How To Conduct a Job Interview
- February 2, 2021
- Humantelligence
Living in the new remote work reality job interviews have become mostly digital based, with face-to-face interviews happening via a video screen. While the classics of how to conduct an interview have remained the same, there are new standards to improve the experience for both the employer and the candidate.
Complete your first screening
Leverage some form of technology to manage applications and mark who you want to move forward with conducting interviews with. Our HireGuru program allows you to create an ideal candidate and compare applicants against that profile. This way you can mark who would be a good fit to consider. Set up a phone call with these individuals to start the process.
Explain what is expected of the candidate
For an efficient first interview over the phone, reach out to the candidates first with what topics you want to go over. This gives your candidates time to prepare which will yield in their best responses. An added benefit is that it will also reduce anxiety from the candidates which could affect their answers. These first questions and topics should be broad enough to give you a sense of what the candidate is like off of paper and if they’d be a good fit.
To further explain what to let your candidates know to expect in advance, we have a video from our CEO Juan Betancourt and Social Media Manager David Sternberg.
Provide a video interview guide
Once interviews are complete it’s time to follow up and let those know who is moving forward and who is not. For those moving forward explain again what you’ll expect from them in a video call. A specific example of past work and a narrower question variety at this stage is appropriate. Inform the candidates on any dress code requirements and other expectations.
Get a second opinion
While somebody will always have the final say, having a second or third opinion will allow for a group acceptance. The more people that feel as if they had a hand in bringing somebody onboard, the more will be excited to accept and interact with the new hire. Having employees feel like their opinion matters is also good for morale. Finally, this can also help check any bias that might have unknowingly come up.
Check The Culture
Once onboarded check how the culture shifted. Did it react in the way you wanted? Is the new hire fitting in and succeeding? If they’re, analyze why unpredicted results are occurring. The best way to improve any process is to learn from your mistakes. Based on the results adjust your interviewing tactics appropriately.