Unsurprisingly, when an interview is unsuccessful, it is usually the candidate that is presumed to have not given the desired answers or presented themselves in a suitable manner. But over at BigWig, we recognise the importance of the interviewer to make sure the process is smooth, as it does take two to tango! We’ve had instances in the past where we have thoroughly prepped candidates to be interviewed by an informed interviewee who asks pertinent questions regarding a vacancy, and the candidate has actually withdrawn themselves as they themselves weren’t sold on the job due to a poorly prepared interviewer! As we work with both candidates & clients, we figured it was only fair to show some love to the interviewers out in the world, not just the interviewees! Here are some tips to help prepare yourself for a successful interview.
 

Role research

As we recommended candidates to comprehensively research the role that they are applying for, as well as the culture of the company they would be hoping to work for, we give the same advice to the interviewer. Make sure you understand the skills, qualifications & experience required for the role, as you are responsible for bringing in not only a suitable worker, but a suitable co-worker. A candidate may look great on paper, and articulate themselves well in the interview, however if you think they would not mesh well with the other employees & don’t match company values. It is important to acknowledge that you do not want to disrupt the chemistry amongst your other workers, as this may lead to knock-on effects in motivation & company culture.
 

Question preparation & different types of questions

Once you have refreshed your memory of what vacancy you are interviewing for and the values you are searching for in your candidates, you need to draft a set of questions to be used to navigate the competency & ethos of your candidates. The questions should be open-ended, as this allows for candidates to elaborate and discuss their suitability, as well as getting more of a feel for the person. In these open-ended questions, you should be able to identify a lot about each candidate, whether they have rehearsed their answers to the word, how genuine they seem, what drives them as worker to name a few. Below we’ve listed the five main questions types that you should look to cover as an interviewer.

• Behavioural questions: describes specific situations a candidate has dealt with previously & how they responded to/resolved the issue
• Technical questions: assesses a candidate’s technical competencies, usually to do with hard skills, like knowledge of software programmes
• Situational questions: instead of a previous experience a candidate has dealt with, this style of question poses hypothetical situations and how a candidate would approach the situation
• Cultural fit questions: These questions can be varied. It may be simple questions about hobbies and interests. Or it may be more direct, asking about their ideal work environment
• Background questions: The information given in this style of question can usually be lifted from a CV, however giving a candidate an opportunity to talk about their previous experiences is always worthwhile, as well as potentially gaining more information about the candidate, you will see how they articulate themselves & their relationship with their own achievements

 

Creating a suitable environment

Now you are one step away from being ready to interview your candidates. The final step to prepare yourself is to ensure that the location where the interview will take place, whether this is in the office or external, is a comfortable environment. You want to be as accommodating as possible, allowing the candidates to sell themselves in a setting that reflects the compassionate working environment we hope you are trying to instil at your company . This can be done in a variety of ways, from speaking to the candidate with respect and patience, decluttering the interview space to make it more accommodating, or simply something small like adding décor to the interview space, by adding relevant posters to the walls, or adding plants.
 
Finally, you are ready to sit someone down in the hotseat, but make sure you don’t grill the candidates too much! Give them time to answer your questions, take plenty of notes to reflect on & once the interview is completed start an open discussion with the candidates, ask how they found the experience and thank them for their time, even if they weren’t your preferred candidate feedback is always useful, and helps relieve some stress from the candidate.
 
 

We hope you have found these tips informative; we certainly hope all clients we deal with take our advice! We wish you the best of luck with your search for the perfect candidate, but if you are struggling to find that match, you know who to call!