5 ways to deliver a great interview

1 - Prepare for the interview
2 - Candidate accessibility comes first
3 - Make it a conversation
4 - Reviewing the interview experience
5 - Don't forget the follow-up

There are 5 considerations when it comes to conducting an effective interview process; preparation, ease of use, conversation, impression and the follow-up. Considering all these points will ensure the interview will be as smooth as possible for both candidate and interviewer.

Prepare for the interview

Before coming up with what questions to ask your candidates, first think of what kind of employee you are looking to hire and note down what attributes and traits they have. This can be aided by bringing in other colleagues into the process and looking toward top performers in your organisation. What makes them the top performer? That’s what you want to see in your potential new hire.

Being prepared for the candidate themselves is also important. You want to show the candidate that you’ve taken the time to go through their CV and this allows you to explore the candidate’s experiences more thoroughly. It can also be a good idea to bring a copy of their CV into the interview itself as it allows you to quickly reference anything you wish to know more about, such as gaps in employment.

Preparing the candidate as well is also just as beneficial. You can let the candidate know what to expect from the interview and what could be asked. This helps the candidate feel more prepared and confident while settling a few nerves. Also ensuring the candidate understands the role they’ve applied for by sending the job description can ensure the candidate knows what to expect.

This is especially relevant when 78% of candidates say they find it difficult to find information about companies prior to interview.

Candidate accessibility comes first

Remember that interviews can be a stressful time for most candidates, it helps to make the process of booking an interview as easy and convenient as possible. This can be achieved by a self-service interview booking system which allows candidates to select a date/time that suits them.

Jobtrain offers self-service interviews as part of our platform, which decreases your time-to-hire and boosts your candidate experience!

With the ever-increasing rise of remote working and hybrid roles, it is important to offer candidates the chance at a video interview as well. This also allows greater flexibility for both interviewer and candidate, while also assisting candidates who may find it harder to travel.

Opening a clear line of communication between interviewer and candidate is crucial to avoiding missed emails and delayed responses. Automated systems as mentioned above help with this massively and all leads to a slicker process, which in turn gives candidates the best impression of how you and your organisation operate; we will discuss this idea later.

Glassdoor reported that 44% of jobseekers find the biggest frustration during the hiring process is companies cancelling/postponing interviews. With a system such as self-service interviews, the chance of this occurring is decreased significantly.

Make it a conversation

What you will ask the candidate will already be known as you’ve prepared accordingly. Asking the candidate about parts of their CV, what interests they have, why they left their previous jobs etc., it all helps to build a connection with them which ultimately allows them to open up and display the best version of themselves.

Presenting a common issue or problem your team face to the candidate and seeing how they would respond is a great way of identifying any problem-solving strengths they have. It can also give you an indication as to how they prefer to work, do they lean more toward the collaborative side or a more independent approach? Open-ended questions allow candidates to expand on their own strengths and display how they communicate.

You want the interview itself to feel like a natural conversation and not just working through a set list of questions. This helps candidates be more open and seeing how they work naturally is exactly what you want when considering them for the future. Did you know that having a positive candidate experience makes candidates 38% more likely to accept a job offer?

Reviewing the experience

The type of impression you want to give off to candidates is something you need to think about at all stages of the interview process. It can be easy to solely think about what impression the candidate needs to show you but remember that you need to ‘sell’ your organisation to a potential new hire. The last thing you want is finding the ideal candidate only for them to turn down an offer based on a negative experience. The interview is the best way to make sure the candidate experience is a positive one.

A great way to giving the right impression is to take the candidate on a walking tour to meet their potential new colleague. Speaking to someone who has been in the potential new hire’s role is great for the candidate to better understand the role and what to expect.

You also need to consider the candidates you don’t intend to go further with. You have a reputation to uphold and if you don’t respond or reach out to unsuccessful candidates then you could be harming that. One of the biggest factors (53%) contributing to a positive process is receiving feedback from the company, even if they were not hired.

Don't forget to follow-up

Following up on the interview process with candidates is the final and equally important step. You want to do this in a timely fashion as to not keep candidates waiting. If you already know which candidate you want to hire, don’t keep them and the others who will be rejected waiting.

Make sure you are prepared for any questions from the candidates themselves, a lot of unsuccessful candidates will want an explanation, so make sure you are constructive with any criticism.

It’s also a good idea to give candidates a rough timeframe of when to expect a follow-up once the interview is over. 52% of candidates report a positive experience when recruiters inform them of the steps needed after the interview