Interview Tips for Interviewers

Many employees will at some point have to conduct an interview or be on a panel of interviewers. Just like attending an interview as a candidate, this can be a daunting task.

You may be nervous about the whole process and unsure of how to best prepare and conduct the interview. Or, you may be looking for ways to improve your interview technique.

To get the most from an interview, there are multiple things you can do as the interviewer to make the process successful.

From preparing in advance to asking the right types of questions and making the candidate feel at ease, the following tips for interviewers will help make your interviews go smoothly and make finding the perfect candidate easy.

Top Tips for Interviewers

Pre-Interview Preparation

Just like when interviewing for a position, it’s important to prepare in advance for the interview you’re going to conduct. This includes reviewing candidate applications, preparing questions, and refreshing yourself on the position requirements.

Some guidelines for those professionals who are not usually engaged in the interview process on a regular basis follow below.

Pre-interview prep includes preparing questions and refreshing yourself on position requirements.

Prepare Questions

Prepare questions you plan to ask the candidate ahead of the interview. You should have a standard set of questions for all candidates and then a few personalized questions for each candidate if necessary.

Prepare a mix of behavioral and situational questions. Behavioral questions focus on experience and performance. Such as how the candidate managed a project. Situational questions are more hypothetical. They’re used to see how a candidate would act in a speculative situation.

Of course, you’re also likely to come up with questions as the interview discussion progresses but you need a good set of questions to begin with.

Additionally, you should know the answers to questions that are likely to be asked by the candidate. These include questions about the role itself as well as salary and benefits questions.

Beware of Illegal Questions

Keep in mind there are various questions that would be considered illegal for any interviewer to ask. These include asking a candidate’s age, about their marital and familial status (“Are you married?”, “Do you have children?”, “Do you plan to have children?”, etc.), and questions relating directly to drug or alcohol use or if they’ve ever been arrested.

You can also not ask if they’re a native English speaker. However, you can ask things like “How are your communication skills?”, or “What languages are you fluent in?” If you’re worried about someone’s level of English (or other languages you need them to be fluent in), you could administer a quick test asking them to reply to an email, for example, to see how well they communicate.

Review the Candidate’s Resume and Cover Letter

It’s a good idea to review the candidate’s cover letter and resume before the interview. You’ll be able to use these documents to help formulate some candidate-specific questions.

For example, is there anything included in the cover letter or resume that you need more information on? Or are there gaps in their skill set or work history that you’d like explained?

If applicable, also look through their portfolio/work samples. Again, you may have some questions relating to these.

Lastly, ensure you print out a copy of the candidate’s resume and cover letter to have in the interview for reference.

Review the Job Description

You should also review the job description to remind yourself what tasks the candidate will undertake if hired and the skills and experience you requested that they have.

You can use the job description to help create broader questions that you'll give to each candidate too.

Additionally, reviewing the job description and candidate application together will make it easier to see if anything you requested is missing from their resume.

Consider Additional Interviewers

Before interviews begin, think about how many interviewers need to be involved.

If other employees are close to the position, it can be very valuable to include them. For example, if you’re the CEO, it will be valuable to include the position's department head.

You could also include any other employees that will work closely with and/or manage the candidate if hired. Lastly, you could include the employee who has the position now, if appropriate.

Having two or three interviewers can help a lot with decision making. You’ll have other people to discuss candidates with who have actually spoken to them. Additional interviewers may also come up with important questions to ask that you didn’t think of.

You can use the job description to help create broader questions that you'll give to each candidate.

During the Interview

Being well prepared will help a lot in conducting the interview. There are also some things to keep in mind during each interview you conduct to make the interview successful. This practice will lead to a successful process and can eliminate the need for additional interviews which can create a sense of weariness for both parties.

Make the Candidate Feel Comfortable

Most interviewees will be nervous. Being too nervous can unnaturally alter their performance.

While you won’t be able to completely eliminate this nervousness, you can do some things to help make interviewees feel more at ease.

In order to establish a pleasant atmosphere for the candidate (while still being professional) maintain eye contact to show that you are actively listening and interested in what the candidate has to say.

While maintaining a polite and pleasant atmosphere, do keep the focus on work-related questions and don’t spend too much time discussing personal interests.

Explain Interview Structure and Introduce Yourself and the Company

You should have a set interview structure and it’s a good idea to outline this to the candidate before you begin asking questions.

Start the interview by giving a brief description of the company and a quick outline of the responsibilities the candidate will have if hired for the position.

Introduce yourself and any fellow interviewers at the beginning of the interview. Explain your role and why you are part of the interview. You can then ask them to tell you about themselves and why they’re interested in the position.

Let the Candidate Talk

When interviewing, you don’t want to dominate the discussion. Make sure that the candidate is speaking most of the time. Interviewers should be speaking for about 30% of the time at most.

Use your time to ask questions and ask for additional details on responses if needed. Then use the remainder of your speaking time at the beginning of the interview for introductions and at the end to answer candidate questions.

Take Notes

You should always take notes while interviewing candidates. This helps greatly when you’re reviewing all the candidates together.

A good idea is to print out the questions you plan to ask with space for notes. You’ll then easily be able to compare each candidate’s response to each question you asked.

Also, make notes where applicable on their resume and cover letter and have a notepad for any additional notes.

You could additionally have a score section on your question sheet with a place to score each candidate’s response to questions from one to ten.

Let the candidate speak. Interviewers should be speaking for about 30% of the time at most.

Answering Questions

When answering candidate questions, be sure to provide honest and direct responses. If you really don’t know the answer, tell them you’ll check before they leave or email them the response.

You can use this period to pitch your company more to them too. Remember, the candidate needs to be impressed by you and the company as well as vice versa. If they aren’t impressed, they may decide this isn’t as desirable a role as they thought and may choose another company if they get multiple job offers.

Focus 100% on the Interview

Be sure all of your attention is on the interview. Ensure that any calls are put through to voicemail or the caller is asked to call back by another employee. Also, don’t have your cell phone out while interviewing, and make sure it’s on silent if in the room with you.

Additionally, keep your schedule free for 30-minutes to an hour after the end time of the interview. This allows you to spend more time with the candidate than you had planned if needed.

If they happen to be late (while this won’t reflect well, sometimes it can’t be helped and you may wish to interview them still despite this), you’ll still have the needed time to conduct the interview.

Rushing a candidate out because you have another meeting, interview, or other engagement doesn’t give a great impression.

Follow-up with the Candidate

Always follow up with the candidate even if you aren't giving them the job. They took time to come in so be sure to thank them and let them know the outcome even if they’ve been rejected.

It’s important that each candidate feels that their efforts of taking time to apply for a position at your company was acknowledged and respected. You are a representative of the company they would like to be part of. The impression the candidate should have is that the company team they had hoped to join is comprised of individuals who are responsible as well as responsive.

It can also be helpful to give a few constructive reasons as to why they didn’t get the job. The candidate may be a good fit for a future position or you may come into contact with them again in a professional setting. Therefore, it’s important to keep a good relationship with them throughout the hiring process.