The Art of Conducting Job Interviews

Filed in archive Human Resources on January 17, 2007

Hiring the right people for the right job, for the right reasons is always a challenge because our own beliefs, behaviors, and actions can get in the way. The key is to be prepared...

"The art of interviewing is and always has been highly underrated. Many people can ask good questions, but those aren't always as specific to the position as they could be. For example, if you are hiring an accountant, there are questions designed specifically for determining whether a person is capable of offering what an employer needs. By knowing the position requires conscientious behavior and discourages spontaneity, interviewers can design and ask more-targeted and appropriate lines of inquiry, such as: Describe what you've done in the past to make your job easier, or Explain the types of circumstances in which you have felt it necessary to overlook some policies or procedures because they got in the way of reaching a goal. The responses to such inquiries can help uncover whether a person believes that rules can be interpreted loosely." by Jim Sirbasku; USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Vol. 130, January 2002

Preparing to Interview a Candidate

1) Review the job description and behavioral standards required for the job before the interview.

2) Create a set of questions based on the job standards to probe and uncover the candidates past behavior.

3) Do not use leading questions that hint at the answer you are looking for.

4) Put some gentle but firm pressure on the candidate by firing your questions one after the other to get a sense of how they will handle themselves under pressure.

5) Remember, you are there to interview the candidate, not interrogate or have a conversation. Leave the conversation for after the interview or subsequent meetings.

6) Remember, the job interview will always find your candidate at their best. If you do not like what you see and hear chances are it will not improve much once they are hired.