Top 5 Ways Employers Can Prepare for Interviews
It’s time to fill another position in your company and you have hundreds of resumes to sift through. Hopefully you’ll have some help weeding through the stack, but it can help to have a plan of attack for the interview to guide yourself in finding the best talent for your team.
It’s important to take the time to prepare for each interview. Giving each one the same amount of effort and time can be hard but is necessary to find the right fit for your organization. Hiring can be risky and should be treated with the utmost care and research. You might find someone who knows your tech stack but can’t perform well on a team. Or you might hire someone who had everything on paper but turned out to have interviewed confidently but didn’t act the way on the job.
A well-structured interview process is essential in the hiring world and can help you staff quickly, mitigate risks and make sure you’re getting what you pay for. Here are 5 best ways you can prepare for an interview and find the best person for the job.
1. Background & Profile review
Once you find a resume that matches your job description and seems like they could be qualified for an interview, make sure to do your due diligence and not just a quick Google search. Carefully study each resume ahead of time and make sure to have a copy on hand for reference. This way you can ask specific questions to really dig deep on what the candidate knows and how they can attest to their work experience.
Know what must-haves and the nice-to-haves are when finding the right candidate. It’s extremely hard to find the perfect candidate and you must be prepared to be flexible. When reviewing candidates’ backgrounds conduct a full online search and ask for examples of their work if possible. This is the time to truly find out who they are and what they could bring to your organization.
2. Scheduling the interview
It’s important to make sure the interview is scheduled in a timely fashion while also respecting the candidate’s time. Let the candidate know how much time to set aside, since most will be taking time off from work to be there. Be sure to dedicate the time strictly for the interview and be cautious of possible interruptions.
It can be challenging to initially get the candidate on the phone. Try using that time to do a quick phone screen for the position to see if time should be invested in an on-site interview. The back and forth between candidates, staffing firms, human resources and managers can slow down the interview timeline. Streamline the process to make it quick and efficient by asking qualifying questions on the initial phone screen.
3. Asking the right questions
It’s ok to ask some general questions about why they want this job and what interested them in the role. Try to have a list of 10 questions you will consistently ask each candidate. It will help to compare answers in the decision process later. Ask a variety of questions and to include some open-ended ones. Make sure to talk about the skills related to the role to uncover what the candidate knows.
Ask about specific situations they’ve had to overcome in the workplace and how they did it. Remember when talking about salary that Massachusetts has put into effect the Equal Pay law and you can’t ask the candidate what they previously made for compensation. You can talk about salary expectations and your range for the role to get a good ballpark.
4. Selling the role/organization
Take the time to talk about the role expectations. Touch on the skills needed for the position and allow time for candidate questions. Explaining some of the perks/benefits of the job will help attract the candidate to the role. Candidates have other options, and many are in high demand. You never know which perk/benefit could be important to a candidate so make sure to mention anything that could highlight why a candidate would want to join your team.
It’s impossible to know if someone will be a cultural fit just by looking at a resume. This is why it’s important to interview people and get a feel for their personality, work ethic and personal values. You want to be clear on what kind of work environment they would be stepping into. Whether it’s that you offer a flex schedule, but really everyone arrives before 8 a.m.; or you offer an hour for lunch, but most people end up working through lunch because they’re passionate about getting their work done.
This is the time to showcase what the job has to offer as well as the organization. Show the benefits and the reality of the work place to entice the candidate so they can get the whole picture of what it would be like to work there. You could even ask a fellow co-worker to take the candidate on a tour or speak to them to get a real feel for the culture.
5. Assessing candidate’s skills effectively
Make sure to have real ways to test the candidate’s skills. Can they talk about the role as though they have already been doing it? How much experience do they have and how has that proven their skills. It’s important to have a conversation with the candidate how they could see themselves in the role and what they would do if they were to get the job.
Make sure the test or assignment is an efficient way of testing the candidate’s skills to see their potential for the job. It doesn’t help to offer a test that isn’t going to be specific to the role. It must be something the candidate would have to do quite frequently in the role and a good example of their daily work. It’s not smart to test them on something they might have to do once in a while.
With these tips and a planned, timely interview process in effect, you should be able to prepare for your interview and find the best candidate for the role. It can be difficult to find time to do this on your own and using Micro Tech Staffing Group could save you time, money and peace of mind knowing you’re not wasting time interviewing candidates who aren’t a fit. Contact Micro Tech Staffing Grouptoday to find your top talent now.