The term Interview is not alien to any of us. By Definition, we can describe it as an Interview,
An interview is a formal meeting at which someone is asked questions to determine if they are suitable for a job or a course of study.
An Interview involves two primary personas.
- Interviewer: A person who interviews someone, especially as a job.
- Interviewee(aka The Candidate): A person interviewed by an Interviewer. I will interchangeably use the terms
Interviewee and Candidate.
There are plenty of reads on how to get ready for an Interview as an Interviewee. However, the need is from both ends. An Interviewer has lots of stake in making an Interview a Great one or a Horrible experience for someone.
Here are a few points/tips that the Interviewer must keep in the account to make an Interview effective.
You also need Preparation
Yes, True, you need to prepare for the interview as an interviewer. You got to know about the candidate you are going to meet. Read the profile/resume/CV of the candidate. Sketch out your understanding of their Technology strengths, Probing points and ambiguities from the Profile.
If you haven't got a Profile in advance, raise a flag to your Manager or HR that you may not be able to do your job correctly in that case.
Greet Well, My Attitude is based on how you treat me
You, as an Interviewer, will be meeting a person (mostly) who is unknown to you, your nature, your habit. The best way to put your first impression right would be, Greet the person well with a firm handshake and introduce yourself.
You can do a small/casual talk to keep the nerve down for the candidate and then get into the usual business of interview. However, please don't overdo it! Having a proper greeting/welcome set a perfect tone for the entire interview.
It is more of a 'Skill' than Process
Believe it or not, Interviewing is a Skill to master. Unless it is learned well, you are going to waste,
- Your precious time
- Your Organizations resource/time/money
- Candidate's time.
You need to learn the skill of judging, where to stop, when to decide that it is done, what to do when it is not going anywhere, how to take it to the next level. These are pure Skills to Learn.
It is not about you
Remember, the interview is very, significantly less about You. You must introduce yourself in the context of your work, organization, position etc. But, please do not oversell. It is not required as it would be a waste of time. Also, you may be setting a wrong impression about yourself as a 'Boasting Master' to the candidate.
Let the Interview be about the Candidate. Their Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunity, Learning, Experience etc., are related to the work and the open position.
Your only Job is to do the Interview while Interviewing
How do you feel when you tell something important to someone, and that person is not listening to you? Maybe he is just playing a game, replying to emails etc.? It hurts, right?
I have seen many interviewers doing precisely the same. They keep their Laptop/Gadget open before them while doing the interview. It is so very distracting for you as an Interviewer and annoying for the Interviewee. So, please shut it off.
Interviewee doesn't know everything, either YOU!
Do not have the assumption that the Interviewee(Candidate) will know everything. Having such assumptions or expectations will kill the entire Interview outcome as positive.
Have your benchmark. Keep some flexibility around it. Judge the Interviewee on various aspects, not only one or two specific items. Have a short meeting with your peers after the interview and discuss your strengths and weaknesses. Don't take a biased call just because they couldn't answer that question. They will not know everything. You too!
You are the Organization, Mind It
There is a famous saying,
First Impression Is The Last Impression.
In that interview room, you are representing your organization. Hence try to make a near-perfect First Impression that goes by your Organization's Philosophy. If you fail to do good there, your organization may get many negative reviews on many Social Job Forums like GlassDoor, Indeed, LinkedIn etc.
Keep a Positive Mind
I suggest having a Positive Mind when you start the interview. The necessary mindset should be, I will hire this person if they meet my Bench-mark with some % of flexibility. This helps.
Having a negative mindset from the beginning will put you in a trap that you will not be able to come out to listen or feel what strength the candidate can offer.
Don't make it Complicated
Even after doing all the possible things mentioned above, if the Interviewee is not performing as expected, do not drag it. Finish the interview early. Let him know your feedback at a high level. If an HR person is supposed to communicate it to the candidate, please delegate it appropriately.
Do not Complicate the Situation just by dragging the interview when you know it is not taking you anywhere.
The Interview doesn't get over there
The interview as a process does not end here. If the candidate is found to be a good fit, you must take the necessary steps to follow up until the person joins you.
The interview process is expensive in terms of time, resources, logistics etc. You got to make sure you keep those under control and reduce the cost of hiring and finding a suitable Candidate.
I hope you agree with most of the above and Liked the post 🍻🍻.
I am sure you will have more points to add from your own experience. How about sharing those by commenting below 👇.
Cover Image Credit: Photo by Nik MacMillan on Unsplash
