Interviewing Can Be Tough
The more prepared to conduct an interview you are, the smoother it’ll go. However, if you don’t have much experience in the interviewing process, it might be hard to come up with a proper interview plan right away. Even if you are experienced, these tips can help you make the interview more productive.
Seven Tips for a Productive Job Interview
1. Don't Overthink the First Impression
33% of hiring managers say they know whether or not they'll hire a candidate after 90 seconds. Reasons given for a bad first impression include not making eye contact, the clothes the candidate wears, or how "confident" the candidate appears—unfortunately, much of this is subjective and based on outdated views on what's "appropriate" (a stellar candidate on the Autism Spectrum, for example, may not may eye contact, and what you deem "appropriate" work attire may be out of a really talented candidate's price range). Do your best to get over any preconceived biases and judge the candidate based on the whole of their interview, resume, experience, and references.
HiringThing recently committed to eliminating photos from the job applications in our platform as a means to combat hiring bias.
2. Lead the Conversation
It's natural for a candidate to be nervous, or expect you to lead the conversation, so set them at ease! Introduce yourself, outline the interview process, the position, what you're looking for, and company history and values.
3. Ask Standard Questions
It’s important to have a list of standard questions you’re going to ask all the candidates. This will allow you to compare the answers later, getting a better understanding of their skills, past work experience, and so on. Moreover, later this could also help you choose between two candidates who seem almost the same.
4. Leave Room for Individual Questions
While standard questions are without a doubt important, they are not the only ones you could ask to get a clearer picture of a candidate. Try asking each candidate special questions based on their resume: they can help you find out more about a certain candidate as well as clarify some aspects of their previous work experience.
HiringThing Pro Tip: It’s important not to make the questions too straightforward, otherwise, it will be easy for the candidates to give you the answers you expect instead of the honest ones. Make them open-ended instead. Also, avoid questions that can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”. Always encourage the candidates to give more detailed answers.
5. Ask Candidates If They Need Accommodations
Diverse, inclusive workforces aren't just the right thing to do, they're also more productive and lucrative. It's sometimes uncomfortable for job candidates to advocate for themselves and ask for any accommodations, so do it yourself. Remember, if you're giving your workforce (and that includes job candidates) the tools to be productive, it's better for everyone.
Check out HiringThing's Ten Tips for Making Your Hiring Practices More Inclusive and Accessible for more ways to accommodate all job seekers.
6. Encourage Candidate Questions
You can learn just as much about job candidates by the questions they ask as you could by the answers provided to questions you ask. Additionally, savvy hirers consider modern-day hiring a two-way interview. You not only want to ensure the candidate is a good fit for your position, but that the candidate feels you're a good position for their goals, work style, and values.
7. Communicate Next Steps
Of course, you might not yet know whether the candidate is fit to get the job. However, it’s professional to let them know what they can expect. There’s information you can freely give, such as letting them know how long you are planning to interview other candidates and when they can expect to hear final results. This way you’ll be able to calm them down a bit, also ensuring that they won’t call you until all the interviews are complete to find out about their status.
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