Interviewing Tips

Interviewing: You need to make the interviews meaningful for both yourself and the applicants. Do not just go through the motions, especially given all your effort in writing job descriptions and advertising. Successful interviews are a two way process. As the employer, you want to know more about the applicant than what is on their resume. In turn, the applicant wants to hear more about your firm and the job beyond what was in the job ad and job description. The key to good interviewing is preparation.

Before you Start: Long before you start the interviews you will need to do some background work. The more of this work you do ahead of time the easier it will be to complete the interviews successfully. Part of your preparations includes deciding if it will be one or multiple interviews, if there will be one or more interviewers, and the length of the interviews. The short-listed applicants will need to know this information ahead of time. The more extensive the interview process, the more insight you will gain on the candidate and their fit to your company. This of course will cost you in time. You also need to decide how many people you are going to interview. Before the interview, review selection criteria and formulate questions addressing skill, knowledge, abilities, physical requirements, and behaviors necessary to do the job. Study the applicant’s resume/application and note areas to explore.

Opening: During the opening you want to make the applicant and yourself comfortable. Shaking hands, offering coffee, taking a coat and so on can all help put the applicant at ease. Next, give the applicant time to see the questions that you will ask him/her. This allows the applicant a chance to provide more detailed examples, as opposed to the same one over and over. Now you need to set the context for the interview. Give the applicant an idea of how you will do the interview and perhaps a brief overview of your company. Describe duties of the position and encourage the candidate to ask questions about the position and the organization. Provide complete information so the candidate can assess if the job is the type of work s/he wants to do.

Open-ended Questions: Use lots of open-ended questions in the interviews. These questions usually begin with who, what, when, where, or tell me about a situation when? Open-ended questions are used to encourage discussion, to get the applicant to talk about their past accomplishments and to probe where the answers are not so clear. They are also used to build trust and rapport between you and the applicants.

Close-ended Questions: Use these when you need a specific or a yes or no answer. For example, you can ask "how long did you work for company XYZ?" Or "have you had any project management experience?"

Questions to Avoid: Remember that hiring is a two way street; you have to decide that this is the right person for the job, and they have to agree that you are the right employer. You can increase the chances of this happening by avoiding certain questions and remarks. Questions like "that's an unusual name, what nationality is it?" Or "do you rent or own your own home?" Or of women, "do you plan to have children?" These kinds of questions suggest that what is important for the job is not the person's skills and experience, but their culture, finances or marital status. These questions may also be illegal under your provincial human rights legislation.

Listening: Once you have asked your questions give the applicant time to answer. And pay attention to the answers. Keep an open mind at all times. If the applicant gives an unexpected answer, use it as a chance to probe and to clarify. If you do not like their answer, keep your reaction to yourself. Make notes to help you concentrate and to refer to after the interview is over. Ideally, the candidate should do most of the talking.

Body Language: Body language is just as powerful as the words you and the applicant use in the interview. A smile will encourage the applicant to talk more freely. Frowning will cause the opposite effect. Audit your body language when conducting interviews to check for consistency between what you say and how you act.

Closing: As you bring the interview to a close, make sure that you ask the applicant if they have any questions. In your closing remarks explain the next steps in the process and thank the applicant for coming. After the person leaves make notes on their strengths and weakness.

Selecting your Employee: After you have finished all the interviews your next step is to assess each candidate. You want to see which one is the strongest in terms of skills, experience and qualifications. Also, you want to assess intangibles such as the person's fit to your company. If the applicant is weak in a particular area how will it affect you and the rest of your employees?

Checking References: Once you have selected your top candidate the next step is checking references. In talking to the applicant's current or previous managers or co-workers, you are making sure the applicant has the skills and experience listed on their resume. Reference checks are important since research shows that about third of all applicants are creative with or lie about their employment history. You want to make sure the person will not be a liability to you and your clients if they claim to have technical expertise that they do not in fact possess.

Making your Offer: Before you contact the unsuccessful employees, make sure your top candidate is willing to take your job offer. They may well have found another job by the time you reach this step. In your call briefly tell the applicant why you want to hire them, confirm salary range and other details.

Completing the Paperwork: Finish off your recruitment process by tying up the loose ends. This includes sending your offer letter with the job title, start date, and salary to the successful applicant. Send the unsuccessful interviewees a short letter explaining that the position has been filled and wishing them success in their job search. Some of them may wish to approach you in the future for a different position.

Reminder about "Informal" Time with Candidates: Although the nature of "coffee time," lunch, dinner or a casual meeting with candidates may feel informal, it's important to remember that your interaction with the individual is based upon them interviewing for a position at UNLV. As such, each phase of a candidates visit to campus is part of a job interview, therefore all questions you direct to the candidates should be consistent and job-related. By consistent, I mean that any type of question we ask of one candidate, it ought to make sense to ask this same type of question of any candidate. By job-related, I mean that questions should center around the position for which the candidate is applying and the extent to which the candidate's skills, experience, and other qualifications are a good match for filling this vacancy. For example, it's not okay to ask if someone is married, has kids, how old they are, etc. If the candidate volunteers such information, it is important not to begin discussion the revealed information -- since it is not job related, it should not be discussed by you as a representative of UNLV. While we certainly want to be personable, questions directed at the candidates should not be of a primarily personal nature.

• Read application/resume before applicant arrives and note questions/omissions, or clarifications needed.
• Set up interview in pleasant, private place without interruptions.
• Set a friendly and professional tone to put applicant at ease.
• Prior to beginning the interview, advise of restroom location, remind all to turn off pages and cell phones.
• Allow the applicant time to see the questions that you will ask him/her. This gives the applicant a chance to provide more detailed examples, as opposed to the same one over and over.
• Ask open-ended questions -- "Tell me about...," "Describe a situation in which you..."
• Use different types of interviews as appropriate -- panel or individual.
• Ask questions that relate to the skills, knowledge and abilities outlined in advertisements and any in the essential job function.
• Give applicant information to evaluate the job and work situation -- job description, organizational chart, salary information.
• Keep an open, relaxed mind -- try to avoid first impressions, snap judgments. Take brief notes during the interview.
• Give applicant opportunity to ask questions and to answer without feeling hurried.
• Allow applicant to sell himself or herself -- candidate should do most of the talking.
• Cover the same questions and treat all interviewees as equitably as possible. Follow-up questions can relate to specific responses.
• Give applicant chance to ask final questions at close of interview.
• Allow 10-15 minutes after each interview to assess interviewee.
• Keep notes on all interviews to document the decisions. Use "I" frame.
• Ask applicant if she/he can perform the essential functions of the job. For example, (for a position requiring heavy lifting), "Can you lift up to 50 pounds?"

• Give an interview off the top of your head.
• Forget to check the application thoroughly before the interview.
• Be rigid -- allow for digressions in the exchange of information.
• Convey gossip -- try to remain neutral with personalities in the job situation.
• Introduce any unnecessary stress.
• Ask for information unrelated to the job.
• Ask leading questions to get the answer you want.
• Form an incomplete judgment based on one particular aspect of the applicant's behavior or interview responses.
• Project your feelings onto the applicant.
• Ask questions which are illegal or which lead to information which can be used to discriminate (list available in Employment).
• Ask questions which can be answered yes or no.
• Talk too much.
• Make your questions too complex or unclear.
• Interrupt or criticize past behavior or answers to questions.
• Let an "over-talker" take control of the interview.
• Close your mind to the point of view of the applicant.
• Ask applicant prohibited questions such as "Have you ever had a back problem?"

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Send questions or comments to jen.feldmann@unlv.edu. Last updated Thursday, 04-Jan-2007 13:01:20 PST