In the modern and highly competitive, candidate-driven job market, it is more critical than ever for a company to evaluate and refine their interview process. This includes the experience your candidates have when interviewing.
Remember, it’s not all about you. If you’re a hiring manager or decision maker in the interview process, YOU play a crucial role in creating a remarkable experience for each candidate. By doing so, you will be able to recruit better quality candidates and promote your company’s overall employer brand.
As a hiring manager, or decision maker, it’s imperative you bring your A-game to the interview room. You have to remember that you will not be the only decision maker in the room. The candidate can as easily turn YOU down as you can turn them down. If you’re doing the interviewing, you are the candidate’s first real impression of the organization you represent. Good candidate or not, you want them to leave your office with a favorable opinion of your organization. That’s precisely why we created these 8 simple steps to follow to ensure you don’t lead a lackluster interview ever again:
• Be on time! The candidate has taken time out of their demanding work schedule to interview with you. Respect your candidate’s (theoretical) punctuality and show that same respect. Your candidate may only have a specific amount of time to devote to an interview, especially if they need to return to work following your meeting. Cutting down an interview by 20 minutes is significant, especially if it’s something you can contribute to. You’ll likely need to rush to cover every element of the interview – and may likely show that angst to the candidate, which in turn might make your candidate feel that you’re attempting to rush them out the door … never a good sign.
• Greet with a genuine and inviting welcome. YOU and your team have extended an invitation for the person to come to you – and they just might be the next game-changing employee to join your company. It may sound simple, but greet him/her with a smile, a handshake, and then offer them a non-alcoholic beverage. You might think I’m crazy for even suggesting that the beverage should be non-alcoholic, but I was once offered a beer upon arrival to an interview, which made me wonder if it was a part of the company’s Mission, Vision, and Values they wanted me to experience during the interview (or if it was some sort of strange test to see if I would drink on the job). Regardless, envision your place of employment is your home: you are the homeowner and your interviewee is your guest of honor who has never had the opportunity to be “hosted” by you. It’s natural for your guest to be a bit nervous to walk into your home. A warm welcome is a great place to start to make your candidate feel immediately at home.
• Completely unplug. Never ever (I repeat … EVER!) use your cell phone, or any form of technology, during an interview! Your attention should be fully devoted to your guest, NOT to your iPhone. In my past life, I worked with a hiring manager who had an unapologetic, patterned history of cell phone use in interviews. Believe me, it did not send a positive message to the candidates. An interview is meant to be an engaging experience for both parties because it is your opportunity to see if there is a potentially mutually beneficial relationship to come. Use this time wisely and be fully present. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule. My former colleague once interviewed with a woman who greeted her and quickly shared how her daughter was expecting any day, so the interviewer let her know that she would have her cell phone on during the interview in case she received that all-important call. My colleague certainly appreciated her heads up but completely understood the circumstances and didn’t think twice about her cell phone’s presence. You have to remember we’re all human beings, treating each other like one goes a long way in an interview.
• Check your workday at the door. It’s no secret that most of our work lives involve heavily calendared schedules, which carry varying degree of stress and angst with our competing deadlines (and our all-around desire to win). But, do you and your interviewee a favor: check this angst at the door. There is nothing worse than an interviewer storming into an interview like a tornado carrying all of the day’s stressors on their shoulders, all in plain sight for their interviewee to see. Yes – you might be in a position of stress because you might be down a team member (hence why you are interviewing this person in the first place), but it certainly isn’t necessary to use this time to complain and vent about all of the things that are going wrong in your department, or at your company as a whole. (You’re trying to sell them on the company, not scare them away.) Instead, use the time to calmly share a realistic view of what this person’s life might be like in this role, what challenges the department is currently facing, what challenges this person might face if given the opportunity, and then find out if/how this candidate might be able to make an impact in the role.
• Do your research and prepare. If you already had a phone interview with that candidate, be sure to review the notes that you took during your initial conversation. You’ll want to strategize the specific topics that you’d like to dive deeper into, and brainstorm creative ways in which you can “sell” this opportunity and make the interview more personal. In this tight job market, it is critical that we show our interest in candidates when they walk through the door, especially for passive candidates who weren’t even job searching in the first place. During your phone interview, did they mention how they were preparing to leave for a long weekend at the beach? Ask them about their trip! Also, be sure to check out their LinkedIn profile and see if there are any links between you and the candidate. Maybe you went to the same college or high school. Or, maybe you are connected to that person’s former manager. In that case, reach out to him/her and get their take. If their feedback is positive, be sure to share that information in the interview. Acknowledging the degree of separation can make the candidate instantly comfortable if their interviewer knows people in their network whom they trust.
• Work with your recruiting partners to create customized interview materials that you consistently use. Be prepared with questions that you ask of each candidate, it is a great way to keep the interview process fluid and consistent. Last year, I attended LinkedIn’s Talent Connect Conference in San Francisco, CA (truly an amazing experience for any recruiting geek like me), and Google’s SVP of People Operations, Laszlo Bock, was one of the featured presenters. He explained how Google looks at the interview process as if it is a scientific experiment, so you want the experiment to be completely identical during each trial in order to produce a fair and accurate outcome – AKA the best hire. Pretty logical, right? Google does this by providing each hiring manager with interview packets, which include a list of critical questions that are tailored to a specific position. But, if a hiring manager asks questions outside of this packet, their feedback is completely thrown-out and they no longer have a stake in that candidate’s interview, no matter their status at Google. Replicate the Google way, and work with your recruiting partners to create interview tools at the start of any candidate search.
• Ensure that each candidate walks away with a positive experience, no matter if they are a fit for the job or not. Let’s be honest – we have all had those not-so-great interviews where candidates have raised some major red flags with rude or inappropriate behavior. But, regardless of their behavior and that candidate’s “fit factor” in the job, or at the company as a whole, it is critical that every candidate walks away with a favorable opinion of your company. Each person has a powerful network – and the inappropriate candidate’s network might be chockfull of awesome professionals that you want to talk to. You shouldn’t only think of your internal employees as “brand ambassadors” – your prospective employees have a stake in being brand ambassadors as well. Bite your tongue and don’t berate them; instead, skim over any questionable comments brought about by the candidate and ensure that they walk away with a good taste in their mouth about their experience.
• Show off your “second home.” Offering a candidate an office tour is a great way for that person to envision themselves at your company. I personally look at my place of work as my home away from home, so by walking your candidate around your second home, you’re giving them an opportunity to see the environment and feel the energy that permeates through those walls. When I first interviewed for my position at entreQuest, I instantly felt that energy when I walked around the space, which made me walk away with all of the hope in the world that I might return and be given the opportunity to join the eQ team.
If you follow these 8 steps I guarantee you’ll have a much more productive and constructive interview than you’re used to having. If you already follow some of these steps, make an effort to work the others in to your routine. The good candidates will always notice when you go above and beyond for them. At eQ, we try and make every experience remarkable, and we believe you should too.
Get out there and Grow Regardless, and be sure to check back in on our blog for plenty of great information and advice.
