Effective Interview Tips

If you want to hire the best, then you need an interview strategy that will allow you to hire the most qualified and best suited to you business needs. Never take your interviews for granted or it may prove very costly. Harvard Business Review research suggests that up to 80 per cent of employee turnover is because of bad hiring decisions. The cost of recruitment can cost as much as one third of the salary of an individual employee.

It is therefore necessary to acquire an interview technique so you extract the best information and make sound hiring decisions. Here are our essential interview techniques:

Preparation

Job interviews are easier if you plan in advance the relevant questions for interviewees. Know your objectives and plan your questions around these objectives.

Provide the interviewee with the following:

Date, time and location of interview Proposed duration of interview Give names and contact details of interviewers Provide details of the format of interview i.e. will the applicant be required to present a presentation etc.? Details of documentation required by the applicant.

Present a comfortable environment

Do the interview in a quiet room if possible away from any noise or distractions. Provide refreshments as interviewees may have travelled a long way for the interview.

Effective questioning

Ensure that the interview gets off to to a good start by asking questions that will relax the applicant and help you to gain an understanding of their personality.

Don’t just read prepared questions. Rather, ask them in a natural way.

Take note of the examples of the questions below. You can use these to discover key competencies during an interview:

“Describe a tough goal that you set yourself?” This gives an insight to the applicants thought process when solving difficult problems.

“Describe a situation where you had to take an innovative course of action? Can the applicant think outside the box?

“How do you cope with taking on new roles and demands in your job?”? Test the flexibility of an applicant.

“Have you been a member of a team before?” Ascertain if the applicant is a team player.

“How is your current role appraised?” This is aimed to find out if the interviewee has quality working standards.

Avoid the hard questions that make an applicant feel uncomfortable. It is well known that they will become more responsive when in a relaxed state and this in turn will help interviewees reveal their knowledge and skills.

Interview questions can be broken down into three categories:

General questions: “How would you describe yourself” or “Describe your motivations?” Competency questions: How effectively can an applicant tackle future problems Scenario questions: Acquire an understanding of the effectiveness of the applicant in a particular situation.

Allow the interviewee to ask questions and be prepared for these.

Observe the law

Because of the litigious nature of our society with respect to employment, it is vital to know employment legislation and avoid asking questions or making judgments that might be taken as discriminatory.

Avoid asking a women about their family as this could be used as proof of *** discrimination

Also, interviewers cannot ask any questions that may indicate an age bias (Age Discrimination Act 2006). It is estimated that age discrimination costs businesses up to £30bn a year in lost output.

Time management

The interview should use the maximum allotted time. This means keeping a structure and ensuring that neither of you lose focus or get sidetracked.

Finally

Finish the interview by leaving the interviewee with a positive impression of you and your organization. Explain to the applicant what the next steps are and when they will be contacted with the results.

After the interviewee has left, make your judgment on their suitability while everything is fresh in your mind.

You are hiring for the future so you need to seriously consider if this applicant will be the best hire to bring your business forward.

The right person will be positive to your company’s bottom line that will exceed their basic salary. But, the wrong hire can cost much much more

By: Ed Morrisey

About the Author: