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Conducting the Job Interview
Although tips on job interviews are generally directed at job seekers, there are also important issues for people conducting the interview. The interviewer is the face of the company that the potential employee first sees, and may well determine the impression the person takes away with him or her. Although tough times may make job hunters willing to put up with less than stellar employment situations, they may take the job with the attitude that it is simply something to be endured until something better can be found. And most of all, the job interview is the means by which you the employer can determine whether this person is a good fit for your company and the position.
What kind of interview do you want to have? Are you going for a high-pressure interview to weed out those who aren't up to the demands of working for your company, or do you want a more mutualistic interview in which you and your potential employee get to know each other in order to decide whether you're a good fit for each other. Do you want to run individual interviews or will you meet several prospects together in a group interview?
Choose a location for your interviews that would have an atmosphere suitable for a conversation with a colleague. It should reflect well upon your company and give the potential employee a good sense of what your company is about. Ensure that there will be no distractions or interruptions during the interview.
Prepare for the interview as carefully as you would expect a prospect to prepare. Write down your objectives for the interview, including job requirements and personality elements you are looking for. Craft questions that will highlight these traits, and write them down to help you remember them.
Be aware that some types of questions are forbidden by Federal fair employment law, including questions about marital and parental status and childcare issues. Be aware of the boundaries between acceptable concerns about the prospect's ability to overcome challenges and illegal questions asking for specific personal information. Also, do not allow yourself to raise these personal issues while making conversation with your prospect to put him or her at ease before the formal interview.
Never intimidate the interviewee. You want to know the person on the other side of the desk, not hear what they think you want to hear. In addition, a prospect who sees you as overbearing is apt to decide that your company is not a place they want to work for, or that a job with you is simply a waystation on the way to more desirable work.
When you ask questions, give the interviewee a reasonable amount of time to answer, and really listen to those answers. Carefully observe not only what is being said, but how it is said and what is left unsaid. Gaps both in the information and in the stream of speech can be significant indicators of problems the interviewee may wish to brush over. Equally, they may be indicators of strengths a shy prospect may hesitate to bring up for fear of appearing boastful or arrogant.
Give interviewees an opportunity to ask questions. You want to be sure that your prospective hires are clear about what the job will involve. You can also learn things about an interviewee by listening closely to how the questions are asked and what sorts of issues they focus upon. A person who focuses too much on compensation may be mercenary, and a person who focuses too much on rules may be someone who tries to get away with everything that isn't specifically forbidden.
By keeping these tips in mind, you will be able to conduct a successful interview in which you are able to get a good view of your prospective employee's strengths and weaknesses. As a result, you will run much less risk of hiring the wrong person and then having to go through the difficulties of getting rid of that person and hiring someone else.
