Tweet

The Interview Process in a Nutshell

Written by: Kirsten Ross

Article Overview: Have you ever thought about the full cost of hiring a new employee? There are the obvious costs: placing an ad, the wages spent on time looking at resumes and conducting interviews, pre-employment physical, reference checks. Then there are the less obvious costs: wages for training time of both the trainer and new employee, lost productivity while the position is vacant, lost productivity while the new employee learns and gets up to speed, the cost of mistakes. When you add it all up it definitely motivates you to minimize employee turnover, doesn’t it? And there are many strategies an employer can utilize to create an environment that inspires employee loyalty. But the first and most important step is making the right hiring decision.

The Interview Process in a Nutshell

Have you ever thought about the full cost of hiring a new employee? There are the obvious costs: placing an ad, the wages spent on time looking at resumes and conducting interviews, pre-employment physical, reference checks.

Then there are the less obvious costs: wages for training time of both the trainer and new employee, lost productivity while the position is vacant, lost productivity while the new employee learns and gets up to speed, the cost of mistakes.

When you add it all up it definitely motivates you to minimize employee turnover, doesn’t it? And there are many strategies an employer can utilize to create an environment that inspires employee loyalty. But the first and most important step is making the right hiring decision.

A good interview process is about finding a great fit not just a warm body! It takes planning and an intentional process. Because, if you hire the wrong person then you are also dealing with the added costs of an ineffective team, lost productivity, wages spent on time dealing with employee issues, employee complaints, or worse yet, patient/customer complaints.

Becoming a great interviewer just takes some practice. Starting with a good process definitely helps. Here are some of the basic steps of a good solid interview.

Planning the Interview

Determine Required Skills

Mandatory Skills – Required by State or Federal Regulations

Require Special Schooling or Training

Can not be easily taught on the job

Determine Desired Behaviors/Performance Skills

Keep in mind that these may be harder to train than skills!

Examples include: Customer Oriented, Takes initiative, Creative

Review Resumes Looking for:

Required Skills/Education

Gaps in Service

Significant Achievements

Experience Related to the Job

Overall Appearance (spelling, grammar, etc.

Schedule Interviews with candidates who meet your requirements on paper allowing enough time for each.



Establish a Good Climate for the Interview

No Interruptions

Turn Phone Off

Shut Door and Alert Co-workers

Plan Enough Time

Build Rapport with the Candidate

Start the interview on time.

Help them put their best foot forward. Put them at ease. You don’t want to intimidate.

Begin with some general conversational questions. Ex. did you find us okay? How is the weather?

Explain how the interview will progress

Explain that you will be taking notes

Gather Information About the Candidate

Get clarification on any relevant skills, experience or education

Ask about any gaps in service

Do not ask any follow-up questions if they say something personal like – I was home with kids. Just move on.

Use Prepared Behavioral Questions

Ask at least one behavioral-based question for each identified performance skill

Allow Silence so that they have time to think

Tell them that it’s okay to take time to think before they answer.

If they seem flustered continue to reassure them quickly and then be silent.

A Behavioral-Based Question is based on the assumption that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. You are asking for specific examples of what the candidate has done – NOT what they WOULD do. Stay out of the woulds. Here is an example of a question you would ask to determine whether the candidate is customer service oriented: Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond to help a patient/customer.

In general, you are looking for the following pieces of information for each question:

What was the situation?

What did the candidate do?

What was the outcome?

Continue to ask until you get all three important pieces of information for each scenario.

Stay Away From Illegal or Inappropriate Questions or Topics

Do Not Ask About Marital Status

Not even, “what is your maiden name?” You can ask, “What is your full name?”

Do Not Ask About children or plans to have a family

Do Not Ask About religion, race, where they are from, family, age

You can ask if someone is 18 years or older if this is a job requirement but can not ask, “how old are you?”.

Do Not Ask About disabilities or physical or mental conditions.

You CAN ask – “Are you able to perform the duties of this job with our without accommodation?”

If there is a disability they can disclose it andask for a reasonable accommodation that would allow them to fulfill the job duties.

Do NotAsk About where someone is a citizen

You can ask if htey are legally eligible to work in the United States.

Do Not Ask About a Crime that is not relveant to the job

You can not consider a crime unless it directly impacts the ability to do the job. Example: Pharmacist can not have any drug conviction, Bank Teller can not have any convictions for theft.

Do Not Ask whether they have a car.

You can ask if there are any reasons why they may not be able to get to work on time each day. That is relevant to the job. You don’t care HOW they will get to work.

Basically, stick only to questions relevant to the job and you should be okay!

Control the Interview – don’t let the candidate hijack the interview. Keep on track and stop them if answers get too long, wordy or off track.

Seek Contrary Evidence – It is human nature to create a first impression. However, this impression is just your gut reaction. It is a part of the decision-making process but you don’t want to rely only on this. If you have a good or bad first impression look for contrary evidence to assure that you are open and looking for all valid information and not just information that supports your initial reaction to the candidate.

Give Information About

The Job - expectations, pay range, benefits, work schedules, work environment. Be as precise and honest as possible. This is your first chance to give them a clear picture of all that the job entails. You don’t want to bring in a new employee who has been given a false sense of the job. You want their decision to be based on as much factual information as possible. Remember, a good interview process is about finding a great fit not just a warm body! And accurate expectations of the job will help drive their satisfaction of the job. If there is a part of the job that is terrible but they knew it up front they will accept it much better than if you glossed over that part during the interview.

The Company: how long have you been in business? What’s great about it? What are the opportunities for growth? What is your mission?

The Decision Process: when can they expect to hear from you? How many more candidates are there?

Next Steps: will there be other interviews? Will they be called if they aren’t hired?

Answer any Questions that they have about the job, company, or interview process

If you follow these simple steps you should end the interview in a timely fashion having gathered the addtional that you need and will have provided specific clear information to your candidate so that they have a realistic picture of the job and your company.

Related Articles
  Setting The Stage For Your Interview - Building Rapport
  Recruiting effectively: an employer guide to making the recruitment process lean.
  Successful Recruiting System
  How to prepare for an Radio Interview about your Business angle
  Interview Preparation Gives Confidence

Article Tags: conducting interviews, customer complaints, employee complaints, employee loyalty, employee turnover, interviewer, nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp, physical reference, productivity, reference checks, resumes, span, wages, wrong person



Related Forum Posts
Re: New forum - online businesses! - Thanks Evan for this great Interview and I will be pleased to be part of the new forum on online businesses!
The Game Inventor's Guidebook - by Brian Tinsman, 2002 I checked this out of my local library today and its pretty interesting... didn't address what I wanted to know, which was how to actually design an online gaming system (indeed this doesn't cover online games at all), but for board games etc. it's pretty good. Here's the TOC: 1. How they diid it: Trivial Pursuit Magic, the Gathering Dungeons & Dragons Pokemon Trading Card Game Interview with an inventor Interview with a publisher 2. How the industry works 1. What's in it for you 2. How new games happen 3. Anatomy of a publisher 4. Markets for games 3. Games and companies you should know 1. Mass market games you should know 2. Mass market companies you should know 3. Hobby games you should know 4. Hobby companies you should know 5. American specialty games and companies you should know 6. European specialty games and companies you should know 4. Self publishing 1. What am I getting into 2. Before you print 3. After you print 5. Selling a game step by step 1. How to invent a game 2. Game design 3. Game development 4. Targeting publishers 5. Before you submit 6. Eight submission strategies 7. Contacting publishers 8. Protecting your property 9. What to do if they don't say yes 10. What to do if they do say yes! 11. The game industry's dirty little secret 6. Resources and examples Publishers and mnufacturers Distributors Brokers Game conventions and trade shows Industry publications Sample query letter Sample record of disclosure Sample licensing agreement Sample option agreement
Patent Walk-Through - Hello everyone! My name is Alex, I'm 18 years old and I'm constantly drawing up new ideas and inventing stuff. I sketch stuff down everywhere I go and on anything I can write on. I'm a big member of our local Future Business Leaders of America chapter (FBLA). In the future I hope to work my way up to being a Venture Capitalist. I think of myself as a pretty creative person who is very motivated. Some of the ideas and inventions I come up with are pretty far out but others I consider marketable and to have great potential. Being 18, I have little to no connections and no resources. I've been surfing this site pretty frequently for the last year and have finally decided to join the forum group. Anyway, here's my question... Basically, I have no idea how to get a patent together the costs and the overall process. As of now, I think I have a great idea that, as far as I know has not, ever been done before. I'm really excited about this idea. I'm a total novice at this and am willing to learn all that I can. Any information that you can provide me with would be great. Again the main things I want to know are: 1.Overall Process. 2.How Long It Takes. 3.Costs. 4.Anything That You Think I Should Know. 5.Tips/Experiences. 6.Confidentiality. 7.Must I Make A Physical Model of My Idea? Thanks guys! -Alex
The Old Girl's Network - (2003) - Haven't read this one yet... Contents A business of one's own: setting the stage Passion: Turning what you love into a real business Vision: Bringing Your Idea Into the World Pioneering Spirit: Discovering new frontiers Tenacity: Passions Bulldog Raising Capital: Translating your vision into dollars and cents Focus, feedback and flexibility Leadership lessons Life after the survival stage: Managing onward There's a Took Kit in the back that has lots of good stuff, including: Outline for competitive analysis: the basic issues to address before starting your company Outline for executive summary and business plan, with sample summary Explanation of non-disclosure agreement Milestone setting "Do you have what it takes" quiz Sample financing term sheet Due Diligence checklist Sample advisory agreement Process and systems review Outsourcing overview
Actress Sarita Chou - I've subscribed to the Ladies Who Launch newsletter, and share their feature articles here. However, there's lots more on offer at Ladies Who Launch so I suggest you also subscribe... Meet Sarita Choudhury Interview The voice on the audio book of Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake belongs to Sarita Choudhury. Suspended without visual cues, Choudhury's proper English narration belies the actress's rich cultural background. Her Bengali mother and British father married in Jamaica but her primary education took place in Italy and Canada. Her career was launched when she costarred with Denzel Washington in Mira Nair's film Mississippi Masala. Choudhury's gone on to portray a number of exotic, if troubled, women including a Chilean maid, a lesbian mother, and a Pakistani country-western singer. But Hollywood is as famous for its films as it is for its cutthroat competitive culture. It's a crazy soup of idol worshipers, egomaniacs, high rollers, taboo-breakers, and dreamers of every stripe all stirred up together. Throughout her career, Choudhury has remained true to herself and relatively unscathed. She's made the most of the experience while standing solidly on the ground -- priorities in place and gaze steady toward the future. Acting boot camp I spent a year touring the world with Declan Donolan and his theater company Cheek By Jowl. For the first six months I wasn't very good, but Declan didn't care. He taught me how to learn from my mistakes. It was the hardest training I've ever had. When I got a little better I could see him smiling with me. It was really fun. I think he changed everything for me. When I left the theater and got back into film I felt like I had a real base. It's funny how the image of show business is so bad. Truthfully I only meet supportive people. Even if it's a bit fake sometimes, it definitely always feels supportive. The big time Denzel Washington had just got the Oscar for Glory and he was a big star but it was new to him, so it was kind of charming. I was so beside myself working with him (on Mississippi Masala). I was just so shy. He used to say to the director "Do you think she's ever going to speak?" and still I wouldn't. But I had no problem when the camera was rolling. That's how I knew I loved acting. It was just like - I couldn't be at all outside of that. The underrated art of listening Being part of many cultures I think has made me very open to other people. But when I first came to University in North America I met many people who, if I mentioned that I grew up in Rome, would respond by saying "I've been to Rome" and they'd proceed to tell me all about their experience. But they would never ask me a thing. And so I thought "How do people learn?" I think if you meet great people you often find that they ask many questions and they listen. When I meet a great teacher or a great mentor, I find that they know so much because they listen. They have nothing to defend, nothing to prove. When I walk into an audition I really look at everyone and smile. Then I just sit down and listen to what they have to say - I don't just launch into my own thing. Finding a mentor I saw Mira Nair's early documentary work and recognized that she had a very strong voice. Then I discovered that she was also doing feature films in Mumbai. I felt a connection to her. I'd gone from studying arts theory and criticism to acting. There was something familiar in her transition from documentary to features. And of course she was an Indian and living outside of India. Here was a role model that really fit. My feelings towards her work were so strong that it seemed very natural for me to reach out to her. Like most things if you really feel that connection, it gives you the courage to reach out to that person. Resilience and rejection Oh my God, rejection happens all the time. But if I don't hear back from the agency I don't ask why. I don't really want to know. I mean, unless I've done something outrageous. But in general there's so many reasons why you don't get a role that I'm used to it now. I am sure I've made a complete fool of myself. And the thing is... you keep going. Every rejection is heartbreak. The trick with acting is that you have to really fall in love with a role to do it well so then if you don't get it, it hurts. You have to get thick-skinned but not so thick-skinned that you lose your sensitivity. Actors have to have access to their emotions. It's a fine line. On acting I tend to go for one thing only. When I look into my interviews from the time of my first film, they seem like pretentious. But what was interesting about those interviews, people would ask me - "Do you want to direct, do you want to write?" and I'd always say, "No, I just want to act." I'm still like that now. I would always pursue acting over anything else. A woman of the world I think that if you don't travel, you get brainwashed. Travel is so important. You must see things for yourself. The more you witness, especially internationally, the more you're able to judge as opposed to just showing off. With travel and a lot of reading definitely comes an open mind. Instinct = shine I think we all have instincts. You might see someone walking down the street and they just look great -- what they wear seems right for them, and yet it wouldn't be right for you. When people really go for their instincts, they shine. Happiness is success I'm lucky enough to work and live in New York City. But I don't work all the time. If I lived in LA, I'd work much more. Often people ask me why I don't move to LA. They ask if I'm scared of success and I say no, not at all, I love success, I'm not scared of success a bit. But I just feel happier in New York and that is a form of success. I think true success is really about being happy. I go to yoga, which is all about getting to a point where you are just naturally in a state of happiness. And I thought wow; people have to work to get to this place, because life is so stressful nowadays. Ruling the world It's shocking that women haven't ruled the world. In a way they do. I mean, it depends on what world you're looking at. There are so many -- the world of children, the world of the heart. Women are already so successful that you want to say, "Don't change what you're doing. Just know that if it makes you happy, it works." This Featured Lady was profiled by Noa Jones, a writer based in New York City.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

What Aweber Can Do For Your Online Business

WHAT IS MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Listen to Your Inner Melody

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.