OK… so you have received a mountain of applications for a position you need to fill and after some careful navigation of steps you have found your footing. 10 CVs now sit neatly at the top and yes, it’s that time… interviews!
Whether you like to admit it or not most of us can feel the slight pangs of anxiety at the prospect of sitting opposite potential employees, because contrary to popular belief it is not simply the interviewee who has to sell themselves but also the boss who must sell the company and the position to the desirable candidate. It is therefore essential that you present yourself as a calm and collected figurehead of the company; not a bumbling wreck who is unsure what exactly they are looking for in an employee, or precisely what the company has to offer. So, just as there are reams of hints and tips for interviewees on how best to present themselves, there are some tips that the interviewer can also take note of.
Most important is to make the interviewee feel at ease. If you bombard someone straight away with stern and probing questions you could cause him or her to fluster and panic. Getting the best overall sense of someone comes from allowing that person to relax. However, in saying this, don’t lose sight of what you are after whilst reclining in your chair, feet on the desk talking about what the candidate looks for in a holiday! It might be good to get a bit more of a personal feel for a candidate, but don’t lose sight of what the task at hand is.
The best way to combat this potential scenario is to have clear in your mind exactly what the position is and the skills needed to fulfil the specification. Have a piece of paper in front of you with the key points – not so you are reading from a script, but so that you can glance at and tick off anything you want to cover, or have covered. Think about the kind of questions you want to ask using the same principle. You don’t want to get to the end and then realise that the key questions were never raised and second interviews are a timely exercise that needn’t always be necessary.
First impressions count, so when you meet the candidate give them a firm handshake, smile and make some small talk about their journey or other equally neutral topics. Predictable, yes, but always a good ice-breaker. After the initial meeting, offering of coffee and journey to the interview room it might be a good time to talk about the company thus affording the candidate a little breathing space to gather their thoughts. You might talk about how many employees there are, what the nature of your business is and some information on future plans. Whatever you choose this will help the prospective employee to feel at ease allowing you to then move on to the main part of the interview.
General areas that you need to cover are things like: related experience, skills, training and education and by using open-ended questions you enable the interviewee to freely talk about their relevant experience. However, don’t make them all open-ended because they will simply feel put on the spot and may start bumbling themselves. Follow up such questions with more probing ones: why, what and how. This means the interviewee cannot simply real off pre-meditated answers after all, you will probably want to gain a sense of their initiative and ability to speak unprompted.
When you draw the interview to a close do remember that you are playing with peoples’ livelihoods. Be as honest as you can be as to how long before they will hear from you and what the next step will be, and stick to your plans. It can seem like an eternity to candidates waiting for further news.
After the interview, take five minutes to simply write down the applicant’s best qualities along with notes on their personality and suitability. You don’t want these points to be lost in a mishmash of ten other interview memories.
An interview situation is and is expected to be a tense time but by putting unnecessary pressure on both yourself and the prospective employee you will not gain the desired result. Stick to a plan, be friendly but suitably reserved and above all try to make it as pleasurable an experience as is possible.
