How to be the best Interviewer

 

A story on Twitter caught my eye. A young woman experienced a brutal interview at a tech company. The CEO spent 2 hours tearing both her and writing skills to shreds, also calling her an under achiever. After this ordeal the company offered her the job! 

She then sent them an eloquent response and told them exactly how worthless they had made her feel; how traumatic the interview was and how the whole experience was tantamount to bullying She ended the response saying she would not be accepting the job offer. Hardly surprising. 

You can read all about this abusive interview by clicking here. 

I know that other interviewers use similar techniques, and this is not the way to interview anyone! Some people consider this type of approach will show them how people perform under pressure. 

Not so! There is plenty of research that suggests this is not the case. 

 

Here are my top tips for being a top-class interviewer and how to have people who really want to work for you! 

 

1. Make sure you have really read the CV and found as much as you can about the candidate before you interview them. This is so important and often people have only glanced at the C.V. and not really taken much time to read it properly. 

2. Prepare a set of questions beforehand so you ensure you remember to cover everything you want to know. This will make the interview more structured. 

3. The questions should be sensible and related to the job they are applying for and their past experience. You will find some ideas for interview questions to ask here. 

4. During the interview make notes as you will not remember everything. 

5. How you impress the candidate may decide if they take the role if you decide they are suitable. By being friendly, approachable and welcoming you will leave them with a great impression. 

6. Start the interview with a positive note. Tell them about your role in the company and maybe a few facts about you and then ask them to tell you about their background. Mention some of their achievements you have noted from their C.V. This will put the interviewee at ease. This will actually give you better results than immediately firing a whole barrage of questions at someone. Then you can do into your set of questions you have. 

7. The interview is your chance to get to know someone and to help you gauge how this person might fit with the role and the team of people already employed. So, let them do the talking. 

8. Ensure you ask them at the end about any questions or concerns they have. 

9. Inform them before they leave of when and how they will hear the outcome. This is really important. 

10. Make sure you follow up with everyone. It is so important to let people know and also it can be useful to offer some feedback where appropriate. 

 

Remember you want to leave everyone you interview with a great impression of you and your business!  

The environment you hold the interview should be carefully considered and offering refreshments is a good idea. Anything that puts a person at ease will help give you a great picture of who they truly are. 

 

If you find interviewing difficult or time consuming, we can offer support and guidance. Just call us!