For veteran recruiters and hiring managers, flubs on the interviewer’s part may be distant history. (Slip ups by interviewees are a different story!) Less experienced interviewers might ask off-limits questions, lose focus during the interview or simply fail to prepare adequately. Obviously what happens in the interview can be telltale for both the hiring manager and the candidate, so it’s crucial to conduct the interview in an informed and above-board manner, or risk losing strong applicants.
Ken Lloyd, nationally recognized management consultant, author and speaker, offers several suggestions for avoiding missteps when it comes to the interview.
Prepare, prepare, prepare! Make sure you have a good understanding of the duties and requirements of the job at hand so that you can both answer questions well and apply the information you glean from the interviewee knowledgeably.
Know your applicant. Or his purported strengths and capabilities, at the least. You should be able to gather as much from the resume. While you’re trying in advance to determine whether this person would be a good fit for the organization, you should also be on the lookout for items of concern, inconsistencies and other red flags. Then make sure you address any potential issues during the interview.
Focus on work history. Focus on job-related questions, asking about the candidate’s responsibilities, achievements, challenges, motivations for moving on and so forth. Questions that veer into the personal are out of bounds more often than not. Strictly speaking, conversations about the candidate’s personal interests aren’t taboo, but whether the applicant enjoys classic films or kayaking probably won’t be much of an indicator of his or her future performance.
Get the candidate talking. The more you know about your candidate, the better prepared you’ll be to make an informed decision. Ask open-ended questions and listen carefully both to what the interviewees says and how they say it. The interviewer ought to open his mouth for roughly one-third of the time and button it for the remainder.
The grand idea here is that hiring managers should be conducting the kind of interview that they’d receive well, were they in the candidates’ shoes: one in which the interviewer has done his homework, asks pertinent questions, and listens to what the interviewee has to say.
Published by Conselium Executive Search, the global leader in compliance search.
