When interviewing candidates for employment there are a few job interview questions and techniques that are vital to remember. This article looks at how to interview to get the very best employees. Your goal is to hire the best, those with great character. If you do, employee retention won't be a problem.
A Job Interview With a Purpose
I believe that you should hire character and attitude first and skills second. If you believe that to be true, then you must show up at the interview knowing the character traits you want to find, as you ask each of you interview questions.
How to Interview Well
A successful job interview is a two way street. There are things you must learn about the candidate from the job interview questions you ask and there are things the candidate must learn about you, your organization, and the other employees. This will help them to see if this job is right for them too. Employee retention is the goal. It's costly to always be hiring and firing.
You must be able to communicate, when hiring employees, what the job involves, what the culture of your company is, what your desired character traits are, and walk them through an ordinary day. They must understand what your business is like.
Conducting a good job interview is both a skill and an art. A typical failure of many employers is to go through their job interview questions, even if the questions are well thought out, and never tell the employee candidate what your company culture is. Both you and they have information vital to making a good decision. Share it!
Your Current Employees Can Make the Difference!
Let the candidate interview with one of your employees in addition to yourself. They can find out whether this job will fit them by spending time with a current employee and learning about your culture. They'll often ask them questions they would never ask you. You don't want to hire someone who won't fit in. It wastes your time and theirs.
Measure Twice!
Here is a great job interview tip. Take the advice of the carpenter! You know the old carpenter's adage: measure twice, cut once. This works when recruiting employees too. Interview twice, hire once!
You must give a second interview to any candidate with potential. Never make a hiring decision at the first interview. Generally interviews make people nervous. Sometimes a person might do very well at a first interview but another well qualified person may not. That second job interview might just give you the insight you need to understand the person.
Interviewing employees twice helps the candidate to be less nervous and gives you a better idea who they really are. Look at the results and answers from both employee interviews to figure out who is the best candidate for each job.
It is better to have another employee involved in the first job interview. When the qualified prospect attends the second job interview they are often more comfortable and have thought of other questions. Answering their job interview questions will help both of you and get the best hiring decision. It's not just your job interview questions that matter, it's also the prospective employee's.
In the end, no matter how well you perform a job interview, you can't know for sure how things will turn out until the new hire is on board.
I remember an a candidate we hired a long time ago. Three of us interviewed her and she seemed like a great choice. Her first day with us surprised us all. Did we really interview her identical twin sister? We must have as the person who showed up for work was completely different from the one we interviewed!
The lesson: some people handle job interview questions well and some don't. Try talking to prior employers of the candidate. It's a great way to gain insights and to avoid unpleasant surprises. Take the time and do it right. Interviewing employees is as much an art as a skill.
A Job Interview With a Purpose
I believe that you should hire character and attitude first and skills second. If you believe that to be true, then you must show up at the interview knowing the character traits you want to find, as you ask each of you interview questions.
How to Interview Well
A successful job interview is a two way street. There are things you must learn about the candidate from the job interview questions you ask and there are things the candidate must learn about you, your organization, and the other employees. This will help them to see if this job is right for them too. Employee retention is the goal. It's costly to always be hiring and firing.
You must be able to communicate, when hiring employees, what the job involves, what the culture of your company is, what your desired character traits are, and walk them through an ordinary day. They must understand what your business is like.
Conducting a good job interview is both a skill and an art. A typical failure of many employers is to go through their job interview questions, even if the questions are well thought out, and never tell the employee candidate what your company culture is. Both you and they have information vital to making a good decision. Share it!
Your Current Employees Can Make the Difference!
Let the candidate interview with one of your employees in addition to yourself. They can find out whether this job will fit them by spending time with a current employee and learning about your culture. They'll often ask them questions they would never ask you. You don't want to hire someone who won't fit in. It wastes your time and theirs.
Measure Twice!
Here is a great job interview tip. Take the advice of the carpenter! You know the old carpenter's adage: measure twice, cut once. This works when recruiting employees too. Interview twice, hire once!
You must give a second interview to any candidate with potential. Never make a hiring decision at the first interview. Generally interviews make people nervous. Sometimes a person might do very well at a first interview but another well qualified person may not. That second job interview might just give you the insight you need to understand the person.
Interviewing employees twice helps the candidate to be less nervous and gives you a better idea who they really are. Look at the results and answers from both employee interviews to figure out who is the best candidate for each job.
It is better to have another employee involved in the first job interview. When the qualified prospect attends the second job interview they are often more comfortable and have thought of other questions. Answering their job interview questions will help both of you and get the best hiring decision. It's not just your job interview questions that matter, it's also the prospective employee's.
In the end, no matter how well you perform a job interview, you can't know for sure how things will turn out until the new hire is on board.
I remember an a candidate we hired a long time ago. Three of us interviewed her and she seemed like a great choice. Her first day with us surprised us all. Did we really interview her identical twin sister? We must have as the person who showed up for work was completely different from the one we interviewed!
The lesson: some people handle job interview questions well and some don't. Try talking to prior employers of the candidate. It's a great way to gain insights and to avoid unpleasant surprises. Take the time and do it right. Interviewing employees is as much an art as a skill.
About the Author:
Steven Schlagel, CPA, CFP, JD is a small business coach, consultant and teacher. This article on Job Interview Questions is just one of many you can access by clicking here. If you want to know more about him or his services visit My-Small-Business-Mentor.com.
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