Conducting a good interview is important to maintain the reputation of the company. Any interviewees who were unsuccessful in attaining the job should be able to walk away knowing that they did well and that the company they were applying for conducted a well thought out and professional interview.
An interview can be very daunting for the interviewee, and so a company wants to make the interview process as comfortable as possible. Here are some tips on conducting a good interview for any future recruitment drives.
Create A Welcoming Environment
From the moment they enter the building, they should feel comfortable. Think about where you want to hold them whilst they are waiting to be seen. This will usually be in a reception area, and if that’s the case, ensure the reception staff is briefed. Them knowing the interviewee’s name and saying it on their arrival to greet them will feel like they already have someone familiar within the room.
Try to create a pleasant atmosphere with the ability for them to read a magazine or to listen to music, or even watch the television if there’s one in the reception area.
Ensure they’re offered a drink, to begin with, as they may be thirsty or require a liquid to clean their throat, ready for the interview. This first encounter with your business needs to be a positive one, and you’d like to create a familiar vibe to the space so that if they are picked for a second interview, they are more likely to return.
Have The Questions Ready
Questions are the most important part of the interview because you want to make sure that you’ve asked them everything you need to know in order to make a decision. Therefore, all your questions need to have been thought about in detail, some examples are here.
There’s nothing worse than getting into the interview room, and acknowledging the questions is as clear cut and precise as they need to be. Discuss these questions in length with whoever you are interviewing with so that they know what they are, and you can delegate who leads with what question.
When conducting an interview, you’re going to have to keep to time and ensure that you are getting all your questions answered and doing it within the time limit you’ve given yourselves.
Start And End With Casual Questions
Casual questions are good to have because it helps establish that relationship between you and the interviewee. Questions that aren’t challenging and are simply asking that person for information they can reel off effortlessly. It’s going to help them relax and to be at ease in the interview space.
An interview can be very nerve-racking, but as an employer, you want them to be completely comfortable and at ease in order for them to do their interview well. Neither party wants their interview to go badly, so start with casual questions and be sure to end with them too. When it comes to casual questions, don’t get too personal. Asking about their family life or personal life in too much detail can be quite off-putting, especially when they feel like they need to answer.
Keep it basic, like what do you like doing outside of a job and where they studied and what they enjoyed most about where they studied. This can all help you learn more about them on a personal level and to help bring out more of their personality. The formal environment can make them feel like they need to hide their personality completely, and that’s not the case and not what you want as an interviewer.
Listen And Improvise
As an interviewer, it can be easy to reel off the same questions in the same monotone voice, and with the same attitude and attention span to the responses.
However, each interviewee is likely to answer the question differently, and so it’s important to listen to their answers carefully and be prepared to improvise on additional questions to maybe get more information out of them when needed.
Listening is important because it helps you to get more of an idea of who they are as a person and what they’re about. First impressions for the interviewee are going to help you decide on whether they are right for the job. So listen with intent!
Be Honest About The Role
When it comes to them asking questions or you explaining the role, you want to be as honest as you can. Go into detail about the working environment and the people who work in the office on a daily basis. Talk about the role and what they’d be expected to do, the advantages, and perhaps some of the more challenging parts.
Being open and honest is going to leave them with more of an idea of whether the company is the right fit for them. It’s just as important that they are certain about the company as you are about the person applying.
Engage In Eye Contact
It’s easy to stare down at your sheet of paper when reading out the questions and to look at their resume. However, the questions themselves should be close to word perfect in your head, and you should only be using their resume to refer back to specific points that you may have wanted to inquire further about.
Engaging in eye contact is what’s important because you can learn a lot about them when speaking to them and focusing fully on them. It also shows a level of respect for one another when you’re able to look at it each other.
Interviews can be quite boring if you are seeing several candidates throughout the day. Therefore, you want to make it fun, interesting, and engaging for the both of you. Show your professionalism and what your company has to offer. Provide a warm welcome and engage in eye contact to help you build a relationship. Hopefully, you’ll find the perfect candidate for your company from these helpful tips on conducting an interview.
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