The best companies are experts at interviewing. After all, to keep a company running smoothly, you must have the right workers in place. And to do this, you’ll need an efficient process to screen candidates and find the ones who match best with your company in terms of skills, experience and company culture. By following in the footsteps of the pros, you can improve your interview process and hire the best and most qualified staff members. Here’s what you can do.
The ten best ways to improve your interview process
Follow these ten tips for interview success:
- Clearly define the position. With this important first step, you can tremendously improve your job search efficiency. A carefully written job description will allow you to automatically weed through candidates from the start. You should make sure your job ad clearly defines what the job entails and what qualifications are mandatory.
- Streamline questions. To compare candidates more easily after all interviews are completed, ask everyone the exact same questions.
- Don’t ask anything off-the-wall. Efficient interviews involve maximizing your time with each candidate. Don’t ask any trick questions. Stick to job-specific questions that allow you to learn about the candidate’s experience, skills, qualifications and passion, such as:
- Describe a difficult task you had during your last job, and how you completed it.
- What is the most important thing you’ve accomplished in your career so far?
- How do you handle unhappy clients?
- Talk first to allow the candidate to relax. Many people get interview jitters. You can help ease your interviewees into a comfortable atmosphere by opening with an explanation of the position and the type of candidate you’re looking for. Then, move into the question-and-answer phase.
- Don’t completely trust your instincts. First impressions can stick with you. But just because a candidate makes a great first impression, it doesn’t necessarily mean he or she is the perfect match for the job. Conversely, a candidate who makes a less-than-impressive first impression may actually be a great employee who is just extremely nervous. Give all interviewees the benefit of the doubt.
- Interview as a “secret team.” Allow one or two coworkers to “wander in” to the interview and ask a few questions. A panel-style interview can feel like an inquisition to an interviewee. But by letting colleagues casually meet candidates during the interview, you can gain a more well-rounded view of each interviewee.
- Include a test—at the end. After you’ve completed all interview questions, a written test can help you gauge a candidate’s qualifications. Test for skills that are applicable to the job, such as clinical knowledge, personality, mathematical ability, etc.
- Take great notes—during and after. Write down important highlights during the interview. Immediately after, jot down your thoughts and impressions while they’re still fresh in your mind.
- Use a scale to rate answers. This can help you to compare candidates. Rank each interviewee’s answers, for example, on a scale of 1–5.
- Work with a staffing firm. You can save yourself the time and money associated with finding, screening and hiring new staff members. Working with an experienced recruiter, you’ll also gain access to deep talent pools and comprehensive candidate data bases.
A great interviewing process starts with you
And it can be easier than you think! By following these ten steps, you can fill your staff with highly qualified, best-matched employees—more quickly and easily than ever before.
A great staffing firm can help
If you’re revising your interview process but feel you could use some help, contact Contemporary Staffing Solutions. We’ll work with you to find the right candidates—every time. To learn more, contact one of our experienced recruiters today!