The company I work for is currently conducting several rounds of interviews – and I’ve been finding myself really looking forward for my turn to interview the candidates.
While I generally just go in expecting to have a conversation with the general intent of “getting to know” the other person – recently that strategy hasn’t worked so well. So I decided to do some research to find out what some of the best-practices are. One particular website was very thorough and helpful.
1) Be prepared.
After watching Charlie Rose night after night, I realize how important this is for the interview. I study the resume and then formulate a list of questions based on personal and professional qualifications I am looking for in the candidate.
2) Establish rapport
All candidates are nervous to some degree and I definitely don’t want them to be scared of me in any way. I think being genuine and myself is the single most important thing to remember here – because I want the candidate to be genuine with me too.
3) Ask effective questions
I think this is the hardest part to formulate in general terms that would apply to all applicants. Sure, there are questions about facts, and many standard interview questions. But for a question to be effective it has to be tailored to the candidate.
4) Listen actively
5) Conclude Positively
Conclude with a warm, friendly close, and thank the applicant for his/her time.
I’d like to be better at interviewing candidates and communicating in general, so I hope to discuss each of the points above in more detail in the future.
