7 Tips for Conducting an Effective Job Interview
26 February 2014
Read by 3298 persons
While job applicants are often under pressure during an interview, interviewers also bear some responsibility for the success of the exchange.
To help HR in hiring new talent, Greg Willard, a Harvard University professor, studied nearly 100 years of job interview techniques and identified those that led to better results.
Willard mentioned that there are many articles on tips about the best way to conduct a job interview, but most are based on personal experiences and opinions.
Willard's research resulted in several simple steps to conduct an excellent interview:
Prepare by conducting a "detailed job analysis": Recruiters should consult at least one expert in the field for each type of position to generate a precise list of the most important aspects of the job and what is required to perform it successfully. Not only will this make the interview more relevant, but candidates and recruiters will feel the interview more positively.
Prepare questions in advance: An interview format in which all candidates for the position are asked the same specific questions to ensure that the information obtained from candidates is relevant and complete. This method also avoids irrelevant content. Asking uniform questions makes candidates' responses more directly comparable.
Be prepared to be flexible: What happens if the interviewer asks a pre-developed question but the candidate does not provide enough information? Interviews that simply move to the next question at this stage, without allowing room for follow-up questions, often do not gather enough information from candidates. In addition, both job candidates and investigators perceive this format more negatively.
Ensure the interview is neither too short nor too long: As it is important that all candidates are given the same opportunity to answer the same questions without feeling rushed, it is generally preferable to limit the number of questions. A good rule of thumb is to ask between four to six questions in a 30-minute interview, and between 8 to 12 questions in a one-hour interview.
Focus on the interview during the interview: Despite what some experts recommend, do not ask candidates to ask questions too early, this reduces the reliability of the interview. Candidates should only be asked to ask questions after the conclusion of the interview, allowing for engagement on a more personal level.
Multiple recruiters: Using multiple recruiters significantly increases the reliability of the process. Different recruiters during a series of separate interviews significantly increase the success rate in finding the ideal candidate for the position.
Take detailed notes: Note-taking creates a professional atmosphere during the interview and makes the candidate feel respected, listened to, and encouraged. And since human memory is limited, most recruiters cannot remember the answers of each candidate. Taking specific notes for each interview also allows recruiters to be precise about the conclusions to be drawn for each candidate.
Stephane Langonnet.
Huffingtonpost.fr
Posted online February 26, 2014.
To help HR in hiring new talent, Greg Willard, a Harvard University professor, studied nearly 100 years of job interview techniques and identified those that led to better results.
Willard mentioned that there are many articles on tips about the best way to conduct a job interview, but most are based on personal experiences and opinions.
Willard's research resulted in several simple steps to conduct an excellent interview:
Prepare by conducting a "detailed job analysis": Recruiters should consult at least one expert in the field for each type of position to generate a precise list of the most important aspects of the job and what is required to perform it successfully. Not only will this make the interview more relevant, but candidates and recruiters will feel the interview more positively.
Prepare questions in advance: An interview format in which all candidates for the position are asked the same specific questions to ensure that the information obtained from candidates is relevant and complete. This method also avoids irrelevant content. Asking uniform questions makes candidates' responses more directly comparable.
Be prepared to be flexible: What happens if the interviewer asks a pre-developed question but the candidate does not provide enough information? Interviews that simply move to the next question at this stage, without allowing room for follow-up questions, often do not gather enough information from candidates. In addition, both job candidates and investigators perceive this format more negatively.
Ensure the interview is neither too short nor too long: As it is important that all candidates are given the same opportunity to answer the same questions without feeling rushed, it is generally preferable to limit the number of questions. A good rule of thumb is to ask between four to six questions in a 30-minute interview, and between 8 to 12 questions in a one-hour interview.
Focus on the interview during the interview: Despite what some experts recommend, do not ask candidates to ask questions too early, this reduces the reliability of the interview. Candidates should only be asked to ask questions after the conclusion of the interview, allowing for engagement on a more personal level.
Multiple recruiters: Using multiple recruiters significantly increases the reliability of the process. Different recruiters during a series of separate interviews significantly increase the success rate in finding the ideal candidate for the position.
Take detailed notes: Note-taking creates a professional atmosphere during the interview and makes the candidate feel respected, listened to, and encouraged. And since human memory is limited, most recruiters cannot remember the answers of each candidate. Taking specific notes for each interview also allows recruiters to be precise about the conclusions to be drawn for each candidate.
Stephane Langonnet.
Huffingtonpost.fr
Posted online February 26, 2014.
