How to be a Great Interviewer
When you’re recruiting for your startup and you get to the interview stage, it’s not simply a matter of showing up, asking a few questions and expecting the candidates to do all the work by impressing you with their responses. Whilst it’s of course pretty much a given that candidates will want to do that and will hopefully have spent lots of time prepping in advance, as an interviewer you’ll need to do some prep work too.
After all, if you really want to find the best candidate for a role, you’ll need to ensure that your interview skills are at their best too. Having the right interview skills will not only help you hire the candidate who is the best fit for the role, but it will of course also help prevent you from hiring the wrong person too. Hiring the wrong candidate or missing out on the right one isn’t just a waste of time and money, it’s also something that could have been avoided if your interview skills had been up to scratch! So whether this is your first hire or you’ve interviewed countless times in the past and for all sorts of positions, you shouldn’t get complacent.
Why do you need to hone your interview skills?
Let’s face it. Great candidates will have options. You won’t be the only employer that they are meeting with and your role won’t be the only one they are considering. And when they’re making their decision about which opportunity to take, you want to be number one on their list. Their experience at the interview could be a key determining factor in the decision-making process. You can do your best to sell your startup and the role you are offering, however, if you come across as ill-prepared, distracted, or a tad nonchalant, it will all have a negative impact on how they view both you and of course the role and company.
And whilst candidates will form opinions about you and your company based on what they hear from others, or see on your website or social channels, those opinions will also be shaped by their experiences at the interview. Make a good impression as an interviewer and it will serve you well.
All candidates should leave the interview feeling positive about their experience. They should feel that they have learned more about the role, their prospective line manager, the company and the overall mission and vision. They should be enthused about what you are offering and really want to be a part of it. And they should feel that they were treated with respect and fairness throughout. You don’t want candidates feeling that this was just another interview or that you weren’t all that interested in them and what they had to say. By polishing up your skills as an interviewer, you’ll go a long way toward engaging your candidates and leaving a positive impact.
And for a little added inspiration on the skills you ought to hone, here is an overview of some of the key traits that great interviewers typically display.
The key traits of a great interviewer
Stay Focused
No matter how busy the rest of your day or week has been, no matter what else is on your to-do list, when you are in the interview, that should never be apparent. Leave your business pressures and stress at the door and make sure that you don’t bring any negative energy into the interview.
If you do, it’s likely that candidates will pick up on it and it certainly won’t create a good impression. Great interviewers concentrate solely on the job at hand, taking time to find out if this person is the right fit for the role and the company.
Be an Ally
You also ought to ensure that it is clear that you’re on the same team as the candidate. Make sure that the interview comes across as a respectful and two-way conversation so that the candidate feels that a fair exchange of information has taken place and that they don’t feel either exploited or neglected.
Skilled interviewers recognise that they only truly get to know the strengths and weaknesses of potential candidates by being their ally, and by being on their team. This is certainly not the time to be standoffish or aloof or dictatorial!
Make a Connection
You should also try to find some common ground with the candidate - find a common connection point not only to quickly put them at ease but also to ensure that they open up a little quicker, to enable you to find out what you need, discover their strengths and weaknesses and more easily assess if they are a good match and cultural fit for the role and your startup.
Great interviewers will do this consistently - irrespective of what business challenges they may be facing or how many interviews they've done that day or until that point, they will do their best to put each and every candidate at ease.
Curiosity matters
Skilled interviewers also tend to be naturally curious and inquisitive - both in work and outside. It’s not that they’re being nosy for the sake of it - they simply really enjoy getting to know people and they have a genuine passion for understanding others. And when interviewers are engaged and show a candidate that they’re genuinely interested in what they have to say, it’s a real boost to the candidate. They feel great as it shows they’re being listened to, that their responses, skills and experience matter and that they offer value as a potential employee.
They’re also more likely to continue to open up during the interview when they can feel that there is enthusiasm and actual interest in what they say.
Bias Aware
Recognising that bias can not only affect the interview itself as well as the outcome, is something that great interviewers are always mindful of. They are fully aware of their own prejudices and biases, they know that their judgment may be flawed at times. That might be anything from a bias for or against a particular accent, or what a candidate looks like, to a personal preference for extroversion or introversion or views and opinions on previous companies where a candidate may have worked.
A skilled interviewer is aware of all this and knows that their perspective and viewpoint is a relative one. They don’t let any of this get in the way of the interview or their hiring decisions, Instead, they ensure that all candidates are treated fairly, that biases are kept at bay, and form no part of the recruitment process.
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Offering personalised, consultative service, at TableCrowd Talent we’re a specialist recruitment agency with our finger on the pulse of the startup and scaleup scene. We are committed to matching graduates, professionals and C-level executives to exciting startup and scaleup jobs across London, the UK and Europe.
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