Few leaders would argue with the thought that the Recruiting, Interviewing & Selection process significantly impacts their organization’s productivity, customer satisfaction, growth & profitability. And, of course, the effectiveness of that process can be no greater than the quality of the interviews themselves. Interviewers need a proven methodology for obtaining relevant information & assessing it – they need to know what to look for & how to gain that information. Below are four, proven best practices. 

#1 Having a thorough understanding of the position’s specifications: As obvious as this seems, some managers fail to take the time to identify the specific job criteria needed to be successful in the opening. The objective of an interview is to identify a candidate who can & will effectively perform the job - while fitting into the organization:

• can do’s: the competencies needed to carry out the job’s responsibilities – required skills, abilities & types of experience
• will do’s: what candidates need to be willing & motivated to do - travel, work shifts, initiate sales calls, etc.
• fit factors: the ability to work cooperatively with his/her manager, co-workers, customers, etc.

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there” –

C. Frank Baun 

#2 Reviewing the candidate’s resume & application before the interview: Look for gaps in time, the frequency of job changes, salary history, reasons for leaving past employers, etc. Reviewing these documents allows the interviewer to:

• form preliminary impressions of the candidate
• identify issues of particular relevance to the vacancy
• prepare a few questions to probe the key points of interest on the candidate’s application & resume

“The closest a person comes to perfection is when they prepare their resume” Stanley Randall 

#3 Utilizing behavior-based questions to determine the candidate’s qualifications: Seek specific examples of past experience pertaining to the position’s specifications because - descriptions of past behavior are effective predictors of the candidate’s future behavior. Behavior-based questions allow the interviewer to project future job performance based on actual past behavior vs. relying on intuitive feelings. A candidate telling you that he/she has successfully lead a team of employees only tells you that that is what the candidate thinks you want to hear – insist on names, dates, places, events, outcomes etc.

• describe a time when you dealt with a difficult customer …
• give an example of a significant project you completed when you were given a tight deadline …
• share with me what you have you done in a past job that saved the company money …

“I know of no way of judging the future but by the past” Patrick Henry 

#4 Creating an interview atmosphere that encourages the applicant to do the vast majority of the talking. About 80% of the interview time the candidate should be answering questions related to the position's specifications. Interviewers should feel that when they speak they are interrupting & interviewers should interrupt only to probe, clarify, encourage or re-focus the candidate back to a position specification.

“There are several protections against hiring the right person & not asking the right questions is the surest” – Mark Twain

Pete Tosh of The Focus Group can be reached at [email protected] or 478-746-6891.