7 Tips That'll Make You Better at Conducting Job Interviews

Conducting a job interview is no easy task. You have a small window of time to get to know a candidate, their personality, work experience, motivations, and so much more. In this article we will share 7 job interview tips to help you become an expert at conducting job interviews.

7 Job Interview Tips

1. Read each CV

You would think reading each candidate's CV would go without saying, but you’d be surprised by the amount of recruiters who don’t take the time to study every candidate's CV in detail. It may be a very time consuming process, but it’s important that you take time to spend more than 5 minutes with each CV. Candidates’ have taken the time to prepare and show-up for the interview and it comes across as very unprofessional if you haven’t done the same.

2. Make a list of questions

For each interview, you should have a related set of questions prepared in advance. You can’t just use the same generic questions over and over because they should be tailored to fit the applicant's profile as well as the open position. Don’t have time to research new questions? Check out our list of the 101 best interview questions that every recruiter should know.

3. Don’t be late

When a candidate shows up for an interview, you’re likely in the middle of a busy day at work. You might be tempted to push the interview back by 15 minutes so you can catch up on some work. However the candidate likely showed up early and is nervously awaiting your arrival in the lobby. The longer they have to wait for you, the less they feel respected and the less likely they are to take your offer seriously.

4. Ask different types of questions

In the interview, you’ll need to find out different aspects of the candidate’s profile, such as their personality, work experience, future goals, working style, and more. In order to find out all of this information, you’ll need to ask different types of questions. Make sure you consider this while compiling your list of questions for the interview.

5. Explain how the interview process will work

A small step that can make all the difference to the candidate is explaining to them how the interview process will work. Let them know how many steps there are (phone interview, in-person interview, case study, test work day, etc.) and what the timeline will look like. Candidates are often left in the dark about what the next steps will be, leading to a negative candidate experience.

6. Give them time to ask questions

Just as you have your list of questions, the candidate also has a list of questions they would like to ask. Make sure you give them ample time to ask questions and even encourage them if they say that they have nothing to ask. It’s crucial that they are able to figure out if you are the right employer so that they are not unhappy in their potential future position.

7. Ask your colleagues for their impressions

The candidate will most likely have some interaction with other employees, from chatting with someone in the elevator to interacting with the secretary at the front desk. If you have a chance, ask your colleagues for their first impression of the candidate. Were they friendly? Did they make an effort to get to know others in the office? These are all good tells of what they would actually be like in the office.

Check out our page "The Ultimate Guide to Job Interviews" to find further resources on the topic of job interviews.

Would you like to learn more about job interviews and the recruiting process? We will gladly show you further best practice examples and concrete implementation in the Talention software. You can request a demo here and someone will get in touch with you shortly. Request a demo now.