How Hiring Managers Can Prepare for Interviews: What You Need to Know
Anyone involved in hiring or recruitment knows that job interviews tend to be much more positive experiences for all parties involved when everyone prepares accordingly. Obviously, candidates need to be prepared to make the right impression. However, the interviewer also needs to be prepared to ask the right questions, pick up on red flags, and more.
The specific manner in which hiring managers should prepare for a job interview will of course depend on the specific nature of the interview itself. If you’re interviewing a recent graduate for an entry-level job, you wouldn’t prepare to discuss their work history to the same degree that you might do so if you were interviewing a potential CEO an executive search firm had recommended.
That said, there are some general tips worth keeping in mind if you wish to more effectively prepare for interviews in the future. They include the following:
Help Candidates Prepare
One of the most effective ways to prepare for a strong interview is to help candidates prepare. This involves letting them know precisely what materials they should bring, what type of environment the interview will be conducted in, and who will be interviewing them.
Taking a little bit of time to ensure all candidates understand what is expected of them will help you interview them more efficiently. They’ll of course also be more likely to effectively demonstrate their strengths if they know what you expect.
Tailor Questions to the Strengths the Position Requires
Don’t make the mistake of using the same questions in each interview. A proper job interview should be tailored to the position for which a candidate is interviewing. You need to ask about the strengths that are necessary for the given role.
For instance, if you are interviewing candidates for a role that involves significant collaboration with coworkers, you may wish to hire someone who has strong communication skills. You would thus ask questions that provide your candidates with opportunities to demonstrate that.
On the other hand, suppose the position for which candidates are interviewing is more technical. In that case, the skills required for success might require more specialized experience with certain technologies or tools. You would thus spend more time asking about those talents and experiences.
Keep in mind that this doesn’t merely help you save time by ensuring your interview questions reveal valuable information. The nature of the questions you ask will also provide interviewees with a better sense of what type of person you’re looking for. This will help them better assess whether they are the right fit for a role.
Study Candidates’ Résumés in Detail
Job-seekers know that it’s important to prepare for interviews by researching the companies at which they will be interviewing ahead of time. However, it’s at least equally important that hiring managers also study the résumés of their candidates in an advance.
You obviously want to familiarize yourself with a candidate’s work history and qualifications. This will help you have productive discussions during actual interviews. That said, it’s worth your time to try exploring what a candidate’s résumé says about them more deeply.
Do trends in their work or academic history indicate certain interests? Does the nature of the companies at which candidates have worked previously tell you anything about potential culture fit? Do candidates seem to stay in one job for a long time or bounce around from role to role? If they do change roles often, is it because they get promoted quickly, or are they simply making lateral moves most of the time?
A résumé can tell you much more about a candidate than where they went to school and where they have worked. It is a valuable resource when preparing for job interviews.
Seek Feedback from Colleagues
Preparing for a job interview can require a significant amount of time. Of course, you may have other duties and responsibilities for which you are responsible. While conducting the strongest possible interviews is always essential, you can’t neglect other tasks.
That’s why you may want to invite other relevant people at the company to participate in job interviews. This may include not only a candidate’s potential future manager, but any potential coworkers, particularly those who have spent a long time with the organization and understand its culture.
Soliciting help from colleagues when appropriate will simply make preparing for interviews much easier than it would be if you tried to prepare on your own. Additionally, there may be instances when you’d benefit from coordinating with outside help in the form of an executive search firm.
Remember, every job interview is unique. You need to keep this in mind when preparing for recruitment. That said, these general tips will also prove valuable if you apply them in the future.
