Establish rapport. When the candidate arrives for the interview, greet him or her warmly. Give the candidate the impression that you are glad they've come and that you have sufficient time to talk. When candidates are put at ease, they tend to share more information.
Monitor your tone. Show interest, attention and respect for the candidate. Use an appropriate language level, and don't talk down to the candidate.
Outline interview objectives. Tell the candidate what you want to accomplish during the interview and how the overall selection process will proceed.
Ask questions. Follow your employer's procedures for asking interview questions. Use follow-up questions, like why?
and how?
to get the candidate to further explain a response. Avoid gathering information that has nothing to do with the job.
Investigate red flags. Investigate employment gaps, jobs held for short periods of time, and other red flags you have noted. Verify specific information from the application or resume.
Listen actively. Proactively listen to each of the candidate's responses. Allow the candidate to answer without interruption-resist the temptation to fill in every lull in the conversation.
Take notes. Document the candidate's responses in a shorthand manner. Try to take notes as unobtrusively as possible.
Direct the interview. Depending on the candidate, you may have to either direct him or her to provide less detail or more detail. Keep the discussion focused on job-related matters.
Maintain candidate self-esteem. Show the candidate that you are impressed with his or her accomplishments and that you understand the reasons for things that didn't go so well. When you actively maintain the candidate's self-esteem, he or she will be more willing to share information with you.
Note nonverbal behaviors. Be aware of facial expressions, gestures and other nonverbal cues. Does the candidate tense up when certain topics are raised?
Solicit questions from the candidate. Ask the candidate if he or she has any questions for you. Thoroughly respond to questions and topics raised.
Provide realistic information. Share realistic information about the job and the organization. Emphasize how the job fits into the organization as a whole.
Avoid making promises. Don't make promises about career opportunities-use words like potential,
possible,
and maybe.
Close the interview graciously. Conclude the interview by summarizing what took place and explaining what will happen next. Make sure you express appreciation for the candidate's time.
Frequently asked questions about interviewing
Is it wise to try to place an applicant at ease by making small talk? Small talk at the beginning of an interview can be dangerous because it may seek information inadvertently that has absolutely nothing to do with the job opening, or ask for information that will not be the basis of a hiring decision.
Extraneous questions such as are you married,
do you have any kids,
or have you thought of a name for your baby
are not illegal in and of themselves. But they could be if an organization considered the responses when making a hiring decision. And even if the hiring decision is not based on these responses, the fact that the question was asked might lead an applicant to believe that the responses played a part in the hiring decision. Your organization could be sued and forced to defend itself because of this misconception.
Other statements spoken without a lot of thought behind them may be interpreted as a promise of job security, like Everyone hired by A-1 has a long, rewarding, and satisfying career ahead of them.
How can interviewers make sure they discuss only job-related issues? One way is to use job descriptions as interview guides. Let the job description form the basis for the interview. This will help keep even the inexperienced interviewer to the task at hand, which is discussing whether the applicant is qualified for the specific job.
The interviewer should discuss only job-related issues with the applicant, such as:
telling the applicant about the job description,
describing the job duties, and
asking about the type of experience the applicant has had.
Direct applicants to identify their qualifications for each specific aspect of the job description. Oftentimes, applicants will eliminate themselves from consideration with their responses.
What kinds of questions are useful? As a general rule, open-ended questions are very useful. Such questions enable you to assess how well an applicant analyzes a question, organizes an answer, and verbalizes that answer without getting off-topic. They also give an applicant the feeling of having some control over the interview.
Finally, open-ended questions may leave you less vulnerable to discrimination claims. The law restricts many of the areas you're allowed to probe during an interview. Open-ended questions shift some of the burden of determining what's none of your business onto the applicant.
For example, if you ask Do you have any personal commitments that would prevent you from working late?
The applicant may say I'm married with two kids and would not feel comfortable getting home late.
This way, you are not guilty of inquiring into the applicant's marital or parental status.
Be cautious, however, about making a decision based on the applicant's status. In your interview notes, you would not want to write down married with two kids. Rather, you'd want to indicate that the applicant was not comfortable getting home late.
Some open-ended questions that you may find useful are:
How happy were you with your last job?
Why would you like to be hired by us?
If you were me, why should I hire you?
Give me some examples of where you had to work with others to get something done.
What job experience have you had within the last three years that would specifically enable you to do this job better?
When is it a good idea to ask a simple yes or no question? While it is generally preferable to use open-ended questions while interviewing, a yes or no question may be necessary to get a clear answer and keep the record straight. A particularly useful yes or no question is:
This question does three things:
First, it alerts you to things that may prevent negligent hiring claims;
Second, it makes fudging an answer very difficult; and
Third, if the applicant is untruthful, it may provide a defense to later discrimination claims.