Interview Tips for Managers
Are you a hiring manager who is recruiting for the first time or are looking for useful tips? This article will take you through the top 11 interview tips for hiring managers so that you can hire the best candidates for the role. Recruitment can be a tricky business that needs to be conducted efficiently – so you need to know the process, the legal aspects of the role and how to treat the potential candidates.
1. Create an accurate job description
You need to know exactly what you’re looking for in order to get the best candidate for the role. You will need to create an accurate job description, which you can then align with CV’s and cover letters. This will make it clear what candidates are suitable and which candidates don’t match the requirements. In this job description, you should outline the job title, responsibilities, skills and experience needed, etc.
2. Ask a colleague to sit in on the interview with you
If it is your first time interviewing, it might be a good idea to have a fellow employee in the interview with you. They can be the head of the department that the employee will be within or perhaps their potential manager. This will mean that you have someone on hand that can help plan relevant questions and know the type of person that would fit within the team.
3. Thoroughly research the Candidate before the interview
A candidate should research the company before attending an interview. But you should also thoroughly research the candidate before they arrive too. You need to know enough about their work history so you can focus on the questions that are more revealing. You can find this information through social media platforms and networks such as LinkedIn. You don’t want to be blindsided when they come in – it will start the interview off on the wrong foot and indicates that you haven’t taken the time to consider them as a potential employee.
4. Perform a phone interview first
If you want to cut down the list of potential candidates, you could invite them to have a phone interview before they physically come into the office. This will pre-screen them and give you an initial insight into what they are like and how easily they would fit into the role.
5. Prepare questions and take notes throughout the interview
Just as the candidate prepares, you should prepare for the interview by getting questions ready. These questions should be relevant to the role, whilst throwing in a through extra questions that will test the candidates logic and quick-thinking skills. Try to stay away from the ‘tell me a bit about yourself’ and instead relate each question to the role. For example, you could say ‘how would you fit into the business’. When you are asking them questions, you should take down some notes so that when it comes to hiring, you can remember how they have answered and how they compare to other candidates. You could also give them CV tips, such as suggesting that they should put the skills they have mentioned in the interview onto their CV.
6. Always provide interview feedback to candidates or their recruiters
As an employee, you know how it feels to not hear anything back about an interview you have attended. So, you should give helpful feedback about each candidate to the recruiter. This constructive feedback is invaluable career advice that they can utilise for the next interview that they go for, using it to improve on their performance.
7. Ensure that the interview questions are legal
This is crucial. You want to make sure that each of the questions you ask abide by the Equality Act 2010 – i.e you aren’t discriminating them based on their age, race, sex, religion, sexual orientation etc. Not only do you want them to be legal so that you are asking them fairly and not offending them in any way, but it will also ensure that you are abiding by the law.
8. Don’t be afraid to seek professional interviewing help
Interviewing candidates is a big task that can seem incredibly daunting for those doing it for the first time. If you are unsure about the process, what you should or shouldn’t ask, etc. you should contact a recruitment company such as Manchester Staff. We will be able to talk you through the process, how to conduct an interview and will help to create a plan that you can utilise each time it’s time to recruit a new employee.
9. Explain the recruitment process to every candidate
Interviews can be extremely nerve-wracking to candidates. They want to give the best possible impression to the company and will want to remember everything that they have learnt about it. As a hiring manager, you should explain what the process is to each candidate, starting with the time and location of their first interview. Alongside this, they should know the timescale of the process and when they will receive feedback about the interview, as well as what the next steps of the interviewing process will be if they are successful. Candidates will undoubtedly appreciate this as it gives them an indication of how the business treats its employees, how organised they are and indicates their professionalism.
10. Use a conversational tone
You don’t want the candidates to feel as though they are being interrogated – the interview process is a 2-way street after all. It’s not only the candidate that’s trying to convince you to hire them, but you also need to make the business seem attractive to them too. They will be assessing what questions you are asking, your tone, the feel within the office etc. It’s essential that you are engaging, listen to what they say and get to know them as well as asking them your pre-prepared questions. It needs to have the right balance of professionalism and informality without crossing the line.
11. Don’t keep candidates waiting for a decision
Hiring an employee is a big task that needs to be taken seriously – you don’t want to keep them waiting, uncertain if they have been successful or not. It is decent courtesy that you inform the candidate whether or not they have the job. If they were successful and you don’t tell them as soon as possible, it is likely that they will go for other interviews and accept an offer from another company.