Bringing a new individual into your work environment can improve your business in many ways, such as by enhancing the customer experience, bringing fresh insight and creativity to the table and more. However, when you make a poor hiring decision, your work environment can turn hostile, co-worker conflicts can increase, customer service may falter and other issues can develop. Clearly, your ability to successfully interview and select the best candidate is critical to your business. If you are new to interviewing, consider these tips to guide your way.
Screen Resumes Carefully
When you prepare an effective job posting ad that clearly sells the position and the company and that also describes the position in detail, you may receive numerous resumes from interested candidates. Some candidates will simply blast their resume out to every opening they can find, and you may need to eliminate these often unqualified candidates from consideration. Screen each resume, and place the most qualified candidates on the top of your stack.
Create a Hiring Rubric
It is wise to create a hiring rubric before beginning the interview process. To develop your rubric, review your job description for education, skills and experience requirements. Consider the type of personality that you want your successful candidate to have. These are some of the top features to add to your rubric, and you can customize it to fit your specific needs.
Conduct Short Phone Interviews
Conducting in-person interviews can be time-consuming, and you can often eliminate many candidates from consideration by conducting short phone interviews. Prepare a few phone interview questions that you want to ask each candidate. This often will pertain to their specific experience or skills in a key area related to the job. You may be able to conduct a phone interview for several dozen candidates within a few hours, and this can save you several days of time interviewing various individuals. From your phone interviews, you may be able to narrow down your selection to a handful of the most qualified candidates.
Choose Thoughtful Interview Questions
The typical interview will have approximately 10 to 15 questions, but this can be adjusted per candidate. You may have some basic questions that you want each candidate to answer, such as personality-based questions. You may also have specific questions for candidates to answer based on their experience and credentials. The interview may eventually become an open dialogue between you and the candidate, but ensure that you get all of your questions answered.
Understand the Law
During an interview, it is easy to become inquisitive about some of the things a candidate may say. However, you should always keep in mind the law related to the hiring process. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has a list of factors that employers cannot ask about. Familiarize yourself with these factors before you begin interviewing candidates.
Test for Skills and Experience
It is common for potential candidates to add fluff to their resume or to exaggerate skills and experience. It is your job during the interview process to weed out individuals who are not actually qualified for the position. Your background check can verify education credentials, but you may also need to develop written or oral tests to confirm candidates’ skills and experiences in key areas related to the position.
Think About Outsourcing the Hiring Process
There is a lot riding on your ability to successfully interview and hire the right candidate to join your team. Some people feel more comfortable using RPO for the initial screening process. A recruiter can send you a handful of thoroughly screened candidates to choose from through a final interview, and this can save you time and effort while ensuring that you hire a truly qualified candidate.
The interview process can be challenging, but you must excel in it if you want to make an offer to the most qualified candidate. As you prepare to walk through the interview process for the first time, put these tips to use for the best results.
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