The other day I was apart of an interview for a new hire. Sadly I was not in charge of the interview process, just a participant of this injustice. One of the worse ways to interview someone is do a group interview with your entire team to interview a single person. This left the applicant terrified of saying the right thing. They didn’t have a clue who was the authority figure or who was holding the interview. The team assaulted the applicant with a endless series of questions that left the applicant confused what the job was or how it would work.
In the end, both parties lost. The applicant left with a bad taste in their moth and the interviewers felt like they wasted several hours of their time.
First off, the best way to interview someone is one-on-one where you ask carefully planned out questions.
I am sure there are many more rules that can be applied to any interview but the next time you are giving an opportunity to interview someone or be apart of the interview. Follow three simple rules.
- Prepare ahead of time and write down a list of questions that have specific objectives. Asking questions for the sake of asking is pointless and does not build camaraderie or unity.
- clearly define the job before you interview, when you post the job on the web or with the recruiter, and provide them each time the applicant arrives to be interviewed.
- know exactly what criteria you are willing to bend on to find the right person. For example, lets say the applicant has 10+ years of working experience but did not complete college. Whereas another applicant has 1-2 years of experience but a master degree. I don’t know about you but I prefer “real” experience over education every single time.
My rules are simple but very effective – preparation is the key to a successful interview…
Let me ask you this…what kind of experiences have you had interviewing or being interviewed for a job?
Want to know more…email me for an eBook of “25 interview questions that deliver great results”.
