How to Conduct an Interview

Conduct an Interview with Confidence!

First Impressions

One of the biggest things that makes a candidate wary is the first impression. Ways to make a good first impression are to see them on time and be immediately welcoming. Also, keep in mind how you conduct yourself in an interview. It can be subconsciously reflected in the candidate. Be sure that during the interview you are removing all distractions and interruptions. Also, place yourselves in an area that you are both comfortable in.

Body Language

Body language is everything in interviews. Make sure that you are sitting in a way which the candidate feels as though you are open to them. Sitting with your arms crossed, hiding behind your computer comes across that you are uninterested in the candidate and the interview will most likely not go well. However, if you are sitting with your hands on the table or on your lap with little to no distractions in front of you then they feel safe in the area. We know that technology is great and that taking notes from your interview may be easier done on the computer. Just make sure that if you are doing this that you let the candidate know that’s what you are doing. So they don’t think you are online shopping while they talk about how excited they are to be apart of your team.

Show Them Around

Feel free to show the candidate around the workplace a bit if they are seeming like a good fit. This gives them a chance to get a sense of the surroundings before the first day.  

Ask the Right Questions

While interview questions can be typically basic, make sure you are asking the right questions. Questions that are particular to your position to highlight the candidates interest. Please, please, please refrain from the terribly worded questions such as: Why do you want to work here? The awkward phrasing begs for a pandering answer which won’t be genuine. Ask it in an easier way, like: What excites you about working in this field? Or What are you looking for in your next position? This allows the candidate to talk about their past experience, what they’ve enjoyed about past workplaces, and hints at what they are looking for in the new position.

Say everything went well in the first interview, now what? A secondary interview may seem ridiculous, but how often have you experienced buyers remorse? Sometimes taking the time to do that last double check can save you a lot of money. The candidate may be feeling a little overconfident being called back in, and that can be when they show their red flags by mistake. Our recommendation between interviewing is to send the candidate some sort of testing. For example, a psychometric test, a skills test or have them get certified in one of the software you use regularly. By doing this you are providing yourself and your interviewing team with further questions to ask in the second interview. This is like going back for a second sanding. No rough edges left, just smooth surfaces from here on out. You can feel more confident about your selection after this. You may even choose to introduce your candidate to their onboarding mentor at this point. So they know a couple of people on their first day.

If you do not properly interview your candidates, you may find yourself with a large amount of employee turnover. This can cost your company thousands. Every time you have to bring someone new in, you need to train them. Maybe have someone working with them which takes away from that employees day to day tasks.

New employees are often susceptible to minor errors. While errors like these aren’t a big deal when you have a new employee, just think of the effects when you have five new employees throughout the year all making those mistakes. It can add up fast, especially for a new company with a fragile budget. This is why it is imperative to be borderline neurotic when you conduct an interview. Any decent candidate will understand the grilling.

We all want to make sure we have hired the right person. The finessing of the process that can take time and experience, which you may not have to spare. While conducting an interview can be tedious and awkward, the reward can be worth the work if you have done it properly. Obviously there will be the instances of duds that you just couldn’t see coming. Or an external circumstance that can’t be controlled which cause newcomers to be forced to resign their post. This is all part of doing business. However, following along the basis of these tips will help ease the process and diminish the chances of higher turnover.