A job interview is not just important for the interviewee but also for the organization. It helps hire the best person for the job. It is at the interview table, that one can assess the capabilities, qualities, and abilities of the interviewee such as his or her interpersonal skills, personality traits, the performance ability and thereby judge his or her contribution to the company. The job interview process is also helpful to verify the educational and other qualification mentioned in the resume of the candidate. The interview, being the most important aspect of the recruiting process, helps hire the right people for the organization. It is important that the job interview is a successful one. A successful interview isn’t the one where you get candidates but where you get the right candidates who prove to be strength.
Here are a few interview tips on how you can ensure that the job interview you are about to conduct is a successful one and that it will add to the resource of the company.
Tips to Conduct a Job Interview:
The following mentioned are few interview techniques on how to interview someone and best interview guidelines for conducting an interview.
1. Understand the requirements of the job:
Prepare a list of qualities, qualifications and other essential factors required in the candidate. Do a thorough study and make a rough picture of what and how the candidate needs to be. This will help much in making the interview process smoother. When you have the required points ready with you it also helps the candidate, as they will be better prepared at the interview session.
2. Prepare unique and apt questions:
There are cliché questions that are usually asked in an interview and most of the candidates come prepared with answering such questions. So, in some cases, the answers might be well rehearsed and mechanical. Thus, it is important to prepare unique and not so regular questions as it will help bring about the inherent qualities of the interviewee.
3. The four-point questionnaire:
Generally, the job interview success for you as the interviewer depends on the questions asked in an interview and for the interviewee on the answers he delivers. So, either ways, the questions are important. The four main points on which questions for interviewer are mainly based are general questions, hypothetical queries, stress testing and behavioural questioning. General questions are related to the resume, hypothetical queries are on a situation that can happen, stress testing is to find out how the candidate reacts to a stressful situation and behaviour questioning is to know about past performances and achievements to judge their future performance.
4. The time period should be just right:
Too long or too short interviews can be dull and ineffective. Too short the time period means that the procedure is too rushed up and there is no adequate time to judge or evaluate the candidate. If the interview is too long, it will mean that the process just became boring and tiresome leaving too much confusion. The thumb rule is that if the interview lasts for 30 minutes, then there should be just 4 to 6 questions. If the interview lasts for an hour or so, limit the questions from 8 to 12.
5. Ensure the right body language:
Eye contact is most essential. This job interview is as important for you as it is for the other person. Let the occasion be not very formal and be polite and considerate. It is important to put the person at ease from your side, so that the interview flows on smoothly.
6. Let the interview process be a conversation, not an interrogation:
Make the process communicative. You talk what is needed and allow the interviewee to talk as much as possible. Asking open-ended questions will help bring out more about the person. Avoid ‘yes or no’ questions as far as possible. Do not make it appear as if you are interrogating the person but it should be a one to one conversation through which both of you get to know each other.
7. A rating system will help:
Put marks as per the skills of the interviewee. You can rate in different categories, the educational qualifications, skill tests results, communication ability and so on. This helps you in a proper comparative study and also will help in choosing the right candidate. For example, if you are hiring a typist, then you will be more concerned about the typing abilities of the person but if you have two or more candidates possessing the same typing speed, the other points on which you rated them will help you in getting the better candidate of those three.
8. More than one interviewer does help:
If there are more than one interviewer, then that would help in a better analysis of the interviewee. Each interviewer might focus on a different angle altogether and at the end of the day, most probably the right candidate will be hired.
9. Note down crucial observations then and therein:
Whatever your observations about the candidate, put them down immediately. Make a list of positive and negative attributes that you have found. It is also best to note down the conclusion at the end of the page.
Ensure a well laid out interview structure: The ideal structure of an effective job interview would consist of introduction, questions, skill tests and wrap up.
10. Let the introduction and conclusion be apt:
The introduction process is important because it eases any awkwardness in the interviewee and makes him relaxed. It also helps the interviewer gauge the person better and gives him a clear idea on how to go forward. A good conclusion is where you ask the interviewee if he has any questions to ask at an interview to you, be it about the company, the pay details and so on. It will also help you find out how the interviewee has listened to the whole proceedings and how alert he or she is. Thank them for the interview and also inform them about the next step.
