Effective Interviewing Part I
Getting ready to hire? Do these things first!
Interviewing is more than a simple conversation. Think about the purpose of an interview. You are meeting with candidates so you can improve your team. You intend to make your team stronger and to make your business better. Perhaps you are hiring to lighten your load or to lighten the load of your team. Regardless of the reason, the intent is to make things better. So, when you are getting ready to hire, do these things first!
How do you make things better if you are not prepared for the interviews? Ask yourself some questions:
- What will your new hire be doing, every day?
- What are you going to pay your new hire?
- Where are you going to post for your open position?
- How are you going to source your candidates?
- Are you properly screening candidates?
- Are you spending your valuable time talking to candidates that are qualified for the role you are filling?
Your time is important and if you are like most of us, you just don’t have time to waste. So, to avoid wasting time, wouldn’t it be better to prepare and invest your time upfront? Invest your time in making your business better and making your team stronger.
Understand the role
The first must-do before interviewing? Understand the role you need to fill. Put some thought into what a new employee is going to be doing, all day, every day. Some roles are more easily defined than others but the importance of understanding the role is critical to hiring the right person. You cannot advertise for a role if you do not know what role you are filling.
Know what you are going to pay
Next, what are you going to pay your new hire? Figure this out, upfront. The days of secret wages are gone. People want to know what they are going to get paid before they will show interest in your organization. Please, please, please, do not pick a random pay rate. Do your homework. What do similar roles pay in your industry and location? Salary should be competitive and researched. It should not be random. You don’t want to be too high or too low.
Write a great job posting
When writing a job posting, you want it to stand out as well as be informative. Start by listing the major tasks followed by a few tasks of lesser importance. Include the requirements to succeed in the role. Make sure your requirements are necessary. A job posting should be clear, concise and fact-based. Do not fill it with buzzwords. They do not bring any value to your content.
Sourcing
Determine where and how you are going to source your candidates. There are many options ranging from free to costly places to post for a job. The role you are filling is relevant to where you decide to post.
Candidate screening
When it comes time to screen your candidates, review as many applicants or responses as possible. Again, the role you are filling will be relevant. Some roles draw dozens of candidates but more specific, targeted roles may draw fewer candidates. Screen as many as possible to best attempt to find the candidates that possess or can learn as many of the necessary skills.
Time
When the time comes to start scheduling interviews, make sure you are spending time interviewing qualified candidates. In all likelihood, you will not interview all applicants so make sure those that are being interviewed meet your requirements. You want your interviews to be a good use of your time. If not, it will take longer to identify the right fit and it will become frustrating for you.
Preparation up front will help the process. For small business owners, you want to use your time wisely and these steps will help you be prepared at the time of the interview. When you are getting ready to hire, do these things first. You will save yourself some time.
If you need help to become an effective interviewer, I can help. Contact me at Kristin@HRCreativeConsulting.com. Invest in the process. Invest in your interviewers. Hiring is one of the most important tasks in any organization. Make sure you are hiring the best person for your team.
For more on effective interviewing, check out my book: No More Hiring Regrets.