What's the best way to interview prospective new employees?

What’s the best way to interview prospective new employees?

It’s always a good idea to understand that a job interview is a tense situation — especially from the perspective of the interviewee. Much can happen to either put them on the back foot or derail the whole experience.

Mistakes made by interviewers can be costly; they can lead to poor hiring decisions and may even discourage excellent candidates from accepting an offer. Let’s take a look at some of the most common mistakes when interviewing prospective new employees.

Common mistakes made by an interviewer

• Not having a defined structure/process to the interview.
• Not knowing what’s on the candidate’s résumé.
• Making up questions on the fly.
• Deliberately trying to use an intimidating technique.
• Not allowing the candidate to finish speaking or not listening to them when they do.
• Not knowing how to evaluate answers properly.
• Being biased from the get-go.
• Consciously looking for features/traits that confirm preconceptions.

Best practices when conducting interviews — a top 10

1. Decide in advance how long you’ll spend on each interview
2. Prepare the questions in advance and keep them standardized Candidates can tell when an interviewer is either underprepared or completely unprepared. This does not create a very good first impression of the company.
3. Acquaint yourself with the candidate before the interview
4. Run the interviewee through the interview process before you begin
5. Don't ask questions that interviewers themselves won't have the answers to
6. Seek practical, job-related information only
7. Give the candidate time to talk and really listen
8. If you need to take notes, use another interviewer or a recorder
9. Select fellow panelists who are both relevant and fair
10. Always invite high-potential candidates for further interview rounds

Pre-plan how much time you wish to allocate to each candidate. This way, you can choose your questions with care, so that you get the most out of the interview. Otherwise, you may end up not asking what matters or exceeding your time limit. This is particularly important when you’re running a recruitment drive.

Planning your questions in advance gives the interview structure. It also allows you to seek all those details you want from the candidate within the limited time at your disposal. When planning questions for the interview, ask all the interviewees the same questions. This reduces recruitment bias and will help you make an informed decision.

When you read the candidate’s résumé before the interview, you’re better-equipped to ask suitable questions — and field questions put by them.

Surveys have revealed that 51% of male employees and 39% of female employees have confirmed they know someone who's lied on their resume. By reading their résumé, you can cross-question and test whether claims made are actually true.

Preparing the interviewee beforehand will allow them to be more at ease, if not relaxed during the interview. When at ease, an interviewee will be far more likely to let their personality shine.

Interviewers love asking this question when they interview prospective new employees: “Where do you see yourself in the next 5/10 years?”

No one really knows what the future holds. If you ask an interviewee – thus a person who wants the job – this question, of course, they'll say what they think you want to hear. Nobody's going to say otherwise, so the question is unlikely to serve any real purpose. It just wastes time.

Legally speaking, interviewers in the US aren't allowed to ask interviewees questions about past incarcerations. The same holds true for questions related to disability, family life, citizenship/race, age, financial status, and military service (when dishonorably discharged). These are all regarded as illegal questions; take a look.

Your company could be sued by the prospective candidate, so don’t go there. Stick to questions that are competency-related or job-related.

Interviewing is a two-way street. Don’t hijack the conversation; all this will do is create a bad impression of both you and the company and defeat the object of the interview! Allow the candidate to answer fully.

Keep the questions concise. Allow the candidate time to think and reply. Show that you are listening carefully to them as they speak. Wait for them to finish before posing your next question.

Some interviews require the interviewer to take down notes that need to be shared with other departments or senior management. But, if you take down these notes yourself, you won’t be able to concentrate on what the candidate is saying. If you want to take notes, ask someone to sit-in on the interview, or record the interview. Of course, remember to ask for the candidate's permission before you record them!

Panel interviews are very popular these days. But the choice of the panel is very important to ensure you get the best out of the interview. Some interviewers tend to simply concur with the other panelists and add no value to the hiring process. Others may reveal bias or be unassociated with the role the candidate is being interviewed for. It’s important to choose panel members that are pertinent to the role as well as unbiased.

Finally, don’t just end the interview after a single meeting. Realistically, one 30-minute meeting is too short to decide on someone’s professional future! Call the most-promising candidates back for more rounds. This way, you can test their perseverance, honesty, and creativity in subsequent interviews.