What Do Interviews Reveal About Your Company?
Imagine Tom, the perfect job candidate, arrives 15 minutes early to an interview for a position that’s been hard to fill. Joe, the hiring manager, casually strolls in 15 minutes late to work, forgetting the interview was today. After a brief apology, Joe grabs a cup of coffee and a note pad, escorts Tom to a conference room, and proceeds to complain about working until 11:00 p.m. last night to handle a problem. He says he sure hopes Tom likes working 16-hour days and dealing with incompetent techs in the central office!
With no prepared questions, Joe decides to ask Tom a couple of questions about his education background and years of experience. Tom shares he completed a technical certificate program at a local community college. He’s been with the same company for over 10 years and was promoted to a lead position two years ago. He goes on to share the reason for his departure from the company is because his wife took a new job in the area. Joe’s not big on community college graduates, as he thinks all techs should have a 4-year degree, even though it’s not required for the position. Joe is also extremely interested in finding a new fishing partner. He asks if Tom likes to fish. Joe tells Tom all the techs in this office go fishing on Saturdays when the weather is nice. Tom indicates he’s not really into fishing, and Joe makes a couple of notes on his note pad. Joe looks at his watch, apologizes, and abruptly ends the interview, indicating he has a mandatory meeting to attend, and ends the interview. Tom indicates he has a few questions about the job; Joe tells him to just call HR.
These kinds of interviews happen more often than you might think. Little or no training on how to prepare for, conduct, and conclude interviews leads to a poor candidate experience and the likelihood of missing out on making a great hire. Consider a half-day interview training course that includes the following topics:
Effectively screen applicants. Review the job description and develop a written checklist to document mandatory and preferred job requirements. Thoroughly review candidate resumes, cover letters, and job applications to identify mandatory and preferred requirements met. You can now rank candidates based on the number of mandatory and preferred requirements met and choose who you would like to interview.
Develop Interview questions. A best practice for interviewing is following the structured interview model, where the same process is followed for all job candidates. It ensures a fair and objective evaluation of all candidates and improves the reliability and validity of the hiring process. For an hour-long interview, prepare between 12-15 questions that further develop an understanding of the candidate’s qualifications, experience, and cultural fit. Open-ended questions are best, as they require a candidate to provide more in-depth answers than just “yes” and “no". Cover how distinct types of interview questions (behavior-based, qualifications-based, technical, and opinion-based) offer different insights about a candidate.
Prepare for and conduct the interview. You want the candidate to have a wonderful experience with your company, and that starts with preparation. A great interview includes an opening where the hiring manager talks about the role and the company, effective questions, spotting good answers, answering candidate questions, and a closing statement about timelines and follow-up expectations. Start the interview on time and dressed appropriately as the hiring manager. Avoid multi-tasking during the interview. Listen and engage with the candidate, making frequent eye contact and allowing the candidate time to answer the questions presented. Always leave time for questions the candidate may have about the position.
Know your bias. Common biases, like similarity bias, confirmation bias, and contrast bias affect how we evaluate and rank candidates. It’s important to identify and acknowledge these biases so you can work to eliminate them in the hiring process.
Avoid illegal topics. It’s not necessary to be an HR attorney. Know that questions pertaining to race, color, religion or creed, national origin or ancestry, sex, age, physical or mental ability, veteran status, or genetic history are illegal. “Can you perform all the essential job functions of this position with the appropriate accommodations?” is legal; “Do you have a disability that would keep you from performing the essential job functions of this position?” is not.
Follow up with candidates in a timely manner. Follow up with all interviewed candidates in a timely manner. If you state a decision will be made in a week. Follow up with all candidates in a week. If necessary, work with your HR team member on the offer letter and benefits package for the successful candidate. Personally phone all unsuccessful candidates, making it clear that they were not the successful candidate. Be sincere, but don’t try to sugarcoat the rejection. Provide professional feedback if possible, avoiding subjective phrases like, “I felt that” or “It seemed as though.” Stick to the facts.
Helping your managers develop skills in these six areas will go a long way to ensure candidates have a positive interview experience that will help the reputation of your company and improve the quality of the future talent pipeline.