Interview Wash Ups/Deciding on your candidate

Converting the information gathered during the selection process into a decision on whether to appoint or to not appoint is critical. It is the skill with which you do this that makes the difference between a good and poor hire. A decision that will have long term implications in terms of cost, productivity, moral etc.

There are a number of key elements you should consider Interview Notes Prior to the interview everybody involved in interviewing the candidate should have an interview outcomes template to complete and get back to you. Encourage your interviewers to complete these at the end of each interview before doing another one so as to avoid confusion and memory loss. It is much quicker to do it this way as well. The report should cover each of the areas that were being explored, a description of strength or numerical rating [ensure the rating definition is on the sheet – an example can be found in the knowledge centre] and comments. Ask for an overall comment on suitability.

Data Collection Ensure that you have all the data collected and available for the decision making meeting. This will include CVs, recruiters’ reports, results of psychometrics, and outcomes from interviews The Wash Up meeting When you are interviewing more than one candidate for a job or for a series of jobs it is very effective to hold a wash up meeting at the end of the last interview attended by the different interviewers. The meeting needs to be well facilitated but the structure is fairly simple.

• Remind everyone of the criteria for selection (useful to do this up front before emotions become engaged)

• For each candidate complete an agreed ‘summary’ [highs, lows, technical fit, behavioural strengths and weaknesses, ‘trainability’ of the weaknesses, significance of the weaknesses, implications for management of the weaknesses, turn down/consider and rationale for this]

• Identify those candidates who fall below the line [if can be useful to jot down a couple of reasons for this since this facilitates feedback]

• For the candidates that are above the line consider their relative strengths and weaknesses. Keep referring back to the criteria decided at the beginning – it is essential that the discussion and decision are kept objective, fact based and aligned to the criteria which have been determined as leading to superior performance • Once you have made your decision remember to jot down the rationale for this • It is useful to also highlight some developmental feedback points for the successful candidate which can be used to shape their induction and development plan and first years objectives

Interview Wash Ups/Deciding on your candidate - To learn more about this author, visit Lisette Howlett's Website.

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