Over the last few months we’ve been preparing ourselves for the interview by creating really relevant advertisements, keeping the candidate experience front of mind and shortlisting and screening in a way that reduces bias and increases the focus on who is best placed to achieve the results you are after. Now it’s time to prepare to meet them!
I’ve known Hiring Managers who are more nervous than the applicants themselves, we can address that, but for now let’s assume you have a level of confidence in this process that means we can just focus on putting together a great plan for your role.
In this Part 1 blog we’re going to cover a the following key topics:
✨ Planning the style of the interview
✨ Scheduling and confirming interviews
Interview planning, what’s the saying by Winston Churchill, “By failing to plan, you’re preparing to fail?” The same can be said about putting together an interview plan. There are many different styles you can consider using for the interview, I’m just going to focus on a few of my favourites and when you might use them.
One-on-One
You might use this style when you have a smaller organisation
✨ Pros:
It’s less intimidating for the candidate than a panel
You have more ability to let the conversation flow where it is led
✨ Cons:
There’s no one else around to give a second opinion or catch red flags you might have missed
If you let the conversation flow, you may miss asking some key questions
Panel Style
You might use this style when you have a larger organisation or other key users who this role will have to work closely with. You may also want to use it to ensure there’s a space for HR in the decision process.
✨ Pros:
You have a second or third opinion there to help you decide
You can plan your interview and it’s easier to stick to a set of questions
You can see how this person interacts with their future team members
✨ Cons:
It can be intimidating for the candidate, so you’ve got to leave room for nerves in your decision making
It can be more formal and therefore the candidate is less likely to get a sense of your personality or your team’s personality
Group Interview
You might use this when you need to recruit multiple roles that are more entry-level and where behaviours and getting along with others are key components of being successful in the role.
⭐ Pros:
✨ You can meet many candidates in a shorter period of time
✨ You can see the candidate’s interacting with each other easily
✨ You can hire multiple people from the same interview process
⭐ Cons:
✨ It can be very uncomfortable for an introvert to engage in this way
✨ You may not have as much room to go into skill-based questions
For the rest of this post, we are going to assume you’re taking a panel style approach. Now let’s book those interviews in!
Scheduling can be tricky when organising a panel interview. I recommend you create an interview schedule prior to calling and making the bookings ad hoc. This ensures that all the panel members are available and the interviews are being conducted at a time that suits your business. For this example, we’ll interview 3 people. With 3 candidates, I typically try to find 5 good times that work well for us so I can also give them options as well. So book in those times and the meeting space you plan to use if you need to.
Next you’ll call your 3 preferred candidates and book them according to your schedule plan. If none of the days and times work for the candidate, decide how flexible you want to be. Also consider how reasonable their request is - are they asking you to interview only after hours or on the weekend when you’re not meant to be working? If you say yes, are you comfortable with that type of request? Thinking about candidate experience, it’s important to be open to flexibility but always within reason.
What information should you include when confirming the interview and how do you follow up? I believe that you should send a confirmation to the candidate via email after the phone call. This just solidifies the information and ensures they have everything they need to be prepared.
Here are my suggestions about what to include when on the phone and/or via email:
✨ Date and time
✨ Location - maybe include a map or guide to parking
✨ Who will they be meeting with - the panel names and titles
✨ What to expect if it’s more than a standard interview
✨ Copy of the Position Description to help them prepare
✨ Anything else they might need to know
Being candidate focussed does take a little more time, but it’s worth it. Put yourselves in their shoes and think what would you want to know if you knew very little about this interview or company. Congratulations you’re nearly there!
In Part 2 we’re going to discuss drafting the perfect interview guide and prepping your interview panel, see you there!
I’ll be going into more detail around each of these topics in corresponding LinkedIn and Facebook posts so if you haven’t already add me to your likes or follows.
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