Providing a Memorable Interview

Many articles about job interviews focus on the job seeker; few take a look at how to do well in an interview from the employer’s perspective.

But a good interview on a hiring manager’s part is just as important as for a job seeker. After all, the hiring manager wants to put his/her company or department in the best light possible so that top candidates will look favorably at the job opportunity.

Read below for some tips on how to “ace” your interviews with job candidates.

  • Remember that the interview is as much about your company’s culture as it is about the candidate. You want to make sure you “sell” your company or department as a terrific place to work and advance one’s career as the candidate working to sell you on his or her abilities. So make sure you talk about your company’s quirks (easy going, challenge-oriented, etc.). Talk about continuing education opportunities (as applicable), promotion opportunities (as applicable), the goals you have for your business/department, etc.
  • Talking about your company’s culture also is a great way to see if a candidate is a good fit for the culture. Most new hires who leave a company mere weeks or months don’t leave due to incompetence. Instead, most people who leave a job relatively quickly do so because they don’t fit in in some way. So making sure a candidate understands your particular culture is critical.
  • Create a conversation. You don’t want to be the one doing all the talking. Yes, you want to talk up your company, but you don’t want to do so much talking that you learn nothing about the candidate. An interview should be a two-way give and take.
  • You don’t necessarily have to ask “magic bullet” questions to see how quickly (or if) a candidate can answer a rather difficult math question. Neither do you have to ask really tough questions. Still, you should ask challenging questions. Does the candidate have a gap in employment? Be sure to delve deep into why (without getting too personal, especially if the candidate says he or she left work to raise children/help a sick relative).But if it was to travel, to “decide what I want to do,” dig deep. This will help you see how the candidate thinks and can help you gauge his or her work ethic.
  • Make sure you ask the candidate what he or she knows about your company. This will help you learn how much research the candidate did on your firm prior to the interview. The more research, the more the candidate is truly interested in your opportunity and the better and more engaged employee such a candidate likely will be.

If you need help with interviewing – from culling through resumes, to preliminary/phone screenings, to final interviews – contact Arrow Staffing. We can help you with the interview process from start to hire. We look forward to hearing from you.

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