Interviewer skills

Before the Interview

An interviewer must be as well prepared for the interview as you would expect the candidate to be. The candidate should have found out about your organisation, read the job specification and competencies and be well prepared.

It is equally important for you to do your preparation. Read the candidate’s CV and/or application form before the interview and note any relevant points that you wish to expand on that need clarification – for example concurrent dates of employment history. If you need any further information from a recruitment consultancy ask them at this stage and not after the interview.

Make sure that you have read the job description (or know it) and are fully aware of the structure of the department in which the candidate would be working - this is especially important if you are interviewing for another department.

The Interview room should be clean and tidy and if you are interviewing in your own office ensure that there will be no interruptions. A thorough interview process reflects well on your company and will often play a major part in securing a good candidate. Equally an unstructured approach to the interview will reflect badly on your company regardless of how wonderful you are. Remember that you are projecting the company's image to the candidate as much as they are to you.

Finally allow yourself sufficient time so that the interview doesn't finish in a hurry.

Beginning the Interview

Don't dive straight into it. Even a senior manager will feel nervous at the beginning of interview even if they don't show it. If important statements are made before the candidate has settled down then they may not be fully taken in. It is better to spend a few minutes introducing yourself and giving some background information on the company or firm so that the candidate is put at ease. Many interviewers will commence through going through the application form or CV with the candidate starting usually with educational/academic background and progressing chronologically from there. How far back you go depends on the seniority of the position for example if you are recruiting a Finance Director, you are unlikely dwell on bursary results whereas for a trainee position they will be much more relevant. However as information will already be on the form or CV than this part of the interview is very much routine and can be part of the “settling in” process. The same applies to work experience. If the candidate has many years experience then you are likely to concentrate on the most current.

The main part of the interview

Make sure you go over the "must haves" for the role thoroughly seeking evidence of qualifications and experience as well as evaluating the candidate's communication skills and personality. A typed up list of questions ensures not only that you do not forget to ask an important question, but also gives the candidate reassurance that you are conducting a professional (and fair) interview and giving him/her the attention they deserve.

You should, if properly prepared, already have made a list of points that you wish to discuss during the interview. If you have several candidates for the same position, a checklist or matrix will help and will also ensure you are treating the applicants fairly. There are several ground rules that help at this stage:

Always ask open-ended questions for example “How do you think your experience relates to this position? “Rather than “Do you think you can do the job?” which most candidates will answer “yes” to!
Ask them to give specific examples of their experience and allow them to expand on the information you already have.

Many of your questions will reflect the job and the specific qualities needed, others are more general. Here are a few questions you might use.

Work History

Tell me about your work history - each job / your contributions / reason for leaving
Other relevant experience /skills

Work Patterns

Tell me about an unpleasant, stressful situation you have encountered at work and tell me how you dealt with it
Tell me about the major achievements in your career
When and how do you plan?
Describe the most difficult situation you have faced, how did you deal with it?
If you have a bad day at work how do you deal with this? How many “bad” days have you had in the past 3 months? Why were they bad?

Working Under Direction/With Others

Would you describe your manager’s methods and evaluate them
What things did you manager compliment you for?
Criticise you for?
Tell me about your best boss

Person Related

What kinds of people do you like working with?
What kinds of challenges go furthest in bringing out your potential?
Do you prefer group or one to one situations? Why?
Tell me about your best friend?

Training & Education

Which subjects did you enjoy most
Which subjects caused the most problems for you?

Resourcefulness

What were some of the more difficult problems you encountered in previous jobs? How did you solve these problems?
How did you change the scope of your current/previous job?

Motivation

What are your long term goals? How do you plan to reach these goals?
Tell me about an environment you thrived in, why did this environment work so well for you?

Personality/Life Style

What are your strengths?
What are your weaknesses?
How would your best friend/family describe you?
Listen to replies. Don't switch off because what they say seems irrelevant to you. An innocuous reply sometimes leads to a very relevant discovery.
Don't let the candidate ramble on. Keep control of the interview at all times. If you have a checklist or agenda then this will help.
Check the purpose of each question. Make sure they are relevant and clear.
Check the necessity and legality of asking about personal and private matters.
If a candidate does not respond as you would expect to a question then do not leave it. Probe further. They may not have understood or they may have something to hide.
Treat the interview as a conversation and the candidate will be more relaxed and open up more freely. An interrogation tends to lead to "Yes" and "No" answers.

Concluding the interview

Make sure that you have covered all the points that you had on your checklist and ask the candidate if he or she has any further points that need clarification.

You should let the candidate know what the next stage will be and the timescale. Misunderstanding often arises as to the potential outcome of an interview. Interviewers and Interviewees may well have different perceptions about whether an interview went well or not.

Practical considerations

Ensure you have the candidate's name and address.
Check, if relevant, that he or she will be available for a second interview at the times you are (not away on holiday for example)
Ask if they are attending other interviews. If so, you may need to make your decision by a certain date if you are not to lose the candidate.
Ask if they are interested in the position and if they are not ask why.
If other checks like psychometric tests or medical tests are necessary then sort out the details.

Other assistance

Wood and Associates are happy to assist you with your interviewing skills and provide you with lists of relevant interview questions and suggested matrixes to use for shortlisting candidates.