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The Art of Interviewing

When there is the need to add a new employee to your company there is an air of positive expectation for the benefits this addition will bring to the organization. Increased sales and profits, better customer service, reduced pressure on a key employee, better distribution of the work load a team to name a few of these expectations.

Then the reality of the task sets in. This is not what you or your managers do best – interview candidates. However, there is a rainbow from this dark cloud we call the Art of Interviewing.

The art of interviewing begins with having a clear view of the expectations you have for adding the new employee. It is assumed you have a job description and if not be sure to create one and if it does exist be sure to review it for the current needs of your company.

Once the job description is set, create a list of measurable expectations you want the new employee to meet in the first 30 days than by the end of 90 days. The very best way to create this list is to work with six or eight company stakeholders who will be affected by what the new employee does in the position. This consensus view will take time to build but it will create a big picture view of what the employee is expected to deliver. If the employee receives a copy of this list, he/she and the company will be on the same page from day one.

What we have so far is; positive expectation of a new employee; job description (new or reviewed) and a list of measurable expectations the employee needs to meet in 30 and 90 days.

Now we are almost ready for the interview (rainbow).

Let us say you have created a list of six critical expectations. The stakeholders need to create two or three questions with expected answers that will measure if the candidate has the personal talents to do the job. Note: the job description outlines the technical skills needed, the education requirements .etc. The purpose of the custom created questions is to determine if the candidates possess the human talents to meet the expectations for the position.

Once the questions have been created, the Art of Interviewing begins by asking the question and WAITING for the candidate to answer. All too often interviewers drive the interview, which does not work. Candidates need to be placed under pressure in the interview and the best way to do that is to ask a question and WAIT for them to answer – NOT to ask the same question a different way.

Example: suppose the position calls for the person to be good a managing their time. A question you might ask is; Give me a specific example for a project that you were responsible for organizing from beginning to end? The question will be answered either clearly and easily or not. If it is not answered with, the expected results ask the same question over, but not modify it. Suppose the position calls for superior customer service. You might ask: Describe a situation where you went over and above what was expected to exceed a customer’s expectations.

The art of interviewing is being in control of the interview and having a clear expectation of what you want to achieve from every interview. Telephone interviews are very effective when you have the custom questions you stakeholders have created. This interview will tell you if you want to have the candidate come in for a face-to-face interview where you can ask the same questions again.

Ask us about our service of helping you to have questions for the position you need to fill that will make interviewing candidates be a good thing to do rather than waste your time.

Source: John Mathis, owner/president Keyline Company, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Copyright protected