Interview Effectively

Most executive have never been taught how to properly interview people for a position. Fortunately, the most effective interviewing process is quite simple, as long as you can discipline yourself to learn it and then to follow it each time. Make a brief checklist that you interview before speaking to a job candidate for the first time.

The first questions are aimed at getting information about the work experience of the candidate as it applies to the job under consideration. Then as questions to ascertain the skill level aspirations are with regard to this job and your company. Finally, you want to know about his or her work habits and attitude toward this job and toward his or her future.

Start the interview by putting the candidate at ease and helping him or her to relax. Tell the candidate that this is just an “exploratory interview” and that your mutual goal is to see if what you are offering and what the candidate is looking for are the same thing.

Here is another rule: “Don’t start selling until you have decided to buy.” In other words, resist the temptation to begin the interview by telling the candidate what a great job is being offered and what a great company you have before you have concluded that this is the kind of person you want to hire in the first place.

The key to good interviewing is for you to ask good questions and then listen carefully and patiently to the answers. Pause before replying. Allow silences in the conversation. Question for clarification, ask, “What do you mean?” regularly.

Never assume that you know or understand what is said until you have checked to be sure. Use open-ended questions that begin with the words who, how, why, when, where, and what to elicit as much information as possible. Remember that the person who asks questions has control of the interview. Be sure that it is you. The more a person talk, the better feeling you will get about whether or not he or she is a good candidate for the job. And you learn only when you are listening. You don’t learn anything when you are talking about yourself, the company, or the job.

There is a simple formula you can use in an interview. It is called the “Swan formula” and it comes from executive recruiter John Swan. It is based on the letters S-W-A-N. These stand for the four ingredients you are looking for: Smart, Work Hard, Ambitious, and Nice.

Here are some other qualities to look for in the interview. First of all, look for achievement or results orientation. When you ask questions, listen for examples from the person’s background where he or she has really enjoyed succeeding and getting results at a previous job. The only real predictor of future performance is past performance. Probe this area carefully and demand specific, not generalities: “What exactly did you do and what results did you get?”

Second, listen for intelligent questions. As mentioned above, one of the hallmarks of intelligence is curiosity. One of the hallmarks of curiosity is that a good candidate will have a series of questions, usually written out, that he or she wants to ask about you, the company, the job, opportunities for the future, and so on. Ask, “What questions do you have about the company or job?”

Third, look for a sense of urgency. A good question you can ask to test for a sense of urgency is, “If we were to offer you this job, how soon would you be prepared to start?” Even if you are not ready to make a hiring decision, this question often reveals a lot about the candidate. The right candidate will want to start as soon as possible. The wrong candidate will have all kinds of reasons for delaying a decision or delaying leaving a current employer. The worst candidate of all are usually those who want to take a vacation before they begin working for you.

Remember, fast personal decisions are almost invariably wrong personal decisions. Proceed slowly. Be patient. Ask good questions and listen carefully to the answers. Take notes when the person talks. Ask questions to get more information about the highest priority items in your job description. Ask how the candidates feel he or she would perform in those areas.

Only when you have reached the conclusion that this is the kind of person you would like to hire should you tell him or her more details about the company and the job. Start selling only when you have decided to buy.

Ref:

Hire and keep the best people, Brian Tracy, 2002