The Effective Job Interview
It always a good idea to have some standard questions to guide the interview process. Although it may seem tedious taking copious notes, it will help you to remember the interviewee's comments. It is also important to make the interviewee comfortable so that you can see them in their true nature. I suggest that the beginning of the interview is one of the most important in that establishing a repore will bring out more of what the interviewee is like personality wise. I feel this is one of the most important aspects of the interview process.
How do you prepare prior to interviewing a job applicant? What process would you recommend for conducting an effective interview?
Steve,
This is a great process. The only thing that I would add is to make certain that you have a well written job description that clearly and concisely reflects the job.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
Finding people that are great team players is paramount in our hiring process. In preparation for an interview, I make sure that everyone in our office is available for a short interview with the candidate. I prepare in advance a list of open ended questions and select the questions during the interview that provide me with confidence in the persons abilities and work ethic. This person will then meet for a few minutes with each staff member. The office staff will then meet to discuss our impressions of the candidate fitting in as a "team player". We are looking for 100% consensus that the candidate is a good fit.
Tennille,
Some fields tend to be more active on social media sites making it easy and logical to do the necessary research on each candidate. In fact, in your field, you would be missing a huge opportunity to get to know the candidate if you didn't do this. This is also a great teaching moment for students to understand how important it is to post appropriately and ethically because the failure to do so could come back to haunt them in a number of ways for years to come.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
due to working in a creative and image driven environment, I will typically research candidates, i.e. social media sites - to gain perspective on the candidate. Typically, from there I can get a sense of the candidates personality, respect for privacy and image control. Because these social media sites are also used by the company, it helps to have an idea of how active and the nature of the participation on such sites.
Michael,
Those are some good questions. I like the fact that they are open-ended and cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." Preparation is key to conducting an effective interview. You did a great job of establishing your process. One piece that I don't see mentioned is the importance of the job description. Making sure that it truly reflects the job for which you are recruiting and then asking questions to determine the candidate's fit for that position is the hiring manager's responsibility. Verification of an opinion regarding a candidate through involvement of others managers is an effective way to hire the best.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
Once you’ve done a resume review to identify qualified candidates, conduct a thorough phone interview screen, which could save you in-person time later on. Open up your conversation by getting a feel for what the candidate is looking for, while making sure that your opportunity syncs well with the individual’s career aspirations. Start by asking some of the following questions like:
What attracted you to the job and why are you looking to leave your current position?
Then Meet with the candidate in person to give them the chance to get to know the real person behind the “interview hype.†Ask interview questions that draw out honest responses that help the candidate feel comfortable with discussing career goals with you:
What would be your next step in career progression if you remained with your current company; how long would it take you to move into that next role?
How would this job help your future career progression?
What inspires you?
If we were to make you an offer, when would you be able start? How much notice would you need to give your current employer?
Debra,
I am sure it took time to develop those questions, but having done so, allows you to be more effective in the interviewing process. If you were questioned on why you selected a particular candidate, your notes will serve as good documentation. A process like yours is a model that many have found to be most effective in hiring right.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
I have developed interview questions for each department on my campus. I share these with my managers and encourage them to create their own and submit to me for review. Since most positions we are hiring for are lower level, I find the same questions allow me to guage which candidate might be the best fit for our needs. During the interview, I take notes of their answers on my questionnaire. After their interview, I immediately grade the candidate on the various criteria I have set. I find this helps me when I am reviewing the candidates and meeting with my hiring team. This process has proven effective for me and I feel it gives my managers a starting point for their intitial interviews.
Colleen,
I believe that you are the first one to mention taking notes. That is so important, especially if you are interviewing a number of people. Your notes can trigger the memory when you go back to consider and compare the candidates. It is also important to tell the candidate that you will be taking notes so that they are not intimidated when you begin to write something down. I always print out a list of my prepared questions. This is then what I use to take my notes. I can still ask follow up questions as necessary.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
I prepare for an interview by knowing the job description and determining the must-haves and the nice-to-haves for candidates. While I review a resume before meeting a person, I always go through the resume in detail with the person, asking both structured questions and open ended questions. I want to have answers that I can use to compare candidates easily, but also want to get a sense of the person and that can take different questions for different candidates.
I always take notes to be sure to capture key information.
Pearlina,
The structured interview also allows you to compare candidates. This process requires that you have a well defined job description upon which most of your questions are based. Make certain that the questions are open ended so that candidates must answer more than yes or no. This also requires preparation prior to bringing the candidate/s in so that all candidates are asked the same basic questions. There is still an opportunity to follow up on specific answers.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
My first task would be to review there resume and base the interview off of the needs of the company based on the experiece of the interviewee. Structured interview because it will allow you to get everything you need to know based off your requirements.
Jason,
I am sure there are other things that you do as well such as preparing the room, making the candidate comfortable, etc. The question, too, need to be open-ended so that candidates need to respond with more than just a yes or a no. I applaud you for preparing some auxiliary questions to dig a little deeper into the candidate's responses. It is always better to be over prepared with too many questions rather than not having enough. Also, have some standard questions which you ask of all candidates so that you have a basis for comparing the candidates. To get the most out of the interview, preparation is key.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
I have a standard list of questions that I use to prepare for an interview then after having looked over the résumés I add specific questions that I would like to ask the individual candidate. I also like to prepare auxiliary questions that can be asked based on the candidates in interview responses.
Linda,
You are fortunate to have established that kind of a track record. As the continuity, loyalty, and longevity continue within the company, all of those factors will translate into growth for the company and a potential need to recruit outside of the company. Bringing in new blood can provide many positives to support your current operation. You also raise a good point with your 360 assessment approach. When recruiting from outside of the company, you don't have the opportunity to conduct a 360 assessment since few, if any, may know the candidate. When recruiting from within, however, this is another technique that can be utilized to manage and support your recruitment and hiring process.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
Scott,
I like your approach, Scott. Those job responsibilities become a part of the job description and the qualifications for the specific position you are looking to fill. That can then drive the development of the questions you will ask each candidate. It is also important to make certain that those questions are open ended so you have a reasonable chance of really assessing the candidate's fit/qualifications for your position. The blend of questions is appropriate since that gives you an opportunity to follow up on questions you might still have. For example, there may be something from the resume which triggers a questions or the candidate's response to a structured question might warrant a follow up question. You are in control but the candidate is doing the majority of the talking.
s
Dr. Patricia Kapper
95% of the applicants for the job openings at our school come from within. Those applying for teaching positions have been students/graduates,and Teaching Assistants. We have very little turn-over in administrative positions and when we do we are often able to hire from within. This is wonderful and provides lots of continuity, loyalty, and longevity within the company. These interviews therefore begin with a significant amount of familiarity with the person and their quality of work. The emphasis then is on confirming that the new position will be a match for their skill set, that they will be a good fit within the new micro-culture within the company that they will join, and that we discuss strategies for managing all the aspects experienced with transition. Prior to the interview, we have started having all those who have familiarity with the candidate's prior performance complete a 360 assessment which is then discussed amongst ourselves and with the candidate, to bring assets and liabilities to the table.
I think it is important to have a defined and clear idea of what the job's responsibilities and needs are. I think that getting input from other department managers as to how the position relates to each department can be helpful. Once you have that, have some set questions that are related to the job. I think it is also important to have some room for optional questions if additional information is needed from the person being interviewed. Having the set questions will help you to compare each person being interviewed. I think for our company having a bit of a blend of structured and unstructured questions is effective.
