Job Interviewing I

How to Conduct a Job Interview

Hiring good employees is the foundation of any successful business. But selecting the right ones is hard work, and the interview process is often the most important step in the process.

Do Your Homework Beforehand
Goal: Minimize the back-story and maximize the time you spend with the candidate. Going into an interview, each interviewer should have already studied a dossier on the person they're about to meet face to face. At the very least, become familiar enough with his or her resume, cover letter, or other submitted materials so you don't waste the first half of the interview re-learning basic biographical information.
Make sure you have the information you need to get a sense of what each candidate is all about—and what they might bring to the position—before you conduct the actual interview.

Keeping It Legal
The interview process is subject to numerous employment rules designed to protect applicants' privacy and ensure them a fair shot in the selection process. Employers cannot ask questions about religion, national origin, age, height, weight, marital status, disability, or gender unless they represent genuine qualifications essential to the operation of the business. (For example: a church can ask potential ministers about their religious background; a contracting firm can ask if candidates are physically able to perform certain tasks.)
No one should be required to provide personal information, and some in the employment field recommend keeping the interview process tied strictly to job relevance. If asking about off-hours pursuits, say so in an open-ended way, such as, "We're seeking well-rounded, passionate people. Is that how you'd characterize yourself?"

Beware the Instant Judgment
Goal: Choose the best person for the job—not your new best friend.
It's human nature to base your opinion about a candidate on the gut feeling you develop during the first few minutes of the interview. To some extent, that tendency can be harnessed as a kind of intrinsic sixth sense. But have faith in the process as a whole. Many of the best employees might not make a great first impression, but their talent reveals itself more and more over time.
"When I've done training for interviewing, I've noticed that people fantasize about the concept of having a buzzer under the desk that you could push to say, 'No thank you,' But you need to think, before you hit that imaginary buzzer, why do you want to hit it? You have to suspend judgment and think about collecting data that will help you make a good decision in the end."
People want to hire people like themselves. "The key is reducing subjectivity and making the process more job related," Remember: you want to create a team with a true diversity of personalities, perspectives, and talents. That's crucial to keep in mind when biographical details related to hobbies, cultural tastes, and other outside pursuits come up. If you're too easily swayed by your shared passion for Harry Potter books or Beatles songs, you're not going to focus properly on concrete, practical information about aptitude and suitability.

I recommend that you take notice of the attitude a prospective employee shows in talking about his or her favorite pursuits, be they career, hobby, or something in between. How does the job they're seeking fit? Does their attitude change when the subject comes back to the job? For some, there is an even-keel attitude that traverses work and play. For others, work is a waiting game until it's time to clock out. For me I look for someone who has a vibrant, balanced life outside work but doesn't put a mental fence between work and play. "We can teach people to a large degree,but what you can't do is change a person."

Ask Plenty of Behavioral Questions
Keep the interview rooted in practical, job-related skills and information. Behavioral questions require candidates to give examples from their past experience and describe how they used specific skills that are relevant to the job. They're a great opportunity for candidates to demonstrate leadership or other desirable kinds of performance. An applicant may make statements like, "I deliver great customer service," but that's meaningless unless they can provide a concrete example showing how they walked the talk.
A good interviewer should be able to sift through the information a candidate provides to see what it really says about experience and ability. For example, anecdotes should show balance in a candidate's sense of his own importance. "A candidate shouldn't try to take all the credit for work done in a team," Instead, you want them to clearly identify what their role was and how they contributed to the team outcome." Dissecting the meaning of what's said will require close attention, so write down any responses that give you pause, as well as the good ones.
Tips
Sample Behavior-Based Questions
If you're looking for leadership: "Tell me about a time when you accomplished something significant that wouldn't have happened if you hadn't been there to make it happen."
If you're looking for communication: "Describe a situation where you persuaded team members to do things your way. What was the effect?"
If you're looking for customer service: "Tell me about a time when you had to deal with an irate customer."


Get candidates to think on their feet.
Although the majority of the interview should be practical, throwing a more abstract question with no right or wrong answer into the mix can shed light on a candidate's reasoning power, outlook, and comfort in negotiating ambiguity. Asked why the sky is blue, a strong candidate might pontificate about the science of climate and atmosphere or its more conceptual impact on people, culture, and art. "You want people who think differently from each other," Otherwise you'll end up with a group of very talented people who always come up with the same answer as each other." Such questions can also be a measure of attitude. If a candidate rolls her eyes and shrugs, she may balk at more important tasks, as well.