After screening candidates from the pile of virtual resumes in the inbox, the next step is a face-to-face interview.
At first glance, the interview seems to be a simple task: smile, shake hands, chat, ask questions, compare candidates, and hire candidates. But there is still a lot to do.
You must make sure to hire the best people-those who do well in the interview. A mistake can cause you to lose someone who could be a reliable asset for your team. Or hiring the wrong people will lower morale.
So, how do you successfully conduct a job interview to ensure that it is most suitable for the job and your company?
hint: Don’t just “wing” it.
Why is it worthwhile to conduct a job interview?
Will you accept marriage proposals based on how good they look on paper?
The same logic applies to the job of hiring someone.
A job opportunity is a life-changing event that must be carefully considered and only extended if you are sure that the interviewer’s skills are in line with your company’s requirements.
Conducting job interviews can help you make better hiring decisions and help you narrow down the scope of job applicants-weed out people who might not be suitable for the company.
After effective completion, you can determine whether the applicant has the skills, experience and personality to meet the job requirements.
In addition, for a person, it is not just their qualifications and qualifications. Interviews can help you better understand the candidate as a person—how smart they are, how confident they are, and how personable they are.
You can then determine whether the applicant is suitable for the company culture.
From a candidate’s perspective, job interviews are also helpful.
Just as you are trying to evaluate whether they are suitable for your organization, even potential customers are evaluating you. The interview may be a good place for them to learn more about the job and the company.
The investment required to conduct a job interview
Before the face-to-face interview phase, you first need to publish job advertisements to attract high-quality potential customers.
Although numerous recruitment sites like Indeed, Craigslist and even LinkedIn allow you to post job advertisements for free, you should consider paid sites to access verified job applicants who take their jobs seriously.
Advanced recruitment sites will charge you a fee ranging from US$45 to US$120 in order to place your ads within a certain period of time.
Once you start receiving your resume, your hiring manager will screen and review each applicant for the position and arrange the first phone interview with someone they like. Each candidate may take 15 to 18 minutes, and about 2.5 to 3.5 hours of work time.
Telephone interviews take longer, and the hiring manager may end up talking with each candidate for about an hour, for a total time of about 9-10 hours.
Prior to this stage, the hiring manager had worked for more than 14 hours. If you pay them $40 an hour (according to the average level of a national HR manager in the United States), you already have a bill of $560, and you have not even participated in a face-to-face interview.
Finally, in the traditional interview process, the hiring manager will grill each shortlisted candidate for approximately 1.5 to 2 hours to assess their skills and get to know them. Since only a few people reach this stage, you can assume that the hiring manager will work for a total of 6-8 hours, which will cost you $320.
The total cost of the entire interview process is approximately US$900 to US$1,000-assuming you only receive 50 applications during the screening and scheduling phase.
Fortunately, if you only use recruitment software, you can save a lot of money and effort when conducting interviews.These automated interview tools can Help you save more than 93% of the total interview cost, If you take the example of the 50 applications we received above, the amount of each job exceeds US$2,375.
Not bad, right?
6 steps to conduct a good job interview
Let us learn how to use the short time with potential customers to determine if they are suitable for your organization.
#1 — Describe your exact requirements
In terms of skills, experience and personality, you should have a correct idea of the type of job you want. Think about what you can do to determine the suitability of candidates.
Ideally, you should list all the requirements of the position, and then customize your questions and methods of evaluating individuals to evaluate all the established factors.
Another important tip is to talk to the best-performing employees currently in the position to ask insightful work-related questions.
- Ask them about their daily responsibilities in their current/recent roles.
- Ask them about the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAO) they think are needed to succeed in the position.
- Ask about their leadership style and what they are looking for in the company culture.
Based on your answers to the above questions, you should determine which skills you are willing to train new employees. This will effectively provide a clear way to weed out inappropriate applicants during the interview.
#2 — Develop a game plan for the interview
Your recruiting team may be well aware of the technical skills employees must have, but what about their personality traits?
Do you want someone with good social skills or someone who is quiet and analytical? What level of communication skills do you think this job requires?
Try to ask interview questions that bring out the specific information you are looking for. You must also be prepared for questions from candidates, especially those about salary, allowances and company culture.
We strongly recommend reading the resume, and more importantly, reading the candidate’s work experience. Take note of any areas that require more clarification, such as unexplainable work experience gaps or strange positions.
This will help you personalize your question. In addition, referencing candidates’ previous work experience or achievements during the interview will make them feel valued and give them a positive impression of your company.
#3 — Do detailed interview preparation
Create an overall structure for the interview process, covering all the key areas you want to address during the interview. This will save you valuable time and show candidates that you respect them and their time.
Look carefully at the checklist and the list of questions you have compiled. Further fine-tune them to make them more specific to the job, so as to truly assess the potential of candidates.
Try to remember all the necessary questions in order to maintain eye contact with the candidate. This will create a more casual and relaxed atmosphere, allowing candidates to relax and focus on answering questions as best they can.
You should check their social media to learn some small talk skills.
You can also rehearse the process with friends or family, colleagues, or even in front of a mirror or webcam! This will give you more confidence in your communication skills and at the same time provide you with opportunities for improvement.
#4 — Try to establish contact with the applicant
Always remember that the applicant is also interviewing you and your company. So you want to make a good impression on them.
As an icebreaker, it is best to start your interview with an informal chat. Believe us, small talk can create miracles.
You should also take the time to introduce them to everyone in the room, brief them on the interview structure and how long you think it will last. You can also use the tips you connect on social media or their resumes to make them feel welcome.
Maintain a friendly tone, make eye contact, and adopt a friendly attitude.
We also recommend introducing the job and company to the interviewer in the first few minutes of the interview.
Selling opportunities to candidates is equally important to you, and vice versa. If you don’t get a good atmosphere from you, they can choose to find other places even if you offer them a job.
#5 — Assess the candidate’s potential
This is arguably the most critical part of the interview, where your assessment and reading skills will be tested.
You must first understand whether the applicant has the key skills required to perform the role tasks by asking insightful questions and building the ability to measure the applicant’s self-awareness.
Here are some questions worth asking:
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- How would you describe your professional ethics?
- What makes you good at your current or last job?
- Why do you think you are a good fit for this role?
It is also important to understand how candidates work and their openness to feedback and communication with others.
Ask them to provide real solutions by placing them in hypothetical situations. Don’t be afraid to elaborate. Ask them to describe their approach, the type of software they will use, the deadline they will set, and the course of action they will take.
There are two golden rules: 1. Always ask open-ended questions, and 2. Talk less and listen more.
You have prepared your questions in advance, but you should be prepared to improvise based on the candidates’ answers.
Using “what if” questions can be a good strategy for measuring their logical reasoning ability and on-the-job expertise, allowing you to better understand what they will do in each situation.
In addition, if you feel that the answer given by the applicant is general, you can always dig into more details. The following is a list of questions that can help them open up and answer more comprehensively:
- What do you think you will do in five years?
- Why did you leave your last job?
- What kind of management style do you think can bring out your best side?
- What is a good working environment for you? Which factors will you prioritize to ensure better results?
- When working with a team, which role do you like the most?
The point of a job interview is to let the applicant answer your questions.
In an interview with Blair Glaser, Stephanie Smith-Ejnes, Vice President of Personnel and Organization of Sony Pictures Entertainment, emphasized the importance of establishing contact with applicants. She said, “Interviews are no longer a’trap’ game. It’s about connecting with the person opposite you, even if it’s short-lived.”
#6-End in a friendly way
Hopefully, at this stage, you should have a correct understanding of the candidates’ abilities. Now that you have everything, you can complete the interview.
Inform candidates about the next steps, such as whether there will be a second round of interviews, when they should receive your response, and/or whether any tests are involved.
In addition, when you tell the applicant that you will contact them in the next few days, make sure you keep your promise. Being put aside after the interview can be very frustrating and detrimental to your company’s image.
Once you are happy that you have covered everything you want to discuss, thank the candidate for your time and end the interview in a friendly way.
Next step
After interviewing the candidate, review your notes and reflect on what you think the applicant is doing. If you are still interviewing other people, you can quickly write down your first impression and your judgment on whether they are suitable for the role.
After completing all the interviews, you can send the final acceptance letter to your favorite candidate, or conduct a second round of interviews to reach a certain conclusion.
Here are some Crazy Egg guides to help you prepare for success:
This article was written by Daily Eggspert today.
