Client advice center

EFFECTIVE INTERVIEWING SERIES

During the last few years, the landscape has changed when it comes to the interview process. Video interviews have become the norm as the Covid-19 pandemic spread across the world and changed the way we do business on a day-to-day basis. As mentioned, video interviews have become standard as companies attempt to ensure the health of their employees are kept in place.

Unfortunately, video interviews tend to not give the interviewer the full picture so to speak, as body language is a major part of conducting interviews and ascertaining whether or not a candidate would be a good fit for the company. It can be said that video interviews are more difficult to conduct as you don’t have the physical presence of the candidate to read him/her as you ask the questions.

We are thus left with the question of: What can be done to ensure that you get the most out of an interview? Hopefully, we can shed some light on the subject from our own experience over the last couple of years.

1. Plan your interview process…but be flexible:

There are many variables that go into an interview and planning the process would eliminate the majority of these variables. Entering the interview with a clear structure in place would ensure that you stay in control of the interview process. When you have a specific structure in place, it will ease the technical burden on yourself, and enable you to truly listen and understand what it is the candidate is putting forward to you instead of you trying to make calls on what to do next during the whole process. It is a stressful environment already for a candidate, and it would just make things more uncomfortable for everyone if the interviewer is not self-assured and leading the interview.

With this being said, there are still variable which occur during the process, and one should not be scared to shy away from your process if a specific topic is mentioned by the candidate. Many times, information can be obtained by further queries on this subject than just blindly following your core interviewing process.

2. Enter the interview with a goal in mind:

Too many times an interviewer might enter an interview without a clear goal of what they want to achieve from the interview. Just as much as we as interviewers expect from the candidates to do their research on the company they are applying at, we as interviewers need to do our bit as well to prepare for the interview and not just enter it as “just another interview”. A few core competencies that one would look for from the candidate are things like:

  • Does the candidate understand the position they are applying for?
  • Does the candidate fit into the culture of the company?
  • Does the candidate possess the required knowledge to perform the duties expected in this position and/or does the candidate possess the capability to perform the job even though they might not have the direct knowledge?
  • Is this a company the candidate really wants to work at or is it just another job for them?

            These are just a few of the goals you can put out for yourself when entering an interview.

3. Asking the right questions:

For you to be able to make sure that you gain enough knowledge out of an interview with a candidate, you need to make sure that the right questions get asked to get the info you need to make an informed decision. A good list of information to try and achieve during your questioning can be:

  • Personal support structure in the form of friends and family – This will give you piece of mind that the candidate has a stable personal life, and that there are people in their lives who can assist them should a personal crisis occur.
  • Company/interviewer knowledge – This gives you a good idea of whether the person did their research of the company, it’s product range and its staff members. This shows you whether there is a real interest from the candidate to work at your company.
  • Personal growth path – With this information of what the candidate wants to achieve going forward, whether it be studies or directly in the workplace, will give you a good idea of whether the vacancy you have available, and the candidate, is a good fit for each other.
  • Understanding the candidate’s reason for leaving previous employer – I’ve seen it too many times where there is a hidden truth behind a candidate’s reason for leaving a previous workplace. As interviewers we have to do everything we can to make sure that the right candidate ends up at our company, and taking some time to investigate fully, the reason for a candidate leaving their previous employment, can shed a lot of light on this subject and you will be able to see whether there might be danger signals.

Candidate hobbies/heath – Asking about a candidate’s hobbies and health situation can give you information regarding their balance between work and play. This is important to every single one of us to strike a balance on this, lest we have burnout. Having a healthy mix of hobbies and work is vital to prolonged periods of efficiency in the workplace.

4. Review and compare candidates

Always use some form of system allowing you to easily keep track and record of candidates interviewed. After interviewing a few candidates it can become confusing who is who and which experience, education, etc. belongs to whom…

Please let us know if you would like to find out more about our own inhouse interviewing process. 

We’ve developed our system to make it easy to compare and review candidates. 

Let us fast track your career!

Schedule an appointment, or get in touch.

Submit your CV
Contact Us

Get Started

Quick Links

Legal

CENTURION OFFICE

CAPE TOWN OFFICE

DURBAN OFFICE

Facebook-f Youtube Linkedin

© All Rights Reserved