Talent Acquisition & Interviewing Techniques – Do’s & Don't – Part VII

While we give due to importance to what we need to ask, it is imperative that we provide due attention to what questions that employee may ask and should prepare ourselves accordingly. While we are assessing the employee, at the same time, employee is also assessing us. Irrespective of  outcome of interview, potential employee can be a good ambassador for furthering the goodwill of the organization. I have shared below sample of questions that a potential employee may have in mind, while attending an interview : -

• What are the most important responsibilities of the position? What results are expected of this position?
• What are the limits of the position’s responsibility and authority? What problems (or opportunities) are associated with this position?
• In your opinion, what aspects of my background make me a strong (or weak) candidate for this position?
• What assistance is available to this position? Who will be my superior, and what are their strengths? Where can my skills augment their abilities?
• Are there projects in motion that whoever fills this position will inherit? What is their status?
• What criteria are used to evaluate performance? Are there annual reviews?
• What are the goals for this company and this department?
• Why did the individual in this position before leave the job?
• Why did you come to work here, and why do you stay? What type of training is provided?
• What is the biggest challenge in this position? What characteristics make a person successful in this job?

While we take good care of interviewing process, it is also imperative that we do a good job of closing the interview :

It is imperative that we must control the interview, End the interview and do a good job of documenting our inputs / thoughts.

 

Controlling the Interview : - Keep to time limits  | Helps with uniformity of interviews  | Keeps you from appearing rushed | Let the candidate do 80% of talking, but not dominate the discussion | Don’t wait until the end of the interview for candidate questions. Periodically ask if they have any concerns, questions, or comments about what was just discussed | Leave at least 5 minutes between interviews for reflection and note taking. 

End of the Interview : - Thank candidate for his / her interest in the position and the organization | Be truthful about the process and its time line | If the candidate would like to know the feedback of the interview, provide honest and truthful feedback | Do not make any commitments about selection if you are not sure of it. | Encourage the candidate in his / her job search, but do not make promises you can’t keep up | Provide information to the candidate about next steps in the process if you know about it or check with interview coordinator before asking the candidate to leave the venue. | Say what you’ll do, and do what you say!

  
After the Interview : - Gather your thoughts regarding the interaction | Fill in the interview assessment sheet from notes taken during the interview | Think of anything which might be outside of the interview assessment form which might be relevant later when making a decision and make note of the same. 

Interview is not all about asking questions. It is also knowing what to do with the answers. 

With this, I would conclude the series of article on Talent Acquisition & Interviewing Techniques. Hope this has helped reinforce some of stuff that you would already know and added to the experiential learning of those, who are new to Talent Acquisition field!