INTERVIEW PROCESS Flashcards
Once the criteria have been selected and interview questions developed, it is time to start interviewing people. Your interviewing plan can determine the direction and process that should be followed:
1. Recruit new candidates.
2. Establish criteria for which candidates will be rated.
3. Develop interview questions based on the analysis.
4. Set a time line for interviewing and decision making.
5. Connect schedules with others involved in the interview process.
6. Set up the interviews with candidates and set up any testing procedures.
7. Interview the candidates and perform any necessary testing.
8. Once all results are back, meet with the hiring team to discuss each candidate and make a decision based on the established criteria.
9. Put together an offer for the candidate.
Here are some tips to consider when working with the interview process:
1. Make sure everyone is trained on the interviewing process. Allowing someone who has poor interviewing skills to conduct the interview will likely not result in the best candidate. In a worst-case scenario, someone could ask an illegal question, and once hired, the candidate can sue the organization. UCLA researchers (Hanricks, 2011) calculated that plaintiffs win about half of hiring discrimination cases that go to trial, sometimes because of interviewers asking illegal questions. For example, “I see you speak Spanish, where did you study it?” is a seemingly harmless question that could be indirectly asking a candidate his or her ethnic background. To avoid such issues, it’s important to train managers in the proper interviewing process.
2. Listen to the candidate and try to develop a rapport with them. Understand how nervous they must be and try to put them at ease.
3. Be realistic about the job. Do not try to paint a “rosy” picture of all aspects of the job. Being honest up front helps a candidate know exactly what they will be in for when they begin their job.
4. Be aware of your own stereotypes and do not let them affect how you view a potential candidate.
5. Watch your own body language during the interview and that of the candidate. Body language is a powerful tool in seeing if someone is the right fit for a job. For example, Scott Simmons, vice president at Crist|Kolder, interviewed someone for a CFO position. The candidate had a great résumé, but during the interview, he offered a dead-fish handshake, slouched, and fidgeted in his chair. The candidate didn’t make eye contact and mumbled responses, and, of course, he didn’t get the job (Reeves, 2006), because his body language did not portray the expectations for the job position.
6. Stick to your criteria for hiring. Do not ask questions that have not been predetermined in your criteria.
7. Learn to manage disagreement and determine a fair process if not everyone on the interviewing team agrees on who should be hired.
Here are some tips to consider when working with the interview process:
