7 Keys to a Standout Interview Process

Identifying, attracting and hiring the best available talent. Easy to say, hard to do for companies of any size, especially in today’s white-hot job market. As a hiring manager, you can gain an edge over other firms by having a well-defined, thought-out and – perhaps most importantly – highly efficient interview process. You would be surprised how many companies struggle with this. But, if you can craft an efficient interview process, it will help you win the battle for the best talent. Here’s how:

1.      Make your interview process a priority. Before you start recruiting for a role, outline your interview process. List the interviewers involved in each step and make sure each is on board with participating. Ask yourself if each step and interviewer is necessary. Also, know what skills, experience and personal qualities are most important to you in the hire and make sure everyone on the team is evaluating candidates for these criteria.

Pro Tip: Develop a scorecard to help yourself and other interviewers grade and rank candidates.

2.      Make the process concise. The most common interview processes include a phone interview, followed by two rounds of in-person meetings. Some companies condense the process to one round of in-person interviews. While this shortens the process, it can have a downside. Candidates often like to reflect on an opportunity after a first meeting and usually have more opportunity to assess fit and ask questions if they are brought back a second time. Sometimes a one-round process can feel rushed for the candidate. Lastly, a one-round interview is often longer (a half or full day) and makes it tougher for a candidate to break away from his or her current job.

Pro tip: Tell candidates up front what the steps are in your interview process and when you expect to make a decision on the hire. Ask if it aligns with their timeline in evaluating other opportunities they’re considering.

3.      Be flexible with your time. Most candidates you’ll interview are already employed. Setting up an in-person interview can be a challenge for them. Consider coming in early or staying late in order to meet candidates. They will appreciate your flexibility and that will reflect well on you and your company's employer brand. Before starting the interview process, see if the other interviewers are willing to be flexible with their schedules, too. A company’s unwillingness to schedule early or late interviews sends a subtle message to the candidate that the interview process (and the position itself) is really not that important.

4.      Don't miss phone interviews. You are busy. And probably over-scheduled. But so is everyone else. A hiring manager missing a phone interview is, sadly, not an uncommon occurrence. While most candidates understand when this happens, it still reflects poorly on you and your employer brand. It also sends the message that, hey, filling this role is not that important. So, do whatever you can not to miss scheduled calls with candidates!

Pro tip: Consider setting up a dial-in conference line for phone interviews. Sometimes meetings run over, cell phones don’t ring on occasion, etc., so a conference line can avoid that pitfall.

5.      Don’t insist on interviewing several candidates before making a decision on a candidate. Of course, you’d like to have a bevy of strong candidates to choose from when making a hire. In reality, however, having two or three great finalists is a rare occurrence. Waiting until you’ve talked with several candidates before moving anyone forward can extend your time-to-hire significantly, especially if the open position is niche, does not have a deep candidate pool, or if your employer brand is not well known.

Pro tip: Don’t tell candidates you need to interview more people before you make a decision. It’s a turn off. And, the first or second candidate you interview could be "the one". Don’t lose out on them by delaying a decision just to see who else is out there.

6.      Streamline. After you’ve had a couple candidates complete your process, review it and see if it is working as planned. Is it taking a week or more to move people from the phone screen to an in-person interview? If so, you may need to get with your scheduler, or, if you are the scheduler, lean harder on the interview team (or the candidates!) to get things to move faster. Fix these and any other issues early in the process so you can maintain a positive interview experience for candidates.

Pro tip: The smoother your interview process runs, the more interested candidates will be in working for you.

7.      Provide candidates with timely updates/feedback and set expectations. When you wrap up an interview, tell the candidate what next steps are and when you will be back in touch. And then be sure to follow through on that plan. Candidates really appreciate open communication and it will reflect well on your employer brand, even if you are following up to tell them you are not hiring them. Again, everyone is busy, but closing the loop with someone is a definite best practice. (And, if you make a habit of not closing out candidates, it is likely to tarnish your employer brand.)

So there you have it. A buttoned-up interview process has many benefits. You will shorten time-to-hire, enhance your employer brand, and help ensure you are not losing out on candidates due to diminished interest or other offers. Happy hiring!