Part II... "Managers, how do you conduct the most effective, professional interview that will make a good impression on the candidate and not leave you confused?

In part one I suggested that you throw out the interview questions you got out of the “New” book on interviewing you just bought from E-Bay and also the list of questions HR gave you in the company’s most recent training. I told you this because most of those questions have been around for the last twenty five years but most importantly, they are not yours and you probably never asked how the question would help you achieve your  goal in the interview. There are certainly exceptions especially if you have been doing this for many years. In that case keep using them.

Now that you have eliminated most of the questions you were given and that have become comfortable where do you go from here?

If you have not already done so, write down the goals and objectives for the position you are interviewing for. If you do not have a crystal clear understanding of the position you will not know what to ask. You also may lose the candidate because at the conclusion of the interview he/she did not understand the job. Once you have done this you can structure questions around the job. Make the questions simple, direct and do not ask compound questions. For example...

You have an implementation that absolutely must be completed by July 1^st. The person in charge of the project left suddenly to take another job. Without a skilled replacement your department will not achieve its goal and your job may be in jeopardy.

You must ask questions, the answers to which will tell you that a candidate can get it done. Questions…”Tell me about your last project that needed to be completed on a very tight timeline.” “What obstacles did you encounter?” “How did you overcome them?” The candidate who can do the job will have clear, concise answers. He answers with confidence and backs up his answer with specific examples that do not require forethought. The wrong candidate will dance around the answer. He will stall and act like he is deep in thought. He will say “I can do that” or “I can do that” but he will not clearly support his answers with specific examples.

When you write out your questions also write down the answers you are looking for. Do not be concerned about how many questions you have or about needing to fill a certain amount of time. Your only concern is the content of the answers. In one interview you may get the information you need with two questions and the next may take five.

Remember from part one that the most important question you ask will probably be your first. It sets the mood and tone for the rest of the interview. It establishes your relationship with the candidate and you will probably structure much of the interview around the answer and how it is presented. We have talked about what I think is the absolute worst question that unfortunately many interviewers start with.

 

Now lets look at what I think is the best. If the candidate is going to be a good one answering this question is low stress. It will tell you a great deal about the candidate and should start a comfortable conversation for both of you. It goes something like this. “Bob I could start with my usual speech about how great my company is and tell you everything about the position but it would be easier if I understood what you already knew. What do you know about ABC company and how much have you learned about the position you are interviewing for?”

I think many of the advantages of this question are obvious but maybe we would all learn a lot from each other if everybody commented on what they will learn from the answer.

Part three will cover handling topics that could be adversarial like the money question and “Why did you quit, why were you let go or are you looking. We will also look at wrapping up, closing the candidate or rejecting the applicant.

Comments

[Kathy Miller]

will you be posting the promised part III anytime soon? I really appreciate your blog and have been following for a while now. You have what I think is very sound, down-to-earth advice for both job-seekers and hiring managers. Thank you!

[Eric Raynard]

What a great post! Hope you don't mind, I've shared it on my blog at www.raynard.us. Love the simplicity of skipping the big intro and asking, "What do you know about the company and the position?" The well prepared candidate will shine.