Interview Tips

Interview prep:

• Review the position's skill requirements, responsibilities, and expectations
• Success factors - what does it take to be a top performer in this position?
• Prepare interview questions in advance. Don’t wait to decide on your questions during the interview. Preparing them ahead of time will ensure that you hit on all of the important points and enable you to gather all of the information you need about the candidate’s skills, abilities, and the ability to work within your company’s culture/environment.

View sample questions

Power Hiring Tools, Tips, & Techniques

Pre-interview:

• Make the candidate feel comfortable. Ensure the candidate is greeted in a friendly and professional manner, is made to feel welcome, and is personally escorted to the interview location.
• Don't judge on first impressions. Sometimes candidates that don’t make the greatest first impression end up being the most outstanding employees. Allow candidates to fully present themselves before making a judgment one way or the other.

During the interview:

• Talk with the candidate about the position. Provide a brief summary, including expectations of the position, general responsibilities, who the employee would report to, and any major challenges of the position. The candidate will then be able to offer relevant examples and responses during the interview.
• Be flexible: Although you have your questions planned in advance, don’t be afraid to let the conversation steer the interview. Building questions from the candidate’s responses will also help keep the candidate at ease.
• Listen more than you speak. In general, try to spend 80 percent of the time during the interview listening while taking notes and 20 percent talking. Otherwise, you will not be able to obtain all of the necessary information you need from the candidate.
• Open it up to questions. A candidate truly interested in the position will likely have some questions for you. This is also the time when you may be able to uncover the motivating factors behind the candidate applying for the position. If you aren’t able to answer a question, tell the candidate you will find out and follow up.
• Stay within legal guidelines. There are certain questions that are able to be asked during an interview and others that are illegal. Understanding legal hiring guidelines before entering into an interview with a candidate is critical. You may only ask questions that relate to the job itself. You must refrain from asking any questions that may have the potential to elicit bias.
• Promote your organization. This is an area that many employers overlook during the interview but it may just make the difference between hiring a talented candidate and losing the individual to another company. Remember that you are competing with other organizations for the very best talent. Just as candidates are selling themselves to you, it’s important that you sell your company to them. Talk about your company’s best attributes, what separates your organization from the rest, and why the candidate should want to work for you.

After the interview:

• Be clear about the next step. Don’t leave the candidate hanging. Be honest about what the candidate can expect from you. If you promise to follow up, make sure that you do. Let the candidate know a timeframe for your final hiring decision.
• Evaluate. If the candidate interviewed with several people from your company, compare notes. Be ready to provide examples from your interview.