All companies hope to attract the best candidates, but it’s no good having an excellent advert that generates huge candidate interest if hopeful applicants arrive for their interviews and you are unprepared, unprofessional and unappealing. Interviews are an excellent opportunity to sell your business to potential employees and also give you the opportunity to assess how an individual can contribute to your company.
Before any interviews take place, you must attract suitable candidates to the vacancy. For graduate positions you might decide to place an external advertisement but for more senior positions you will face greater competition for suitable candidates, which is where the support of a consultancy can be a great help, matching your job specification with a suitable selection of candidates.
You can use a job specification, detailing the essential functions of the job along with skills, knowledge and core competencies needed for the role, not only for producing an appropriate advert or for briefing a recruitment agency, but also for structuring your interview questions.
If you do turn to an agency, emphasise the benefits of working for your company and supply them with a comprehensive summary of job responsibilities and candidate competencies. They can then deal with sourcing the right candidates for you.
Preparation
Before interviewing candidates, ensure that you prepare thoroughly. Examine all criteria required by applicants and consider which should have the highest priority. By asking all the candidates standardised questions you will gather comparable data to help with your hiring decision and planning your interview questions around your job description will give you a framework to follow that focuses on relevant criteria.
Consider whether you want your interview to be relaxed and informal or have a more controlled feel. All candidates will undoubtedly feel anxious before an interview, so breaking the ice with an appropriate amount of informal ‘chat’ helps to build a comfortable environment. Allocate plenty of time for a detailed interview and make sure you are not interrupted, as this will help both you and the candidate to focus the interview itself. Gather information about the company together for the candidate to take away with them.
The interview process
You are representing your organisation throughout the interview so it is vital that you create a professional image, dressing appropriately and making sure you are well groomed. Think about your body language - smiling and offering eye contact.
Explain the structure of the interview to the candidate and encourage them to ask questions about the job. Describe the position realistically with typical daily duties and do not over-sell the role. Be open and honest in describing the challenges that will face the person if they take the position, as the right candidate will be the one who can handle the positives as well as the negatives.
When you meet someone for the first time you subconsciously decide within a few seconds whether you like them or not, but you must make every effort to prevent this from affecting your judgement of a candidate’s suitability for a particular role. While you might be aware of your gut reaction, don’t allow it to rule your decision- making process. Make sure you hire a candidate on the basis of information generated in their answers.
Begin your questioning with something open such as, “Tell me about yourself,” and then obtain further information using more specific questions, for example, “Can you elaborate further on that particular area of responsibility?” Be aware of the candidate’s body language as well as their answers to questions - maintained eye contact, head tilting and nodding are positive and show interest - folded arms and poor eye contact show lack of interest.
For a greater focus on engineering ability you will need to ask more probing questions relating to how well the candidate is suited to a particular engineering role. Try specifics such as:
- Give me an example of when your engineering knowledge was tested while addressing a problem.
- Describe a time that you defined a problem using your ability to think analytically.
- Think of a time that you made a mistake on a job at a client site. What did you learn as a result of this?
- Describe a typical day in your most recent/current position.
Behavioural techniques encourage candidates to talk about their past experiences by demonstrating previous application of skills. These kinds of questions can often be difficult for candidates to answer so be prepared initially for an ambiguous response. By de-emphasising the importance of information that might reflect negatively upon a candidate, you will encourage them to talk more and you’ll therefore learn more about that individual. Don’t be afraid of silences as although they can feel awkward, they also encourage conversation.
At the end of each interview, let candidates know what the next stage will be and when you expect to be able to make a hiring decision. Get their permission to check references and academic qualifications before thanking them for their time. As soon as they have left, review your notes while they are still fresh in your mind.
Notify all unsuccessful candidates with a phone call or a letter telling them the decision. At this stage recruitment agencies can act as mediator between you and the candidate to provide feedback, but be prepared for candidates to follow up and call you to find out how they can improve for their next interview. Use this to help them in their development and wish them success in their job search.
Avoid asking questions that could be perceived as discriminatory, such as how old the candidate is, whether they have a criminal record, or questions relating to race, gender or sexuality. It is also advisable not to ask questions about faith/religion, credit history/financial situation, pregnancy, childcare arrangements or medical history.
Finally, don’t throw your notes away, as complaints from unsuccessful candidates might be filed years after the interview has take place. Retain detailed documentation of all interviews you carry out for at least three years as they may be your only way of reconstructing the meeting and remembering the factors that led to your hiring decision.
