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Do logistics undermine the outcome of your interviews?

Scheduling, delays, no-shows, re-scheduling, overlap, travel, traffic, weather, and time zone restrictions are some of the logistics that can interfere with the smooth flow of job interviews. When you have a specific timeframe for filling positions, inefficiencies can result in scheduling nightmares and lost opportunities. If you don’t have an efficient process, you may lose your best candidates (to other companies that got to them first).

Are repetition and fatigue impacting your results?

During interviews, applicants have the opportunity to share information with the company, and the company has the opportunity to share information with applicants. Ensuring that information is exchanged in a highly consistent way is a critical part of a good interview. Interviewers are only human, so they suffer fatigue from the monotony of repetitious tasks. Because of this, it’s difficult to ensure that the last interviews of the day maintain the same quality as the first. The airline industry caught on to the tedium of repetitive messages. They realized they could keep the “fasten seat belt” speech fresher and more consistent with a prerecorded message.

How well do you control for initial impressions?

Whether based on appearance, posture, a handshake, speech patterns, etc., first impressions can be an interviewer’s worst enemy. Impressions can cause biases that the remainder of the interview serves to either prove or disprove. Either way, the impression can have an undue influence on the decision about the applicant’s qualifications, and therefore, can negatively impact the accuracy and fairness of the interview. To minimize opportunities for biases, use a standardized, structured interview and evaluation process.

What impression does your interview convey about your company?

Even in today’s economy, applicants are selective. They still shop around for the best opportunity, the most interesting job, and the most positive culture. The image that your company projects during the interview process makes a strong statement about your organization. To be known as a dynamic, progressive company, you need to start building that foundation when you interview. What applicants experience during the interview process will impact their decision. So, it’s important to remember—not only are you evaluating the applicant, the applicant is evaluating you!

Secret #2:
Efficiency
Use technology to eliminate scheduling hassles and to increase access to quality candidates.

Secret #3: Consistency
Consider alternative forms of delivery for repetitive information and messages.

Secret #4: Objectivity

Use standardization and structure to minimize opportunities for biases.

Secret #5:
Marketability

View the interview process as a marketing opportunity.

How accurate are your hiring decisions?

Of all the questions you ask, this one is the most critical. Accurate ratings are the key to a great interview. You could ask your applicants the best questions in the world, yet if you don’t have an accurate way to evaluate their answers, you’re still just guessing. Unfortunately, many hiring decisions are based on little more than a guess, a hunch, or a “gut” reaction. Improving the accuracy and reliability of your ratings is the key to success and requires three components:

1. Objective observation and documentation

2. A standard rating scale that increases the range of scores
from Low to High

3. The reliability and objectivity of ratings among interviewers

An interview is like a yardstick. If it isn’t calibrated for precise measurement, then it offers no more than a wild guess. The more you can improve your rating process, focusing on these three
key components, the more accurate your hiring decisions will be.

So, are you asking the right questions?

Obviously, asking applicants the right questions is important. The right questions elicit thoughtful responses and provide insight into people’s attitudes, communication skills, and organizational fit. While every aspect of the interview is important, remember: the real secret to a great employment interview is not which questions we ask applicants, but which questions we ask about the interview process itself. By addressing these few short questions, you can ensure that your interview is effective, efficient, consistent, objective, marketable, accurate, and successful.

Secret #6: Accuracy

Improving your rating process is the most important secret of all.

Secret #7:
Success

For a great interview with great results, ask the right questions.