Establishing and implementing a specific system that acts as the basis of your hiring decisions will ensure your company overcomes interviewing pitfalls, identifies and hires the right people for the job.
If your main aim is to hire the best candidate, then its vital that your interviews are thorough and well planned for in advance. Knowing how to conduct an interview also includes knowing how to prepare for the meeting. Consider using the checklist below as you prepare to interview candidates.
Focus On The Candidate’s Presentation
Even though the candidate’s responses are one of the most important parts of the interview, the way they present themselves can also express their personality and basic qualities. Pay attention to their posture, facial expressions and attire. A candidate who sits up straight and makes eye contact is typically confident, while neat attire shows they care about the interview and position.
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Notify Candidates As Soon As Possible
Video interviews, when done correctly, can be just as effective as in-person interviews. The transition to remote interviews may also be to your benefit when working from home, candidates dont have the added stress of coordinating interviews with their in-office work schedule.
Nonetheless, its still a change they need to prepare for. Provide them with clear directions on the equipment theyll need to join the interview internet access, software or video conferencing applications, a quiet space, etc. and emphasize that the change is out of concern for their health and safety, along with that of your employees.
Additionally, communicate expectations as you would for an onsite interview so the candidate is well-prepared for and comfortable with any adjustments. Use the following video interview invitation template to get started.
Subject Line: : Video Interview Availability
Hi ,
Thank you for applying to the position at .
After reviewing your application, we would like to invite you to interview with , our .
So we can get to know you better, the interview will be conducted over video using and last about in total.
We want you to be able to plan accordingly, so weve provided a list of date and time options over the next week. Please take a look, and let us know which date is best for you.
Were looking forward to continuing the conversation.
Best,
First Know What Youre Looking For
We cant start talking about how to conduct an interview or interview questions if we dont know the specific skills we want to assess. Interview questions will determine whether youll get enough useful insight to judge candidates suitability for the job. This means that your questions must be directly related to the job requirements. Otherwise, it will be challenging to compare one candidate to another on the criteria that really matter.
To do this, first determine what qualities you want to see in your new hire. Start with the job description . Ask yourself:
- Which requirements do I want to assess during the interview? Make a comprehensive list and select those qualities you can assess through interview questions. Some of your requirements can be evaluated more effectively at previous stages .
- What requirements carry the most weight? For example, you definitely want your salespeople to have great communication skills, but they might not need to have extroverted personalities. So, your interview questions should focus on communication skills, instead of extroversion.
For example, lets look at the complete list of requirements for the role of Content Writer. These exclude experience and education, which can vary considerably depending on the role and are elements you can evaluate directly from the job application phase.
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Make Sure To Take Notes
While we are interviewing a candidate, our sole focus is on how to perform an interview. It is quite likely that we may forget vital information gathered during the interview, especially if there were multiple candidates. Taking down notes during an interview can help us remember important details after the interview is over. When making notes, we should write about our first impression of the candidate and any other information that we can glean from their answers. We should also write down about the body language of the candidate during the interview to gain an insight into their personality.
However, it is extremely important to strike a balance between active listening and note-taking. We should ensure to fully engage in the conversation and only pause once in a while to take down notes.
Top 10 Software For Video Interviews
To make a complicated situation easier on your team, weve identified ten of the best software for video interviews. Weve also included software ratings from reliable sources, such as the world’s largest B2B marketplace, G2 and software comparison site, Capterra. Note: All reviews are on a scale of five.
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Have An Effective Evaluation
Create a uniform evaluation that you can use for each candidate. Having this assessment can help you make an informed and unbiased hiring decision. You could try creating a rubric or grading scale to make it easy to rate each candidate. Though this evaluation is helpful, you should use it along with any notes you take to make the most informed decision. If there are multiple interviewers, build an easy-to-follow evaluation that works for everyone.
Advice For The Interviewee In Any Corporate Video
So now youve worked out the basics of whos saying what, its time to prepare your talent.
I often prefer to give interviewees key messages or topics rather than scripted questions. Supplying the questions often leads to the talent lying in the bath with a glass of wine the night before, learning their answers. Then as soon as the cameras turned on the morning after, they try to remember what they learned whilst partially submerged in Radox, rather than providing genuine answers in the interview. Its not ideal. We want to see them answering passionately from the heart not just from the head.
Youll also want to tell your interviewee not to wear thin-striped shirts or busy patterns as these can strobe on camera. Block colours are always better.
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Once the camera is set up and youre about to roll on the questions, give your interviewee a little advice about being on camera.
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Optimize Your Interview Process
Whichever employee you end up sending a job offer letter to, you want to optimize the candidate experience for each applicant. Using recruitment software will make it easy to see all the candidates currently in the pipeline for various roles.
It will also provide key recruitment metrics which will provide insight into whether you need to recruit externally or promote internally and whether you have understaffing or overstaffing problems.
Resources for HR professionals
Familiarise Yourself With The Job Description Well
Make sure that you know as much about the role you are interviewing for, including the salary and benefits. Go over the job description and application form again, including any further information that you might have been sent prior to the interview. Pay close attention to the skills and qualifications that are essential and desirable, because you can incorporate some of these into answers during the interview to show how well of a fit you would be. If you can find the information, you could even go as far as familiarizing yourself with the interviewer. Some companies use an interview panel consisting of several people. A great start is to look into their LinkedIn pages to see what their professional interests and career goals are. You could also see what kind of reputation they have within the firm.
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Make Natural Transitions Between Questions
Having a list of interview questions to ask is good practice, but it has an inherent difficulty: it might make the interview seem more robotic and inflexible.
For example, imagine youre listening to a candidates answer. When they finish talking, you may suddenly feel awkward, so you nod and say something akin to OK, interesting and then you move on to the next question. This isnt how a natural conversation would flow, and it might make the experience less pleasant for the candidate .
Communicate With All Candidates
Honesty and transparency regarding the specifics of the role and compensation are key. Job seekers also want more communication sooner, so communicate openly with candidates about what to expect. For example, let the candidate know the purpose of the interview, who they will be meeting, and if there is anything specific that they need to prepare. You should also plan how you will communicate the timeline and potential next steps at the close of the interview.
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Going Remote: How To Conduct An Interview Online
Remote interviewing is a required skill for hiring managers and recruiters, with polls showing that as many as 86% of organizations conduct virtual interviews to screen and hire new talent.
But while some in-person recruiting skills naturally carry over to on-screen interviews such as making conversation, asking insightful questions, and following up with references remote interviews present a unique set of challenges that must be addressed. But recruiters and hiring managers can learn to establish rapport, and carefully evaluate candidates remotely.
Heres how to conduct successful and time-saving remote interviews:
1. Prepare everything you possibly can in advance.
Preparation has always been a key factor in successful interviews, but its even more important to prepare when interviewing candidates remotely. Ahead on an interview, be sure to:
Ask a colleague to participate in a mock interview with you so that you can test the interview platform when the stakes are low.
2. Get laser-focused about what youre looking for.
3. When in doubt, over-communicate.
Prior to the remote interview, make sure your candidates know:
- Approximate timeline for the hiring process
- Any potential factors that could delay that timeline
- Names and roles of the interview participants
- Anticipated response time after the interview is conducted
Dont make candidates guess what youre thinking. Laugh, smile have fun and show enthusiasm!
Clarify Why You Want This Job
Make sure that you sell yourself, talk about what opportunities this job could bring you, and how your career as a whole can grow because of it. Show that you are passionate about the role and bring some positive energy to the room. Be honest and talk about yourself in a way that you can tie back to the job requirements. Try to provide examples of problem-solving and quick thinking. Be specific when talking about how you found the job, what about the description that stood out to you and made you apply.
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What To Know Before Conducting An Interview
The process of recruitment and selection can be one of the most difficult HR processes in a company. But, as any recruiting manager knows, a good hire is worth their weight in gold.
Before the candidate walks through the door, you should set aside a sufficient amount of time to prepare for the interview. How can you best transmit your company culture and values? What skills will be most useful for the position the candidate will be filling and the duties within their role?
In advance of the interview, youll need to prepare to conduct a detailed evaluation of the candidate. Adequate preparation beforehand ensures that the interview follows a structure that allows you to gather all the pertinent information required to assess the candidate.
With that said, here are your tips for conducting a job interview.
Ease Into The Conversation
Candidates are often nervous about interviews. If you start intense questioning right away, you may intimidate the candidate, not get their best answers and give them a bad candidate experience.
Engage in small talk about the weather, the candidates travel to get to the interview or any other relevant topic. This gives the candidate an opportunity to relax and feel more comfortable about the interview.
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Now Consider These Factors To Help You Evaluate Candidates:
Now that you have a complete overview of the best interview questions to ask, theres one last thing to do: be prepared to answer common questions from candidates. Theyre interviewing you too, after all. That way, candidates can also get useful insight on whether your company is a good fit for their skillset and motivations and hopefully, youll get to convince the best among them to join your team. Happy interviewing!
