IN THIS CHAPTER

Looking at the basics and potential pitfalls of interviewing

Preparing for an interview

Beginning the interview

Knowing the right questions to ask — and avoid

Asking hard-hitting questions (and interpreting the answers)

Ending the interview gracefully

Interviewing is an important step in the employee selection process. If done effectively, the interview enables the employer to determine whether an applicant’s skills, experience, and personality meet the job’s requirements. By the time a candidate is brought in for an interview, the organization should be relatively confident about the candidate’s ability to succeed in the position, and the interview can increase the level of confidence.

The interview’s function is to confirm two important things, both for the organization and for the candidate:

• Can the candidate successfully accomplish the outcomes identified in the position success profile?
• From a values and motivational fit standpoint, does the candidate align with the organization and the job?

To answer these questions as accurately as possible, your interview process should be structured and consistent, and yet interviews are arguably the most subjective part of any selection system. As humans with natural bias and perspective based on our own experiences, we have to fight the tendency to judge people according to whether we simply like them or not, as opposed to making sure that the candidates we’re interviewing are being graded on job-relevant characteristics. For this reason, interviews should come later in the hiring process, after objective components of the process have been completed.

Interviews are only as effective as how and when they’re conducted. When they’re held at the right time in the process and are conducted consistently, interviews can provide you with the confidence to move forward in your selection decision. In this chapter, I take an in-depth look at interviewing, with a focus on the things you need to know and do to get the most out of the interviewing process.

Grasping the Basics of Interviewing

Interviewing for a job is stressful, no matter what side of the table you’re on. But when you’re a new hiring manager faced with the challenge of trying to hire the perfect employee or a seasoned recruiter working hard to deliver a great candidate, the stress is amplified, so it’s helpful to be super clear on the goals of the interview.

A well-done interview enables you to perform the following three tasks, which are essential to making a sound hiring decision:

• Obtain firsthand information about the candidate’s background, work experience, and skill level. This helps clarify what you discovered from the candidate’s application, résumé, candidate profile, or previous screens.
• Get a general sense of the candidate’s overall intelligence, aptitude, enthusiasm, and attitudes, with particular respect to how those attributes match up to the requirements of the job.
• Gain insight into the candidate’s basic personality traits, values, motivation to accomplish the outcomes of the job, desire to become a part of the company, and ability to integrate into the organization’s culture and the current work team.

The best interviews are interactive conversations with a purpose. They’re focused and structured while allowing for an opportunity to get to know each other.

Recognizing What Gets in the Way When Interviewing

Understanding common interviewer mistakes can help you improve your technique and make well-informed hiring decisions. Not only does a well-run interview provide you with great insight into the candidate’s experience and ways of working, but good interview techniques can also help you make a positive impression on candidates. A job candidate is likely to feel more motivated and enthusiastic about accepting a role at your company after a positive interview experience.

This section takes a look at some of the all-too-common practices that get in the way of a successful interview and ultimately hinder the candidate experience.

Setting the Stage for the Interview

Your ability to get the most out of the interviews you conduct invariably depends on how well prepared you are. Here’s a checklist of things you should do prior to any interviewing:

• Thoroughly familiarize yourself with the position success profile, especially the outcomes expected of the position. Remember, one of the primary goals of the interview is to determine with confidence whether the candidate is able to accomplish the outcomes of the position, so it’s important that the interview is clear on the expected outcomes.
• Review everything the candidate has submitted to date. That includes their online application, résumé, cover letter, online profile, and so on. Note any areas needing clarification or explanation, such as quirky job titles, gaps in work history, or hobbies that may reveal aspects of the candidate’s personality that can have a bearing on job performance.

• Set up a general structure for the interview. Create a basic schedule for the interview so that, as the meeting progresses, you reserve enough time to cover all the key areas you want to address, while also providing the candidate plenty of time to get the answers to the questions they have. Having a rough schedule to adhere to will help you begin and end the session on time, allowing you to be more efficient and showing that you respect the candidate’s time.

  A phone or video interview/pre-screen is a great use of time to provide the candidate an opportunity to ask and answer general questions and also determine whether both you and the candidate feel there is enough mutual interest to move on to the next step. (See Chapter 7 for more on pre-screens.)

• Write down the questions you intend to ask. Base your questions on the areas of the candidate’s background that deserve the most attention (based on the position success profile and your hiring criteria). Keep the list in front of you throughout the interview.
• If the interview is in person, hold the interview in a room that’s private and reasonably comfortable. Clear your desk, close the door, and set your phone to silent so that you can be free from distractions throughout the conversation.

Try not to schedule job interviews in the middle of the day or at the end of the day. Why? You’re not likely to be as relaxed and as focused as you need to be, and you may have a tough time fighting off interruptions and distractions. The ideal time to interview candidates is early morning before the workday starts. You’re fresher then, and so is the candidate. If you have no choice, give yourself a buffer of at least half an hour before the interview so that you can switch gears and prepare for the interview in the right manner.

The Pre-Interview Checklist for Hiring Managers, found online, can serve as a handy reference when preparing for an upcoming interview.

The Introduction: Warming Up

Your priority in meeting candidates face-to-face (in person or virtually) for the first time is to put them at ease. It’s important to create an environment where the candidate feels safe and comfortable to share and connect. Disregard any advice anyone has given you about doing things to create stress just to see how the individual responds. Those techniques are rarely productive, and they put both you and your company in a bad light. Instead, view the first minutes of the meeting as an opportunity to build rapport with the candidate. The more comfortable they are, the more engaging the interview will be, and the more you’ll find out about them.

If you’re in person and seated at your desk as the candidate walks in, a common courtesy is to stand and meet the individual halfway, shake hands, and let them know that you’re happy to meet them (basic stuff but easy to forget). You don’t need to cut to the chase right away with penetrating questions. Skilled job interviewers usually begin with small talk — a general comment about the weather, transportation difficulties, and so on — but they keep it to a minimum.

Leading a Successful Panel Interview

The foundation of a successful panel interview is thoughtful planning. This includes selecting which team members will participate in the interview, preparing your team, and deciding which questions each interviewer will ask the candidate. At their best, panel interviews allow interviewers to combine their strengths, perspectives, and experiences, leading to effective and comprehensive questions, but it’s important that all of the panelists are aligned. Following are some considerations to maximize the panel interview:

• Be thoughtful in selecting the right panelists. When selecting who will interview candidates, keep in mind who the primary stakeholders for the position are, who the candidate may interact with regularly once in the position, and who may be able to offer the candidate a sense of inclusion within the organization. Representation matters, and for this reason, it’s important to make sure your interview panel include people from underrepresented groups. Underrepresented groups include a variety of diverse identities, such as race and ethnicity, religious affiliation, women, veterans, people with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, and more) community.

  Interview panels often consist of four to six people and may include

  • A representative from human resources or the recruiting team
  • The hiring manager
  • One or two people from an internal client group that the new hire may interact with regularly
• Be clear on roles in the panel interview. The hiring manager generally acts as the leader for the interview, setting the tone and asking basic questions. The other members of the panel may act as the subject matter experts (SMEs) for areas specific to their skills base, but they mostly help the primary interviewer by asking clarifying questions.
• Prepare the interviewers who are serving on the panel.Interviewing can be stressful — not only for the candidate, but also for the interviewers. Before you schedule a group panel interview, properly prepare your team by doing the following:
  • Share the position success profile with each of the interviewers, so they become familiar with the requirements of the position before interviewing candidates.
  • Encourage panelists to review the candidate’s résumé to become familiar with their background so they can ask appropriate questions for the role.
  • Prep each panelist regarding which areas of the business they should focus on and, ideally, give them standardized interview questions to reduce bias.
• Schedule the panel interview. Determine whether to hold an in-person interview or a virtual interview. Traditional face-to-face interviews are best for companies that require employees to show up on-site, whereas virtual interviews are best for filling remote roles or interviewing executive talent that may be located in faraway areas. Because panel interviews involve multiple people with multiple schedules, an effort must be made to synchronize calendars.
• Determine the best location/room for the interview. If you’re holding the group panel interview in person at your office, it’s best to choose an effective location. These interviews work best when participants are able to hear and see each other comfortably. Therefore, avoid very large rooms or incredibly long tables for a small number of participants.
• Make introductions at the beginning of the interview. It’s mission critical to create an environment that’s welcoming and comfortable for the candidate. Introductions set a tone, establish trust, and are a great way to reinforce your organization’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. Each panelist should introduce themselves including their name and title, at a minimum. A brief explanation of how their role or department would interface with the open role is helpful to add context for the candidate.
• Take turns asking interview questions. Because one of the advantages of interviewing in a group panel format is immediate access to varying perspectives and experiences, you should leverage the people in the room. The hiring manager often acts as the “lead” during a panel interview, facilitating the conversational flow and line of questioning, but other panelists should ask appropriate clarifying questions as well. For instance, if the panelist is a subject matter expert, they should use their expertise to ask questions about the candidate’s experience.
• Collaborate following the interview. The final step in conducting a group panel interview is to discuss the notes taken during the interview and collaborate to decide. Using an evaluation and scorecard during the interview process can help put together all thoughts on the candidate. Each individual panelist should take their own notes during the interview, citing the strengths and weaknesses of the candidate. Once the interview has concluded, the panelists should gather to discuss the candidate and compare notes. The hiring manager can then use those notes to make the final hiring decision.

The same guidelines for appropriate questioning and comments that apply to the formal interview apply to casual discussions and chitchat. (See “Recognizing What to Ask (and Not to Ask)” later in this chapter.)

After the small talk is out of the way, your next step is to give the candidate a very basic overview of what you’re expecting to get from the interview and how long you estimate it to last. Be careful not to give too much information, though. Saying too much about the skills and characteristics you’re looking for turns a savvy interviewee into a “parrot” who can repeat the same key words they just heard.

Mastering the Art of Q&A

The Q&A is the main part of the interview. How you phrase questions, when you ask them, how you follow up — each of these aspects of interviewing can go a long way toward affecting the quality and value of the answers you get. The following sections describe the key practices that differentiate people who’ve mastered the art of questioning from those who haven’t.

For an Interview Q&A Form, see the online tools.

Recognizing What to Ask (and Not to Ask)

The questions you or others in your organization ask during a job interview can result in legal problems for the company if you fail to follow certain guidelines. Even the most innocent of questions can result in a discrimination suit at some point.

Antidiscrimination and consumer protection legislation restricts the type and scope of pre-employment questions that you can ask. Moreover, court decisions and administrative rulings have refined what you can and can’t ask, and, to make matters even more confusing, standards can vary from state to state — and even from city to city.

Here are some current pitfalls:

• Be sensitive to age discrimination issues. Remember that any question that may indicate the candidate’s age may be interpreted as discriminatory. In other words, don’t ask a question such as “When did you graduate from high school?”
• Beware of double-edged questions. Caution all the interviewers in your company to keep their innocent curiosity (as evidenced in a question such as “What kind of a name is that?”) from exposing your company to charges of discrimination.
• Don’t confuse before and after. Questions considered illegal before hiring may be acceptable after the individual is on the payroll. Age is a good example. You can’t ask a person’s age before hiring, but after hiring, the information may be needed for health insurance or pension forms.

For more detailed information on how to avoid discrimination when you’re asking interview questions, see the Employment Inquiries Fact Sheet in the online tools.

The following sections provide a rundown of which questions are permitted before hiring and which are not. Check with your attorney for any local restrictions or new rulings and keep in mind that all questions must directly relate to a bona fide job requirement.

Even questions that seem okay to ask under the following guidelines may be discriminatory if they’re asked in circumstances that suggest a discriminatory intent — for example, asking only female employees who reveal that they have children whether they have any reason they couldn’t work overtime or on the weekend.

Keep your questions focused on the expected outcomes of the position and away from the candidate’s personal life.

During the interview, you can use the Nondiscriminatory Interview Question Reference Sheet in the online tools to help you avoid potentially problematic questions.

Asking Solid Questions and Knowing How to Interpret the Answers

What makes an interview question “good”? A good question does two things:

• It gives you the specific information you need to make a sound hiring decision.
• It helps you gain insight into the candidate’s values and their experience and style.

Avoid timeworn, clichéd questions, such as “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” or “Where do you see yourself in the next five years?” Instead, develop a list of questions designed to elicit responses that will be most helpful in evaluating a candidate’s suitability for your position and organization.

You can ask hundreds of such questions, but here are some to get you started, along with ideas on what to look for in the answers:

• “What interests you about this job, and what skills and strengths can you bring to it?” Nothing tricky here, but it’s a solid question all the same. Note that the question is not “What are your skills and strengths?” but “What skills and strengths can you bring to the job?” The answer is yet another way to gauge how much interest the applicant has in the job and how well prepared they are for the interview. Stronger candidates should be able to correlate their skills with specific job requirements: “I think my experience as a foreign correspondent will be of great help in marketing products to overseas customers.” They will answer the question in the context of contributions they can make to the company.
• “Can you tell me a little about your current job?” Strong candidates should be able to give you a short and precise summary of duties and responsibilities. How they answer this question can help you determine their passion and enthusiasm for their work and their sense of personal accountability. Be wary of applicants who bad-mouth or blame their employers.
• “In a way that anyone could understand, can you describe a professional achievement that you’re proud of?” This question is especially good when you’re interviewing someone for a technical position, such as a systems analyst or tax accountant. The answer shows the applicant’s ability to explain what they do so that anyone can understand it. Do they avoid jargon in the description? Do they get points across clearly? Failure to do so may be a sign that the candidate can’t step out of their world sufficiently to work with people in other departments, which is a growing necessity in many organizations today.
• “How have you changed the nature of your current job?” A convincing answer here shows adaptability and a willingness to take the bull by the horns, if necessary. An individual who chose to do a job differently from other people also may show creativity and resourcefulness. The question gives candidates a chance to talk about such contributions as greater efficiencies or cost savings. If a candidate says they didn’t change the nature of the job, that response can tell you something as well.

• “What was the most difficult decision you ever had to make on the job?” Notice the intentionally vague aspect of this question. It’s not hypothetical; it’s real. What you’re looking for is the person’s decision-making style and how it fits into your company culture. Someone who admits that firing a subordinate was difficult demonstrates compassion. Those who successfully decided to approach a coworker over a conflict may turn out to be great team players. Individuals who admit to a mistake exhibit honesty and open-mindedness.

  Also, note how people went about making the decision. Seeking the advice of others, for example, may mean that they’re team centered. This question is an especially important one if you’re interviewing a candidate for a middle- or senior-level management position.

• “Why did you decide to pursue a new job?” This question is just a different way of asking, “What are you looking for in a job?” Some candidates come so well-rehearsed that they’re never at a loss for an answer. Sometimes by phrasing the question in a different way, you can cause them to go off script.

• “I see that you’ve been unemployed for the past few months. Why did you leave your last job, and what have you been doing since then?” This question is important, but don’t let it seem accusatory. Especially in challenging economic times, it’s not unusual for highly competent people to find themselves unemployed through no fault of their own and unable to prevent gaps in their employment history. Pursuing the issue in a neutral, diplomatic way is important. Try to get specific, factual answers that you can verify later.

  At the same time — and as noted in Chapter 7 — the reasons for employment gaps may pertain to legally protected information that you, the employer, may not consider in making hiring or any other employment-related decision. For example, an applicant who was unemployed due to cancer very likely has a protected disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act and similar state laws. Probing into the reasons underlying employment gaps can unearth information that you, the employer, may not want to be injected into the application/hiring process. You must be careful when approaching this issue.

• “Who was your best boss ever and why? Who was the worst, and, looking back, what could you have done to make that relationship better?” These two questions are more penetrating than you may think. Among other things, the answers give you insight into how the candidate views and responds to supervision. A reflective, responsive answer to the second part of the question may indicate a loyal employee capable of rising above an unpleasant supervisory situation and/or learning from past mistakes, both highly desirable qualities. A bitter, critical answer may indicate someone who holds grudges or simply can’t get along with certain kinds of people. Yes, personality clashes occur all the time, but in today’s team-oriented workplace, you want employees who try to minimize these clashes and not use them as excuses.
• “Are you more comfortable and successful working alone with information or working with other people?” The ideal answer here is “both.” People who say they like working with information are obviously a good choice for technical positions, but it may be a red flag if they don’t also enjoy communicating and collaborating with other individuals — increasingly a function of even highly technical jobs. An excellent candidate may say that the different perspectives within a group produce more innovative ideas than one person working alone can, but without information a team can’t get very far.
• “What sorts of things do you think your current/past company could do to be more successful?” This one is a great big-picture question. You’re probing to find out whether the candidate has a clear understanding of their current or past employer’s missions and goals and whether they have worked with those goals in mind. Candidates who can’t answer this question well are demonstrating a lack of depth and interest, which can quite likely carry over into your organization. Sometimes the answer to this question also reveals hidden bitterness or anger at an employer. But make clear to the candidate that you’re not looking for proprietary or confidential information.
• “Can you describe a typical day at work in your last job?” Strong candidates can give you specific details that you can verify later, but the main point of this question is to see how the applicant’s current (or most recent) routine compares with the requirements of the job in question. How interviewees describe their duties can prove highly revealing. Do you sense any real enthusiasm or interest? Do the details match the information you already have? You’re looking for enthusiasm and some indication that the applicant connects their current duties with company goals.
• “What sort of work environment do you prefer? What brings out your best performance?” Probe for specifics. You want to find out whether this person is going to be successful and fulfilled in the role and at your company. If your corporate culture is collegial and team centered, you don’t want someone who answers, “I like to be left alone to do my work.” You also may uncover unrealistic expectations or potential future clashes (“My plan is to spend a couple months in the mailroom and then apply for the presidency of the company”). People rarely, if ever, work at their best in all situations. Candidates who say otherwise aren’t being honest with themselves or with you.
• “How do you handle conflict? Can you give me an example of how you handled a workplace disagreement in the past?” You want candidates who try to be reasonable but nonetheless stand up for what’s right. Unfortunately, most candidates say the right things, which is why you want some specifics. Be suspicious if the answer is too predictable. Some people may be naturally easygoing, but candidates who say that they never get into conflict situations are either dishonest or delusional.
• “How would you respond if you were placed in a situation that you felt presented a conflict of interest or was unethical? Have you ever had this experience in previous positions?” No rational candidate is going to say that sometimes it’s okay to be unethical. But how individuals approach this question and any anecdotes they share can offer valuable insights as to how they may respond if faced with such a situation.
• “What are your compensation expectations?” There’s no “trick” to this question. You simply want to get a sense early on whether the candidate’s desired pay is in line with what you’ve budgeted for the open position. This can prevent you from continuing to move through the hiring process a promising candidate whose salary expectations far exceed your own.

In addition to an opportunity to showcase their qualifications, savvy candidates use the interview to find out as much as they can about the position and company, so don’t be surprised if they come prepared with questions of their own. Don’t interpret questions as disruptive to your agenda. They’re a show of interest and professionalism; remember that the interview process goes both ways. The candidate is interviewing you just as much as you’re interviewing the candidate. In addition, you can proactively address many of their curiosities by proactively promoting your company during the interview. Just as candidates try to show how their skills are a match with the position, you also can point out programs and policies that fit the needs of promising applicants and highlight the aspects of the corporate culture that make your firm a great place to work.

End Game: Closing on the Right Note

With only a few minutes to go, you can bring the session to a graceful close by following these steps:

1. Offer the candidate a broad-brushstroke summary of the interview.

   Sum up what the candidate has said about their fit for the position, reasons for wanting the job, and so on. This summary demonstrates that you were a sincere listener and that you care about the candidate as a person. That leaves a good impression. It also gives the candidate an opportunity to clarify any misunderstandings.

2. Let the candidate ask questions.

3. Let the candidate know what comes next.

   Advise the candidate how and when you’re going to contact them and whether any further steps need to be taken — for example, there may be additional assessments you want to include in the process. Being clear on next steps not only is a common courtesy but also creates a good impression and is an important part of a great candidate experience.

   Also, let the candidate know you’ll be in touch regardless of the hiring decision. Not all companies say, “Thanks, but no thanks” to rejected applicants, but it’s a sign of respect and consideration.

4. End the interview on a formal but sincere note.

   Thank the candidate for their time and repeat your commitment to follow up. If the interview is in person, either stand or shake hands again. This action formally ends the session and provides a signal for the candidate to leave. Walk the applicant out of the office to the elevator lobby or front door.

And one last suggestion: As soon as possible after the candidate’s departure, take a moment to collect your thoughts and write down your impressions and a summary of your notes. You don’t need to make any definitive decisions at this point, but recording your impressions while they’re still fresh in your mind will help you immeasurably if the final choice boils down to several candidates, all of whose qualifications are comparable. Along these lines, collect all feedback from other interviewers who met with the candidate the same day that they met with the interviewee. This allows you to gather feedback while it’s still fresh and when it’s most relevant.

The online tools contains a Candidate Interview Evaluation Form, which you can use to record your impressions of job candidates.

Completing the evaluation form will set you up for clarity as you’re making hiring decisions.