5 Interview Tips To Find Your Perfect Employee

Date Posted: 05/25/2018

With so many experienced people with a wealth of skills on offer, finding the right employee to hire can be a hard job. Hiring the wrong person, or having difficulties in the recruitment or interview process can cost your company a lot of money and can have a negative impact on your productivity and your workforce. Using a reputable recruitment agency may help, but the interview is still always the crucial part of the process. Here are five interviewing tips to help you find the perfect match.

1. Plan your interview structure
Depending on where your applicant is based, the interview could be done via phone, video call or in person. With more online recruitment sites, Skype interviews where interviewer and interviewee can see each other are becoming ever-popular. A one-to-one benefits from a personal feel, whilst a voice phone call may stop you from picking up on body language and an overall sense of the person. If a panel of interviewers is necessary, arrange who will ask what questions and avoid making the applicant feel overwhelmed.

Some interviewers like to stick strictly to the questioning whilst others allow space for the conversation to flow and go off topic. This can put the applicant at ease and help the interviewer get to know the applicant better.

2. Break past the robotic answers
We’ve probably all asked questions like “what are your strengths and weaknesses’’ and had the “I can be a perfectionist” answer. It’s a learnt answer; no interviewee is going to admit to their real weaknesses. Utilising different styles of questioning can help. Ask for an example from the past, or explain a (made up) scenario which might happen in the workplace and ask them how they would react. Allowing the applicant to explain in their own words may help decide if they have the right skills, knowledge and ethics to join the team.

3. Be prompt and present
Arriving late is of course a no-go for an interviewee, but the HR manager running late to start an interview does not look professional either. Distractions in the interview, such as interruptions or phone calls, show a lack of respect for the applicant. Sometimes it’s as simple as leading by example and treating people how you would like to be treated. With sites like Glassdoor becoming popular, a platform that allows people to post their dealings with a company, it’s important to be professional and friendly for every applicant.

As you’d expect the applicant to have researched your company, be well-prepared in terms of the job on offer plus a few basic facts about the applicant. Re-read their resume before the interview and try to memorise one detail about them as a person to draw on. It’ll show them you’re interested while making the company look personable and professional. Ask specific questions in order to receive specific answers.

4. Be nice
It sounds obvious, but going into your tenth interview of the day, you’re naturally not going to be as perky as you were in the first. Coming across as too stern or cold is not going to bring out the best in the applicant. Again, this comes back to making the applicant feel comfortable enough to show their true selves and as well as honest during the interview process. Work with the applicant, not against them, to help draw out their best skills.

5. Be non-judgmental
In many countries today, there are laws prohibiting the judgement of any applicant on the basis of age, disability, ethnicity, sexuality, etc. for a job. Everyone has an unconscious bias ingrained into our lifestyle and upbringing. The most useful thing we can do is to be aware that it exists and be non-judgemental and open minded. Falling into the trap of stereotyping people from certain backgrounds or of certain ethnicities may in fact severely limit your workforce.

Finally, always ask if the applicant has any questions, clearly explain the next steps of the process and contact them even if they were not selected for the position. A recruitment agency or recruitment site can be a great help in the process – contact us for more information.

Need to give your business a shot in the arm by hiring some of the best talents from the Philippines? You can trust Ikon Solutions to find the best people for you and be certain that every detail of the hiring process is maximized in finding your ideal candidates.

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