Effective Interviewing

A Guide to Interviewing

Ever come across a situation where the wrong person has been recruited despite a seemingly great performance at interview? Often, the interviewer has been blinded by the technical skills, interview technique or similar personality of the candidate. Whilst skills and personality are important, over-focusing on them can result in a poor decision.

This short article will give you a basic guide that will help you get the information you need to make the right choice. Of course, this is very much a generic guide: each situation will require it to be tailored for best effect. 

Context - the more you understand what you are looking for, the easier it will be to see which candidate will best meet your needs. To do this, identify the essential competencies and behaviours/experiences required for the role, then identify desirable ones (you may want to further divide this category into ’desirable’ and ‘highly desirable’ for complex roles). A common mistake here is to list too many essentials which, of course, limits the potential number of applicants.

Think about who should do the interview, how many interviewers should be present and how the questions will be split. It is useful to have at least 2 so that the non-speaking interviewer can take notes. More than one interview is usually required for key roles, so think also about how, when and by whom subsequent interviews will be conducted. Take care not to prejudice subsequent interviewers by giving them too much information about your opinion. However, it is helpful to pass on issues for further investigation, e.g. if the candidate mentions a technical skill which may be helpful but which you are unqualified to evaluate, ask a subsequent, qualified interviewer to examine in more depth.

Preparation - ensure basic preparations are in place, e.g. room booked, phones off, water available, etc. Have someone meet the candidate and escort him/her to a waiting area. When you are ready to begin, one of the interviewers should go to pick up the candidate and spend a couple of minutes welcoming him/her and explaining how the interview will be conducted. On arrival at the interview room, make introductions and invite the candidate to sit.

Initial Phase - many people get nervous at interview. Putting them at ease will help them to give fuller answers to questions and thus enable you to better understand their abilities. Of course, it may be that you want to test for reaction to pressure and hostile questions, but that is normally better done later in the interview in any case.

To get them talking, start by asking questions about their background, etc., i.e. questions they definitely know the answers to. Open questions are obviously helpful here. Then, move on to the cover letter and CV. The aim here is to clarify any questions about what they have written and to verify the accuracy of their claims. It is a sad fact that some people are ‘economical with the truth’ when writing these documents; this is your opportunity to test their veracity. Take care not to do so in an accusatory manner.

Main Phase - you are now in a position to get to the core of the interview. The key principle here is to ask questions that directly relate to the essential criteria you previously identified. A very simple, memorable and practical framework to use is STAR:

Situation - “Can you tell me about a time when you had to....?” The remainder of the question is linked to the essential criteria. Try to elicit the context in which it occurred, for how long the situation persisted, etc. to get a good picture.

Task - “What, specifically, were your responsibilities in this situation?” Amplify this by asking if there was a team/mentor to help, what if any training had been given beforehand, any additional resources available? etc.

Actions - “What did you do?” Ask him/her to elaborate on thought processes, challenges to be overcome, other opportunities that arose, how he/she took action, etc.

Results - “What were the outcomes?” You may also want to ask about the wider implications of the outcomes to evaluate strategic thinking skills.

A great follow-on question is “What did you learn through this situation?” or “What mistakes did you make?” Questions like this will give an indication of honesty and self-awareness. Asking “What would you do differently next time?” will give an indication of critical thinking skills. 

Repeat the above process with similar types of questions for each of the criteria you need to assess. If the interview starts to wander, regain focus by going back to the STAR framework. Think also about your team/organisational culture, e.g. you may want to ask how they handle inter-personal conflict, what influencing skills they use, etc.

Mandatory Questions - if you need to ask mandatory questions, e.g. about criminal records, this is the best time to do so. Use a prepared script approved by HR which requires a ‘yes’ of ‘no’ answer to each question. Explain it is a requirement to ask these questions of all candidates and the interviewee should not therefore read anything negative into the fact they are being raised.

Conclusion - check with your fellow interviewers for any further questions and once complete ask the candidate if he/she has any questions for you. Remember that the interview is a 2-way process: the candidates are checking you out at the same time. It is particularly important to remember this in times of high employment where skilled individuals are harder to find.

Thank him/her for coming and give a date by which they will hear from you.

Post-Interview - capture the interviewers’ initial thoughts quickly and summarise in writing. File as required and ensure any pertinent information is forwarded to subsequent interviewers. Thereafter, and as soon as possible, conduct a ‘lessons learnt’ debrief to discuss what went well and where there is room for improvement.

On completion of multiple interviews, gather all the interviewers together and discuss their findings. A scoring system may help crystallize the discussion if no candidate clearly stands out. Again, ensure any lessons learnt are captured and acted upon.

As an aside, many companies find it helpful to conduct DiSC, TSDI, Belbin or other psychometric/behavioural analysis of candidates to ensure diversity within a team. Whilst such tools can be of much help, it is important to remember that they assess motivations and behaviours, not competence.

Whilst there is obviously a lot more to interviewing, I trust this article will help you gain more clarity when assessing candidates against your requirements.

If you would like further information or advice, please contact me at Aspire Management Consultancy Ltd.

Ian Kirkby