How Good are Your Interviewing Skills?

Date Posted: 02/4/2014

Hiring the right person is not easy. Whether you’re new to interviewing or you’ve done it before, every now and again it’s useful to go back and review the basics.

Every hiring manager follows certain processes: browsing resumes, giving an aptitude test and most importantly conducting interviews. Interviewing candidates face to face is, of course, the best way to find the right employee and is often like detective work. Somehow you need to get beyond the standard answers to uncover if the candidate is a good fit for the job and the organization.

Nowadays, with our fast-paced work environment, we tend to rush interviews and neglect the importance of being prepared to conduct effective interviews. Here, we identify a few tips on doing it right.

1.    Do your homework
Before any interview, make sure you know the job to be done and what you want. Be able to clearly and quickly articulate the goals of the role and what a typical day looks like. If you know what you really want the person to do, you’ll know what’s important when it’s time to decide if the candidate you’ve met fits the bill. It also helps to run these goals and expectations by others in your company ahead of time to make sure you’re all on the same page.

As far as the candidate is concerned, make sure you have read the candidate’s resume and you have grasped key details about his/her education and work experiences. If a candidate looks promising, check them out on the internet through LinkedIn or other social media sites since many people have easily accessible profiles online. Keep an eye out for interesting and relevant interests, hobbies, etc. and any professional recommendations. This will help you become familiar with candidates before you meet them face to face.

2.    Prepare your questions
It’s always a good practice to prepare a set of interview questions ahead of time. Being prepared by understanding what is required of the job will help you identify the appropriate questions to determine the candidate’s suitability. If you are interviewing a number of candidates for one position, it is important to ask the same questions to each one so that it gives you a good comparison and objective evaluation analysis when it comes to making your final choice.

3.    Know the reason for gaps and job hopping
No manager would want to hire someone who will leave the company after just a few months. Get into the details of their reasons for leaving previous jobs and, if appropriate, compare notes with other interviewer colleagues to validate if candidates are telling the truth or just giving the usual prepared answers.

4.    Describe daily details of the job position
Avoid sharing too general a job description with the candidate. It is better to be honest and open on every detail of the job’s tasks and responsibilities so the candidate will be aware of what the job is and is prepared for the work challenges. This will also allow the candidate, in turn, to decide if he/she will be a good fit.

5.    Candidates should do 80% of the talking
There’s an 80/20 rule wherein the candidate should speak for 80% of the time. How are you going to learn about the candidate if you are doing most of the talking? There’s no need to constantly ask a question. The more they speak, the more you learn about them. You can share details of the company’s history; nature of the workplace; job requirements, etc. after they have finished talking and you think the person is a strong contender for the job or, if not, is worth keeping on file for future openings.

6.    Take notes
It is important to write down notes while interviewing so you can always go back to these when deciding which candidate to hire after all the interviews. List down unique qualities of every candidate you interviewed, your general impression of them, etc. These can be short bullet points which will jog your memory better if some time has elapsed before a decision is made.

7.    Consider the small stuff
It’s not all about the candidates talking. You should also consider things like grooming; proper attire; enthusiasm, etc. Did the candidate arrive early or late? These small details will help you decide if the candidate will be a good fit in your organization.

Need to give your business a shot in the arm by hiring some new talent from the Philippines? You can trust Ikon Solutions’ services and be certain that every detail of the hiring process is maximized in finding the best candidate for you.

IKON is a full services recruitment agency that specializes in recruiting personnel from the Philippines and other part of Asia for the hospitality, medical, construction, oil & gas and other service industries. To tool up with Asia’s top construction professionals, please email us at [email protected]