When you’re bringing on new team members, the process can take a lot of time and effort for all involved. But finding the right fit is essential in maintaining the culture and ensuring smooth operations. Your efforts might include creating and posting job descriptions, reviewing applications, and scheduling and conducting interviews.
The final aspect of the process (prior to extending an offer) involves interacting with the top applicants and learning more about them in ways that aren’t as easy to demonstrate on a resume. However, if you’re conducting interviews for remote positions or with a remote hiring team, a video-based effort is going to be the best option. Explore our guide to improving video interviews to streamline this aspect of your hiring process.
The Benefits of Video Interviews
Video interviews come with a lot of advantages over in-person meetings for both employers and potential new hires. These include:
Flexibility: It’s easier to schedule an interview at a time that works for everyone when the only required effort is logging onto a video conferencing platform.
Cost-effectiveness: If you have candidates applying from different locations, a video interview eliminates the need for travel costs
Efficiency: Your team can conduct multiple interviews, often back to back, when meeting on video rather than in person.
Better candidate experience: Meeting with a panel of individuals can feel overwhelming for candidates. A video interview often provides a more relaxed environment.
Consistency: Your company can ensure a more consistent experience for every candidate who is selected for an interview. It’s also easier to comply with hiring laws if you pre-record the questions and avoid anything that could cause problems.
Challenges Associated with Video Interviews
Although video interviews do come with the benefits outlined above (and then some), they can also bring challenges. A video interview might feel less personal than an in-person interaction, which could make it more challenging to assess the candidate’s cultural fit or build a relationship. Subtle expressions and body language are also harder to detect on video.
Candidates could also face distractions in different environments. Background noise, pets, or people could make it difficult for them to focus. Some people also feel uncomfortable on camera, and members of older generations might not be able to navigate the platform as easily.
Technical difficulties are ever-present when using any type of technology. If the video platform doesn’t load properly or the candidate’s internet connection is slow, you may not be able to complete the process.
5 Steps to Improve Video Interviewing
Here are five steps to help improve the video interview process and enhance the way your company handles this process.
1. Choose the Right Technology
Use a professional video conferencing tool (e.g., Zoom, Microsoft Teams) that offers features like recording, scheduling, and screen sharing. Test the platform in advance to ensure that both interviewers and candidates have access to the platform and avoid technical glitches. It’s also helpful to share step-by-step guides or tutorials with candidates on how to use the platform, including troubleshooting tips.
2. Create a Professional and Consistent Experience
Standardize the process with structured interview questions to ensure consistency and fairness across all candidates. Encourage interviewers to use professional, well-lit, and distraction-free environments. Share similar tips with candidates to help them prepare. Even in a virtual setting, maintaining a professional appearance sets the tone for the interview.
3. Train Interviewers
Teach interviewers how to assess candidates effectively in a virtual setting, including reading non-verbal cues and managing technical issues. Encourage interviewers to make eye contact with the camera, smile, and actively listen to create a more personal connection. Make sure to include training on how to minimize biases related to video quality, backgrounds, or candidate comfort with technology.
4. Focus On the Candidate Experience
Provide candidates with all necessary details, including the interview format, platform link, and any preparation materials. Be accommodating with scheduling, especially for candidates in different time zones or with limited access to technology. Maintain a positive impression of your company by keeping candidates informed about next steps and timelines.
5. Leverage Technology for Insights
Use recordings to allow multiple stakeholders to review interviews, ensuring a collaborative and fair decision-making process. Some platforms offer AI-driven insights, like sentiment analysis or keyword tracking, to help assess candidate responses objectively. After the interview, ask candidates and interviewers for feedback on the process to identify areas for improvement.
ApplicantStack Streamlines Hiring
With ApplicantStack, a proven hiring platform, you can streamline your recruiting efforts and get in front of top talent. This applicant-tracking system is designed for businesses of all sizes to build their teams and standardize the process all around. You can also utilize advanced communication tools, including texting candidates to reach them where they are and increase engagement and responses.
When someone walks out your office door for the last time, they’re taking valuable insights with them. The question is: will you capture those insights before they’re gone forever? An exit interview represents one of the most underutilized opportunities in business. Done right, it can reveal blind spots in your management, uncover systemic issues, and help you retain future talent.
This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about exit interviews, from understanding their true purpose to crafting questions that encourage honest, actionable feedback.
What Is an Exit Interview?
An exit interview is a structured conversation between an employer and an employee who’s leaving the organization. It typically happens during the employee’s final days or weeks on the job.
Exit interviews can take several forms:
Face-to-face meetings with HR or a manager
Phone calls conducted by an external party
Online surveys or questionnaires
A combination of written and verbal formats
The format matters less than the approach. What counts is creating an environment where departing employees feel comfortable sharing honest feedback.
Why Exit Interviews Matter More Than You Think
Most companies treat exit interviews like a formality. They ask a few generic questions, nod politely, and file the responses away. That’s a missed opportunity.
Here’s why exit interviews deserve your attention:
They reveal hidden problems: Current employees often hesitate to speak up about workplace issues. They worry about retaliation, career impact, or being labeled as complainers. Departing employees have less to lose and more to gain by being honest.
They provide competitive intelligence: When employees leave for competitors, they can offer insights into what other companies are doing better. Maybe they’re offering better benefits, more flexible work arrangements, or clearer advancement paths. This information helps you stay competitive in the talent market. You can’t match every offer, but you can identify patterns and address systemic disadvantages.
They validate or challenge assumptions: Leadership teams often operate with assumptions about what employees value most. Exit interviews test these assumptions against reality. You might assume people leave for more money, only to discover they’re actually leaving because of poor work-life balance or lack of recognition. These insights can reshape your retention strategy.
They demonstrate that you care: Even when an employee is leaving, how you handle their departure affects your reputation. A thoughtful exit interview shows you value feedback and are committed to improvement.
Essential Exit Interview Questions to Ask
The key to effective exit interviews is asking the right questions in the right way. Here are the questions that tend to generate the most valuable insights:
Understanding the Departure Decision
What initially prompted you to start looking for other opportunities?
Was there a specific moment or event that solidified your decision to leave?
What could we have done differently to retain you?
Evaluating the Work Environment
How would you describe the culture of your team/department?
Did you feel your contributions were recognized and valued?
How would you rate the communication within your team and with leadership?
Assessing Management and Leadership
What did your manager do well, and what could they have done better?
Did you feel comfortable approaching your manager with concerns or ideas?
How would you describe the decision-making process in your role/team?
What skills did you want to develop that you couldn’t develop here?
How did you envision your career progressing if you had stayed?
Understanding Job Satisfaction
What aspects of your job did you enjoy most?
What parts of your role were most frustrating or challenging?
How manageable was your workload?
Gathering Improvement Suggestions
What would you change about this organization if you could?
Would you recommend this company as a place to work? Why or why not?
If you were in charge of improving employee retention, what would be your top three priorities?
How to Conduct Exit Interviews Effectively
Having good questions is only part of the equation. How you conduct the interview matters just as much. These considerations can help ensure that you’re making the most of the opportunity.
Time it Properly
Schedule the exit interview during the employee’s final week, but not on their last day. They should have enough distance to be reflective, but not so much that they’re checked out.
Provide advance notice about the interview and share some of the questions beforehand to allow them to think about their responses.
Choose the Right Interviewer
The interviewer shouldn’t be the departing employee’s direct manager, as this creates too much potential for conflict or discomfort. Options include:
HR representatives
Senior leaders from other departments
External consultants or services
The key is choosing someone who can remain neutral and professional.
Create a Safe Environment
Start by explaining the purpose of the interview and how the feedback will be used. Assure them that their responses will be kept confidential and won’t affect their reference or final employment records.
Be genuinely curious, not defensive. When they share criticism, respond with questions like “Can you give me an example?” or “What would improvement look like?” rather than explanations or justifications.
Document and Follow Up
Take detailed notes during the interview. Some companies also provide a summary to the departing employee to ensure accuracy.
Most importantly, act on the feedback. If multiple people mention the same issue, it’s probably worth addressing. Share anonymous insights with relevant managers and track what changes you make as a result.
Making it about you: Don’t use the exit interview to defend your company or convince the person to stay. That ship has sailed. Your job is to listen and learn.
Asking leading questions: Examples like “You didn’t leave because of your manager, did you?” suggest the answer you want to hear. Stick to neutral, open-ended questions.
Focusing only on negatives: While it’s important to understand problems, don’t forget to ask what’s working well. This helps you preserve positive aspects of the employee experience.
Failing to follow up: If you don’t act on feedback, employees will notice. Word spreads quickly when exit interviews are just for show.
Waiting too long: Don’t wait until someone’s mentally checked out to have this conversation. By then, they may not be willing to invest the time and energy needed for meaningful feedback.
Turning Feedback Into Action
The best exit interview in the world isn’t worth much if you don’t act on the insights. Here’s how to turn feedback into meaningful change.
Look for Patterns
One person’s complaint might be an isolated issue. Three people mentioning the same problem suggests a systemic issue worth addressing.
Prioritize Based on Impact
Not all feedback is equally important. Focus on issues that affect retention, productivity, or employee satisfaction broadly.
Communicate Changes
When you make changes based on exit interview feedback, let your team know. This shows that you take feedback seriously and are committed to improvement.
Track Results
Monitor key metrics like turnover rates, employee satisfaction scores, and retention by department. This helps you understand if your changes are working.
Making Exit Interviews Part of Your Culture
Exit interviews shouldn’t be an afterthought. They should be part of a broader commitment to continuous improvement and employee feedback. Also, sharing insights from exit interviews (without identifying individuals) with your management team helps managers understand common issues and improve their approach.
Remember, the goal isn’t to prevent all turnover. Some departures are inevitable and even healthy. The goal is to understand why people leave and make improvements that benefit everyone who stays. Your next departing employee is sitting on information that could transform your workplace. The question is: are you ready to listen?
The journey toward hiring excellence begins long before a candidate steps into the interview room, and it starts with a strategic approach to interview planning.
Understanding the preference for structured interview planning over “going in blind” is crucial in today’s competitive job market. A well-prepared interviewer not only exudes confidence but also ensures a comprehensive evaluation of each candidate, making the process more effective, efficient and fair.
Here, we’ll discuss interview templates, including what they are, why they’re valuable and how you can go about creating your very own to take into your next interview.
What Is an Interview Template, and Why Is It Valuable?
Interview templates serve as a blueprint for the interview process, ensuring that no question is left unasked and every candidate is evaluated on a consistent set of criteria. This level of organization and foresight is what sets apart successful hiring processes from the rest. By adopting and using interview templates, companies can streamline their hiring process, reduce biases and ultimately make better hiring decisions.
An effective interview template is equal parts art and science, as it requires a deep understanding of the job role, the company culture and the qualities of an ideal candidate. With an interview template, interviewers can easily navigate interview processes, ensuring each interview is as productive and insightful as possible. This strategic approach not only enhances the quality of hires but also contributes to a positive candidate experience that can reflect well on your brand.
What Does an Interview Template Typically Look Like?
While there is no set-in-stone template that exists as a standard across industries (because each is unique and may require a slightly different approach), we can draw inspiration from what we know works well in any scenario and for any role.
In general, an interview template should include most of the following:
Personal introduction
Company name and introduction
Role overview
Candidate background
Behavioral questions
Role-specific questions
Problem-solving questions
Cultural fit questions
Candidate questions
Closing
If you’re unsure what some of these sections of the template entail, don’t worry! Below, you’ll find a guide to creating your own interview form from scratch.
Why Are Interview Templates Valuable?
The advantages of using interview templates are manifold. They not only save time and reduce errors but also enhance the quality of the hiring process. With templates, companies can ensure that each interview is conducted professionally and efficiently, leading to better hiring outcomes and a stronger workforce. In brief, here are the key benefits of these templates:
Time savings: Templates provide a strong starting point for interviews, helping reduce the time needed to create documents or processes from scratch. They also simplify and streamline repetitive recruiting tasks, allowing interviewers to focus on the content rather than its format or structure.
Reduced errors: Predefined structures minimize the chance of omitting crucial information or making formatting errors that can crop up during the interview. For example, with templates, you’ll be less likely to forget to ask an important question that could sway the interview one way or the other.
Improved record keeping: Templates ensure that all relevant information is captured and documented systematically. Plus, it is easier to organize, store, retrieve and extract information when needed since they’re all laid out the same way.
Creating an Interview Template
Whether you have an exciting interview template, take a moment to review this guidance and structure and either build out your own from scratch or apply some of what you see here to your existing template to strengthen it.
Step 1: Define the Ideal Job Candidate and Requirements for Success
The first step in creating an effective interview template is defining job requirements, including the role, responsibilities and necessary skills that candidates need to be successful. By clearly understanding what the job entails and what success looks like in the role, the hiring manager can tailor their interview templates to focus on the most relevant aspects. Whether it’s technical expertise, leadership abilities or problem-solving skills, pinpointing these competencies early on guides the development of targeted interview questions, eliciting responses that reveal a candidate’s capabilities and fit for the position.
Here’s an example to help you get started:
Job title and department: Specify the department or team.
Reports to: Title of the person to whom the role reports.
Location: Work location (e.g., remote, office location).
Job summary: Provide a brief overview of the role, its purpose and key objectives.
Key Responsibilities: List the main tasks and duties associated with the role. Use bullet points for clarity.
Required Qualifications (education, experience, skills, certifications): Specify the educational background needed (Bachelor’s degree, MBA); Detail the years of experience and the type of work experience required; outline the essential skills and competencies and any necessary certifications or licenses.
Step 2: Develop Questions
The most important part of the interview process is the questions. Depending on the role, questions can be vastly different. To keep this as a general guide, we’ll outline five types of questions that work well in just about every scenario, and it’ll be up to the hiring manager to tweak them as they see fit for their particular job offer.
Additionally, incorporating questions based on the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) helps interviewers get detailed and actionable insights into a candidate’s past experiences and behaviors.
Behavioral Questions Examples
Tell me about a time when you had to work under a tight deadline. How did you manage your time and priorities to ensure you met the deadline?
Describe a situation where you had a conflict with a coworker. How did you handle it and what was the outcome?
Role-Specific Questions Examples
For a software developer role: Can you walk me through a project where you implemented a new feature? What technologies did you use and what challenges did you face?
For a marketing manager role: How do you approach developing a new marketing campaign? Can you provide an example of a successful campaign you led?
Problem-Solving Questions Examples
Imagine you are given a task with incomplete information. How would you go about gathering the necessary information and completing the task?
You are facing a significant drop in team productivity. What steps would you take to identify the root cause and address the issue?
Cultural Fit Questions Examples
Can you describe an ideal work environment for you? How do you ensure you contribute to creating such an environment?
How do you handle feedback, both positive and negative? Can you give an example of how you have implemented feedback in the past?
Candidate Questions Examples
What are you looking for in your next role, and why do you think our company would be a good fit for you?
Do you have any questions about our company culture, team structure or the day-to-day responsibilities of this role?
Step 3: Create an Evaluation Form
Creating an evaluation form with a rating scale and sections for detailed notes helps HR professionals or whoever is conducting the interview quickly and easily apply ratings to each competency or skill or each candidate.
This allows interviewers to systematically assess each candidate’s responses and qualifications, making it easier to compare candidates objectively later on. Here’s what this section of the template should include:
A rating scale (e.g., 1-5) for each competency and skill
Sections to jot down strengths, weaknesses and overall impressions
Space for interviewers to write additional detailed notes and observations
Step 4: Review and Finalize the Interview Form
The final step includes reviewing and finalizing the template, ideally with stakeholder feedback. This collaborative approach ensures that the interview template is robust, comprehensive, and tailored to the specific needs of the role and the company.
Once ready, take the template for a test drive and use it for one or two interviews. Afterward, consider how it went and make any necessary adjustments to fine-tune the template to your liking.
Go One Step Further Than a Template with ApplicantStack
Go a step further with ApplicantStack. While interview templates are invaluable tools for recruiting, they can leave a lot to be desired—especially when it comes to tracking and communicating with job candidates.
ApplicantStack allows HR professionals to take control of their hiring process and automate tedious, manual tasks where possible. Streamline candidate communication and put more focus on the candidate experience. Amplify job postings, get more applicants and keep everything organized—all in one platform.
Once you’ve found the right candidate (hooray!), enjoy a suite of onboarding tools that facilitate a seamless transition from candidate to employee.
Experience how ApplicantStack can transform your hiring process. Start a free trial today.
Manual interview scheduling is a headache. It is also a bottleneck in the hiring process for many companies–because there are so many moving parts. There’s the applicant’s availability and each member of the interviewing team has schedule constraints.
With Poor Interview Scheduling, You Can Lose Your Top Candidates
The best talent is on the market only 10 days! If your process breaks down at this juncture, a competing employer may lure them away.
In addition, efficient scheduling creates a better candidate experience. Remember that evaluation works both ways. Not only are you evaluating the applicant–they are judging your company at the same time. Therefore, a modern scheduling process strengthens your employer brand.
Moreover, a good scheduling process saves the hiring team time and frustration. Successful companies create efficient systems and that includes scheduling.
The Challenges of Interview Scheduling
As mentioned, job interview scheduling by phone can be confusing and time-consuming. Manual emails are error-prone as well. You have probably noticed, for example, that listing the wrong time is easy to do when you’re sending dozens of emails. When an applicant needs to reschedule, the chaos starts all over again.
That leads us to the question: How do you get all of your managers and applicants scheduled without all the back-and-forth of emails and schedule alignment?
How to Schedule an Interview
The best practice for scheduling interviews is to use a shared calendar or scheduling software. Google Calendar, for instance, is free. Plus, there are plenty of low-cost apps designed specifically for interview scheduling.
This is how it works:
All members of the interview team mark their availability on the shared calendar (before sending the link to the candidates)
The hiring manager clears time slots where everyone is available
Email or text the candidate the link to the shared calendar or a list of the available slots
The interviewee chooses one of the pre-cleared slots
Once confirmed, the hiring manager sends a confirmation email or text
If it’s an in-person interview, include the address and any parking or building access instructions
If it’s a video interview, send the link to the meeting and instructions for logging in
ApplicantStack Job Interview Scheduling
ApplicantStack applicant tracking system makes scheduling interviews a breeze, because you let interviewees select a date and time that is mutually available. It eliminates the back-and-forth emails, texts or phone calls.
How ApplicantStack Automates Interview Scheduling
ApplicantStack integrates with Google Calendar and Office 365. You have two ways to schedule: you can choose a time or allow the applicant to select an interview time from pre-cleared calendar slots.
With applicant self-scheduling, the software emails the interviewee a link to your calendar. Then, when they follow the link, they will see your interview calendar. Because you’ve pre-cleared slots, they can only schedule when your team is available.
Let’s review the benefits of automated scheduling in ApplicantStack:
Improves the applicant experience by allowing self-scheduling from any mobile device
Decreases time-to-hire by eliminating back-and-forth calls and emails
Reduces abandoned applications due to schedule confusion
Allows your hiring team to focus on top candidates instead of manually scheduling interviews
Automated Interview Scheduling Improves the Applicant Journey
It’s getting tougher to find quality employees in today’s labor market. To be competitive, you need to provide an exceptional applicant journey. Confusing interview scheduling, in contrast, downgrades the applicant journey quickly. Efficient scheduling strengthens your company brand. Indeed, you are less likely to lose an applicant due to a clunky interview scheduling process.
This post is part of our hiring series which includes:
Behavioral interviewing is a style of interviewing developed in the 1970’s by industrial psychologists. The theory is that “the most accurate predictor of future performance is past performance in a similar situation.”
Fittingly, behavioral interviewing emphasizes past performance and behaviors. The questions do more than simply determine what a candidate says they will do (i.e. job activities). In contrast, gives the candidate an opportunity to share concrete examples of what they have done in their past work history that helped them to be successful.
Traditional Interview Questions
More traditional interview methods would include hypothetical, cognitive, and personality type questions such as:
Tell me about yourself.
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Why are you interested in working for us?
What would you do if you were having difficulties with another employee on your project?
What would you do if someone asked you to overlook a problem with your project?
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
How did you like your last job?
These more traditional interview methods have some shortfalls. Firstly, since they can be very closed-ended, they can limit further information. Secondly, they can elicit a hypothetical answer that may or may not reflect how they really behave. Finally, the interviewer’s personal bias can influence their evaluation.
Of course, hypothetical questions may be valuable in showing how the candidate thinks on his/her feet, but should not be the only basis of evaluation.
What are Cognitive Questions?
Cognitive questions are based on the theory that a candidate’s thinking, learning and memory functions are critical success factors.
This line of questioning often involves a series of scenarios where the interviewer describes practical problems
The interviewer evaluates the candidate’s methods used to solve these problems. These include evaluating how the candidate gathers and applies information, how they process data, and how they think through alternatives.
This type of interview question is best used for jobs with a high degree of intellectual content.
What are Personality Questions?
This type of question reveals more about who the person is rather than what they can deliver.
The answers are often characterized by trait words like reliable, hard working, quick learner, assertive, etc.
These questions save time in an interview but are not effective as an interview technique unless you ask for a real example of how the candidate used this trait.
In contrast, the sample behavioral questions below may result in more reliable answers.
Sample Behavioral Interview Questions
Give me an example of a time when you had to keep from speaking or making a decision because you did not have enough information.
Describe a time when you had to make a quick decision.
What is the toughest group that you have had to get cooperation from? How did you win them over?
Have you ever had difficulty getting others to accept your ideas? What was your approach? Did it work?
Give me an example of a time when you went above and beyond the call of duty.
Describe a situation when you were able to have a positive influence on the action of others.
Tell me about a situation when you had to speak up (be assertive) in order to get a point across that was important to you.
Have you ever had to “sell” an idea to your co-workers or group? How did you do it? Did they “buy” it?
What have you done in the past to contribute toward a teamwork environment?
How do you decide what gets top priority when scheduling your time?
What do you do when your schedule is suddenly interrupted? Give an example.
Give me an example of an important goal which you had set in the past and tell me about your success in reaching it.
How to Prepare Questions for a Behavioral Interview
Companies that employ behavioral interviewing techniques can use the same analysis they use to develop the job description. This helps determine the skill sets required to be successful in the job. The hiring manager should consider the following questions:
What are the necessary skills to do this job?
And what makes a successful candidate?
Identify the deliverables we are expecting.
What would make an unsuccessful candidate?
Why have people left this position?
What is the most difficult part of this job?
A sample list of skills resulting from the job analysis may include the following:
Decision making and problem solving
Leadership, motivation
Ability to work independently with little supervision
Communication, interpersonal skills
Planning and organization, critical thinking skills
Team building and the ability to influence others
When asking a behavioral question, try using the “STAR” approach. Be sure the candidate’s answer includes:
Situation or Task
Actions
Result
Using the “STAR” approach, the interviewer might expect the sample answer below to the question; “What have you done in the past to contribute toward a teamwork environment?”
The candidate might recount a time when communication within their work group had broken down (situation). To resolve the problem, the candidate organized informal lunch meetings for people to discuss relevant issues (action). Morale then improved, as did the lines of communication (result).
Benefits of Behavioral Interviewing
To recap, let’s list the benefits of behavioral interviewing:
Helps determine if the candidate can prove that they’ve taken actions that have delivered results.
Makes the candidate recall real actions and results they have experienced and describe them in detail.
Can establish a pattern of behavior.
The safest for inexperienced interviewers because they don’t require the evaluation of a psychological or organizational professional.
Behavioral interviews make it difficult for the candidate to make up stories that are not based on real situations.
Companies that invest the time and energy in developing behavioral interviews often attract top candidates and top candidates make the company a more desirable place to work.
Work to Reduce Hiring Bias
As you work to create an equitable evaluation process, keep the following in mind:
Base your evaluation on specific facts, not a gut feeling or general impression.
Openly share your impressions and evaluations even if they are different than the rest of the team.
Feel comfortable with raising red flags.
Don’t rush to make a decision if you don’t have enough facts.
Avoid allowing the impressions of others to pressure you to change your evaluation.
Hiring Software Helps You Create and Manage Interview Scripts
Hiring software like ApplicantStack from Swipeclock allows you to create and manage interview scripts. Write scripts based on the job description and STAR method. In addition, manage your job descriptions and postings.
Differentiate candidates with similar qualifications
Highlight your culture
Reduce unconscious bias
Avoid costly hiring mistakes
Let’s discuss how to conduct an interview the right way. Like anything, good interviewing requires preparation. How should the interviewer prepare for an interview? Notice that many steps take place before the candidate arrives. If you follow the steps and prepare well, the actual interview will go smoothly.
The Benefits of a Good Interview
The job interview sets the tone for everything that comes after. It is also a compliance minefield. Let’s review the benefits of a good interview:
Allows the hiring manager to thoroughly vet the interviewee
Helps verify qualifications and skills on the applicant’s resume
Reveals the candidate’s expectations and understanding of the role and allows you to validate or clarify
Allows you to answer any of the candidate’s questions
Bottom line? Good interviews improve hiring outcomes.
The Challenges of Interviewing
Interviewing is an important skill for recruiters, in-house hiring teams and hiring managers to master. Without proper training, there are many pitfalls. Let’s discuss the most common:
Allowing bias to influence your decision
Ineffective questions
Asking illegal questions which increases the risk of a discrimination case
Inconsistencies that affect the process
Failure to put the candidate at ease
How to Prepare for an Interview
By all means, the things you do to prepare are just as important as what you do when you are conducting the interview.
Understand the Job Description
If you wrote the job description, you have a good idea what the position entails. But take it a step further by talking to managers. Ask them about soft skills. Also, talk to employees in the same (or similar) job role. When you have a deeper understanding, update the job description.
Write an Interview Script
Don’t ever go into an interview without a script–always prepare your questions ahead of time. Fortunately, it’s not hard to write structured interview scripts. We cover this in detail in: Why Structured Interviews Are Critical. Follow the steps to create structured interviews and questions to ask during an interview.
Questions to Ask During an Interview
It’s helpful to organize good interview questions into three categories: questions about job specifics (hard skills), soft skills (behavioral) and situational. Hard skills are also called technical skills and are job-specific capabilities or knowledge necessary for the job role. They are acquired through on-the-job training, experience or formal education. Therefore, hard skills can be quantified. For example, an ability to write code in JavaScript, measure blood pressure or speak Spanish.
Conversely, soft skills are behavioral attributes that help an employee succeed in their work. Working well with team members, problem-solving and effective time management are examples of soft skills that would help with any job. Soft skills are also called interpersonal skills, non-technical skills and essential skills. Situational questions relate to soft skills as well.
Job role-specific: What experience and certifications do you have in the [INDUSTRY] field?
Soft skills or behavioral: What if you had to solve a difficult problem and your manager was away?
Situational questions: How would you respond to an angry customer?
Questions You Can’t Ask in an Interview
The Equal Employment Opportunity Act (EEOA) is designed to prevent employment discrimination. An interviewer can unwittingly increase the potential for bias with illegal interview question. The EEOA prohibits interview questions on the following topics:
Age
Race
Ethnicity
Gender
Color
Sex
Sexual orientation
Gender identity
Country of birth
Birthplace
Disability
Religion
Marital or family status
Pregnancy
Salary history (in some states)
How do you avoid illegal interview questions? Create a script with legal questions and don’t deviate!
Business owners, recruiting and hiring managers make mistakes all the time. Therefore, protect your company by learning the do’s and don’ts of legal hiring. Additionally, if you have legal counsel, have them sign off on your interview questions.
The Importance of Standardized Scoring
It’s key to understand that to improve interviewing, you need to improve evaluation. To do this, standardize candidate scoring. An interview scorecard is the easiest way to do this. Use the job qualifications to create the scorecard. It doesn’t need to be complex, but each person on the interview team must use it. When everyone is working from the same playbook, it’s easier to compare candidates. It also helps to remove “gut feelings” from the process.
Share Your Mission and Values
The job seeker has the power in today’s employment dynamic. Moreover, it’s clear that job seekers care about what your company stands for. Certainly, the applicant is scrutinizing you as carefully as you are scrutinizing them. For this reason, write an Employment Value Proposition and practice sharing it. One of the best interview tips is to showcase your culture and values.
Interview Formats
Let’s discuss the most common types of interview formats.
Phone screen
Short, preliminary screening
Individual interview
One interviewer and one candidate
Group interview
One or more interviewers and two or more applicants
The interview format will depend on the type of position and your hiring needs. If you’re doing high volume hiring, it may work to do a group interview. For example, if you need to quickly hire multiple candidates for the same job position, a group interview (in person or a virtual interview) may work for your company.
What is a group interview and when should you use them? SHRM gives these interviewing tips:
Group interviews are most effective when hiring for positions that require excellent people skills, especially when the job regularly deals with consumers or the public. Group interviews are also effective when teamwork is an integral part of the job. The group interview allows an employer to observe behaviors that are reflective of success on the job before the employer actually invests time and money into hiring a candidate.The Society for Human Resource Management
Review the Candidate’s Application
The more familiar you are with the candidate’s resume, the better. Firstly, it gives you important context. Secondly, it will help you maintain eye contact and put the candidate at ease.
Schedule the Interview Location in Advance
You don’t want to wander around looking for a conference room with the applicant in tow. If possible, use a private room with comfy chairs. A glass-windowed room can make an introverted candidate uncomfortable.
In the past two years, video interviews have become commonplace. If you conduct virtual interviews, ensure the tech is ready to go. Indeed, nothing lowers your confidence (and company image) like tech glitches.
Don’t Crowd Your Interview Calendar
Schedule enough time for the interviewee to elaborate where necessary. Add a 15-minute buffer between interviews so you never have to rush a candidate-or make the next one wait.
Now that you’ve prepared well, it’s time for the actual interview. Here are some interviewing tips for recruiters, hiring managers and small business owners:
Turn off your phone or have your assistant hold your calls
Offer the applicant a beverage
Speak slowly
Listen intently
Ask the candidate if they have any questions and answer them (if you don’t know the answers immediately, write down the questions so you get the information and call or email the candidate promptly with the answers)
Before ending the interview, explain the timeline and next steps
Thank the candidate for their time
What to Watch For
Be prepared for common issues so you can get prevent them:
Don’t overpromise–if the candidate asks for something you can’t guarantee, be honest and straightforward
Make sure you let the candidate do most of the talking
Resist the temptation to stray from the script
Post-Interview Steps
Create a post-interview process for documentation and follow-up. If you want to advance the candidate to the next stage, send an email right away. If you decide to eliminate the applicant from consideration, politely notify them as well. We mentioned candidate scorecards previously. Make sure you collect the scorecards from all interviewers. Encourage your team to fill them out during the interview or soon after while it is still fresh on their mind. Move the candidate to the next stage in your hiring workflow.
Recruiting Software Helps You Conduct Better Interviews
When considering how to conduct an interview, don’t forget the role of hiring software. ApplicantStack recruiting software helps you improve your interviews–and all of your hiring processes. Manage job descriptions, post to job boards, create structured interviews, and track applicants. The result? You will attract and hire quality employees faster.
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