How on earth do you conduct an interview?! This is a common question for many career girls faced with finding their company’s next perfect new hire.
Becoming adept at interviewing and hiring new employees is not a process you become an expert at overnight. It is much more a process of trial and error, an art that you learn over time. As you interview and hire new employees along the course of your career, your interviewing style will evolve along with your professional identity. Like anything else, the more practice you get with interviewing, the better you will become.
Hiring a new employee is a fine balance of asking the right questions, listening to your intuition, and practiced analytical skill. Here’s how you do it:
Here’s how you do it:
1. Picking out candidates to interview:
Interview as many people as possible that you feel may fit the role after the initial resume look-over. The more people you interview, the more confident you will be in your final decision. Also, this way you have multiple options to go back to if your first choice in hire does not pan out. More data points to draw from in finding a good fit is always better! This article on How to Interview and Hire Top People Each and Every Time is a great resource on the importance of the selection process.
2. Flow of interview:
Begin by going over their resume. Clarify the reason behind any gaps in their employment history. If they are still currently employed, ask them why they are looking to move on. Go over each position on their resume to see how their experience may or may not contribute skills pertinent to your open position. Explain the position and the role they will play. Give them a good idea of the company they may soon be a part of.
3. Red Flags to watch out for:
Gaps in employment. Short employment periods (qualified as anything less than 6 months to a year). Speaking poorly about former employers.
4. Sample Interview Questions
What type of work environment do you function optimally in? For example, team based vs. individual. This allows you to see if their personality will be a good fit for your company.
What are your future goals? The answer to this question will tell you about the drive of your potential new hire, and also gives you an idea for how the role they are applying for will fit in with their future career plans and their potential long-term fit. You want to help them succeed, and in doing so your department will succeed. A happy employee is one who is able to realize their own goals in parallel with the ones you will be setting for them as a manager.
How long do you see yourself remaining in this position? This question will allow you to determine if they are looking to stay for only a little while or if they desire a long-term fit. Turn over is not desirable for any hiring manager, so you want somebody who plans on sticking around and dedicating themselves to their role. This is another way to gauge their desire to move up within the company. Are they ambitious and looking to get promoted immediately? Will they be happy in this role for a year or more? These are important questions to answer before bringing them on.
What about this role excites you the most? This allows their passion and personality to shine through. It’s a great way to encourage them to tell you what drives them, because you definitely want to hire someone who is passionate about the role rather than just settling because they need a job.
5. Qualities to look for
This is dependent on the role you are interviewing to fill, but some individual qualities will serve a company well no matter the function of the employee. Qualities of a strong candidate would be: driven, team-oriented, dedicated, goal-oriented, passionate, sharp problem-solver, ability to perform under pressure. These qualities indicate a well-balanced individual who will be able to excel in a dynamic work environment. Read 15 Traits Of The Ideal Employee to learn more.
You’ll be an interviewing pro in no time! Good luck, Career Girls!