We’re often so concerned about employing a person with the right skills, we forget to think about character and attitude.
Skills are learned; character and attitude are not!
If you’re not totally satisfied with your recent staff appointments, maybe it’s time to re-think how you do interviews. Here are some tips to bear in mind:
- Prepare! Prepare well beforehand. If you leave the person waiting because you are unprepared for their arrival, this shows your MO. A good applicant will not be impressed by this.
- Make it a 2-way interaction. You are also being interviewed. The job applicant wants enough information to decide if they want to be part of your business. Give as much information as you can freely, within your confidentiality constraints.
- If you ask vague questions, you will get vague answers. Be specific about the information you want to know. The applicant will see you have thought about your requirements.
- Encourage a dialogue, rather than the usual ‘tick and flick’ questions and answers. You want to learn about the person.
- Find another way to ask an applicant about their weaknesses. Applicants usually have an answer prepared for the standard “What is your weakness?” question – but how do you test the integrity of their answer?
- Rather than ask, at the end of the interview, if the applicant has any questions, ask at the beginning.
- Be real and allow the applicant to be real. No-one is perfect. Your authenticity will show the applicant you are real, and will help them to understand you and the workplace. Many a person has been disappointed because of a “smoke and mirrors” interview.
- Rather than ask how applicants handled situations in the past, ask how they would handle a hypothetical situation. It will help you to gauge how the person would handle a situation. This is better than have their describing a situation where they may have done something differently in hindsight. You can tailor questions to your workplace and gain a more realistic response.
Happy interviewing!
Adapted from 7 Tips for Conducting Better Job Interviews by Sue Parker, Founder of DARE Group in My Business Magazine Summer 2016/2017 p. 6
