What is the point of conducting interviews?
Why do you interview candidates? What is the point of conducting effective interviews? The point of an interview is to determine the best person to fill your open position. Seems logical. When you meet with someone to fill your open position, are you interviewing? Or are you having a conversation?
Why do you think hiring managers do not properly interview? My hunch, they were never taught. The skills needed to conduct an interview are not taught in any business or training classes. So, how do business leaders or those new to leadership learn how to conduct an effective interview? In most cases, they don’t. In fact, I have worked with business leaders that have spent their entire career interviewing candidates with zero ability to interview. When I say business leaders…I am talking about new leaders all the way up to experienced, executive level leaders.
What happens if you don’t properly conduct an interview? You will make a bad hire. Sure, you may get lucky and the candidate will become a great employee. Eventually, luck runs out. A poor hiring decision can lead to:
- An unhappy employee
- An unhappy team
- Disruption in the workplace
- Negative impact on employee morale
- Your reputation as well as your organization’s may be tarnished
- And guess what…you have to deal with that poor hiring decision, whether it be termination or the employee quits. Either way, you are right back where you started.
My words of wisdom and experience for interviewing and hiring: Prepare yourself for an interview. Interview your candidates. Do not just have a chat and hope it all works out.
Think about this…You want to hire someone great for your team. The person in this role is going to fill a gap that will strengthen your business. Is having a simple conversation really going to identify their skills? If you have a simple conversation, do you think you will be able to determine their drive, motivation or abilities? Think about the cost. There is cost involved in hiring, not to mention the cost of your time, especially if you have to do it twice.
Interviews need to be more than a conversation between two people.
To determine knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs), an interview needs to take place. Ask the questions. Understand what your candidate can bring to your business. Understand the personality of the candidate. Do an interview.
Remember: The point of an interview is to determine the best person to fill your open position.
Prepare for an interview. Interview your candidates.
For more interview tips & tools, check out my book: No More Hiring Regrets.
Available on Amazon. NoMoreHiringRegrets