Hiring Manager Interview Tips & Tricks

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Hiring Manager Interview Tips & Tricks

Whether you are new to recruitment or a seasoned interviewer, job interviews may be difficult to navigate. Ultimately, you need to determine whether the candidate you are interviewing has the skills and expertise your company requires and if they would be a good addition to your team. Here is our advice on how you can best prepare for the interview process.

Don’t Drag Out the Recruitment Process

Great candidates don’t stay on the market for very long and having a slow recruitment process can lead to losing out on talented people. Delays during your recruitment process may lead to your competitors hiring your preferred candidate. It could also lead to the candidate losing interest in your opportunity.

Create a Structured Plan

Starting your interviews with a clear and structured plan is critical to finding the right person for your business. Your interview framework will help to ensure you move forward with the candidate that best meets the needs of your organisation. You can do this by considering two important factors:

Type of Interview 

Carefully decide what type of interview best suits your organisation and the candidate. Whilst face to face interviews are a vital part of the hiring process, you may want to consider the time-saving benefits of initially conducting group interviews or telephone screening when the number of applicants is high. Video interviews will also enable you to consider candidates that are not physically able to come in and met with you.

Interview Structure

Creating an interview schedule, and sticking to it, will ensure that you have planned enough time to cover all aspects of your interview processes whilst reducing the risk of delays. For example, many businesses have multiple stakeholders throughout their interviews, and one of the most common reasons delays happen is because these interviews are conducted days, or even weeks, apart. Using a single panel interview or booking out enough time for all interviews to be held in one afternoon can ensure you avoid these delays whilst not compromising the interview process.

Clearly identify the type of interview questions you plan to ask the candidate and ensure you provide an opportunity for them to ask questions of their own. If you are going to hold separate interviews, circulate this list around to avoid other stakeholders from asking the same questions, as a candidate may become disengaged if they are forced to repeat themselves. This will also enable you to review all aspects of the person's candidacy when you reconvene to compare notes.

Consider the Type of Interview Questions You Will Ask

Your choice of interview questions and techniques can greatly influence the information you will extract from your ideal candidate. Research has shown that structured behavioural interview questions are the most effective method of predicting future behaviour by analysing past performance and work. Find out more on behavioural interview questions here.

Listen Carefully & Take Notes

Pay attention to body language. What the interviewee doesn't say is often as important as what they do. Be mindful of your own non-verbal cues as being perceived as highly engaged will help the candidate feel at ease and interview better.

First impressions do count, however preparation and thorough note taking will ensure you cover every aspect of the candidate’s profile resulting in efficient decisionmaking. This will then enable you to quickly move through the feedback phase without unnecessary delays.

Post-Interview Protocol

A lack of communication after an interview can lead to your preferred candidate to become disinterested in your opportunity and potentially accepting another role. To avoid this, communicate clearly what the post-interview steps will be and therefore manage each others expectations.

Do your best to deliver on the agreed timeframes even if you do not have an update. Delays are sometimes unavoidable, however the best way to avoid any damage to your hiring process is to keep your candidates and recruiters updated every step of the way.

If you decide to progress to the employment contract stage, it is prudent to begin with a verbal offer before engaging your Legal or HR department. This allows both parties to consider the terms prior to a contract being drafted. 

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