Honing Your Interviewing Skills To Hire the Best People

Guest Blog from Hope Howard

Small business owners often end up juggling a lot of hats, which is why hiring other team members is an important step towards creating sustainable business efforts. In order to steer their business towards continued growth, entrepreneurs need to be great interviewers as well – one of the keys to hiring the best talent as quickly as possible. Whether it’s your first time interviewing potential team members, or you have previously made the mistake of hiring the wrong people, there are many ways to hone your listening and speaking skills in order to make the most out of every candidate interview.

There’s no such thing as being too prepared.

Being adequately prepared ensures that the interview process goes as smoothly as possible. In terms of what you need to prepare, Comeet reminds entrepreneurs that interviewing is not just about finding the best candidates, but also about promoting your brand and company to your targeted prospects. Not only should you thoroughly review your candidates’ CVs and perform deep background checks, you should also be able to succinctly explain your company’s mission and structure, as well as the requirements of the positions you need to fill. By being aware of what candidates’ are bringing to the table – as well as what characteristics and skills you should be looking for – it will be easier to clarify misunderstandings about job requirements, prepare relevant questions for candidates, and hire individuals who can help you achieve your business goals.

Call candidates for pre-interviews.

Also known as a “phone screen,” telephone pre-interviews eliminate a lot of the guesswork during actual face-to-face interviews. More importantly, The Balance notes how it saves time for both companies and candidates as phone screening allows companies to determine whether or not a face-to-face interview is even necessary. Calling candidates on the phone before calling them into your office clarifies misunderstandings on both ends and ultimately narrows down your prospects to those that actually fit your business needs. Whatever information you and your candidate missed in the initial exchange of the hiring process can be clarified in this important phone call.

Ask only the most relevant questions.

If you’ve done the due research and conducted phone screening, then you’re ready to craft the right questions for your candidate. Make sure your questions about job qualifications are straight to the point. Include questions about work ethic, attitude, and personality as well. Avoid questions that can be answered by simply looking at your candidates’ CVs and cover letters – unless you want them to confirm, clarify, or expand on certain points. Ask situational questions that can tell you how candidates will react to certain circumstances or events.

Prepare to listen more than speak.

Entrepreneur says that spending more than 20% of the interview talking means that you’re likely not letting candidates a chance to speak, which is what face-to-face interviews are all about. If you’re confident that your questions during the interview are relevant to the job at hand, then you should allow candidates to voice out their answers as much as they want to. Note down important points that your candidate touches on so you can circle back to them if need be later in the interview.

Let candidates ask you questions.

You should be more than prepared not just to ask questions but to answer them as well. After getting the candidate to answer all your relevant questions, ask them if they have any questions about the job, the company, or the people behind the company. Apart from being a good and informative way to close the interview, letting the candidate ask questions also provides more insight into their compatibility with your company.

An interview is vitally important in ensuring that you get the right person for the job, and hope the above tips have helped. If you’re looking for more ways to get your company on the path to continued growth, you might want to look into our Free 60-Minute Business Kickstart Session.