4.3 Interview Techniques and Best Practices
3 min read•july 25, 2024
Interviewing techniques are crucial for effective hiring. From questioning strategies to , these skills help interviewers gather valuable information about candidates. Structured competency-based questions and methods like STAR ensure a thorough evaluation of job-specific skills.
Minimizing bias is essential for fair assessments. Strategies like standardized processes and multiple interviewers promote objectivity. Different interview formats, such as behavioral and situational, offer unique strengths and limitations, allowing recruiters to choose the best approach for each role.
Interview Techniques and Best Practices
Effective interviewing techniques
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- Questioning techniques expand interviewer's toolkit
- encourage detailed responses (Tell me about a time when...)
- Closed-ended questions verify specific information (Did you complete the project on time?)
- Probing questions delve deeper into responses (What specific steps did you take?)
- Follow-up questions clarify and expand on initial answers (How did that experience affect your approach?)
- Active listening skills enhance information gathering
- Maintaining eye contact shows engagement and respect
- Nodding and using verbal affirmations (uh-huh, I see) encourage continued sharing
- Paraphrasing and summarizing demonstrate understanding and confirm key points
- Avoiding interruptions allows for complete thoughts and detailed responses
- Non-verbal communication impacts interview dynamics
- Body language awareness includes posture, gestures, and physical distance
- Facial expressions convey interest, empathy, or concern
- Building rapport creates a conducive interview environment
- Creating a comfortable atmosphere through small talk and welcoming body language
- Using appropriate ice-breakers tailored to the candidate and position
Structured competency-based questions
- Job analysis forms foundation for relevant questioning
- Identifying key competencies aligns questions with job requirements
- Defining performance indicators creates clear assessment criteria
- STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) structures responses
- Designing questions to elicit specific examples (Describe a situation where you had to resolve a conflict)
- Competency-based questions assess job-specific skills
- Technical skills assessment evaluates hard skills (coding languages, software proficiency)
- Soft skills evaluation gauges interpersonal abilities (teamwork, communication)
- Scoring criteria ensure consistent evaluation
- Developing rating scales (1-5, poor to excellent) quantifies responses
- Establishing benchmarks for responses sets clear expectations for each rating level
Minimizing interviewer bias
- Types of interviewer biases skew perception and decision-making
- overvalues positive traits
- Horn effect overemphasizes negative characteristics
- Similarity bias favors candidates similar to the interviewer
- Contrast effect compares candidates to each other instead of job requirements
- seeks information supporting preconceived notions
- Strategies to minimize bias promote fair assessment
- Standardized interview processes ensure consistency across candidates
- Multiple interviewers provide diverse perspectives
- Blind resume screening removes identifying information (name, gender, age)
- Diversity and inclusion training raises awareness and provides tools to combat bias
- Self-awareness techniques improve objectivity
- Recognizing personal biases through self-reflection and feedback
- Reflection and self-evaluation after each interview identifies areas for improvement
Comparison of interview formats
- Behavioral interviews focus on past experiences
- Strengths: Past behavior prediction, specific examples provide concrete evidence
- Limitations: Rehearsed responses may not reflect genuine abilities, past-focused may not capture potential
- Situational interviews present hypothetical scenarios
- Strengths: Future performance indication, problem-solving assessment in real-time
- Limitations: Hypothetical scenarios may not reflect real-world complexity, lack of real experience to draw from
- Structured interviews follow predetermined format
- Strengths: Consistency across candidates, comparability of responses
- Limitations: Rigidity may limit exploration of unique experiences, less natural flow of conversation
- Unstructured interviews allow free-flowing conversation
- Strengths: Flexibility to explore interesting topics, rapport building through natural dialogue
- Limitations: Subjectivity in assessment, lack of standardization makes comparison difficult
- Panel interviews involve multiple interviewers
- Strengths: Multiple perspectives reduce individual bias, efficiency in scheduling
- Limitations: Intimidating for candidates, potential for groupthink among interviewers
Key Terms to Review (17)
Active Listening: Active listening is a communication technique that involves fully concentrating, understanding, responding, and remembering what the speaker is saying. It goes beyond simply hearing words; it requires engagement and interaction that fosters better understanding and rapport. This approach is crucial in both interviews and conflict resolution, as it helps build trust, clarifies issues, and promotes a more productive dialogue.
Applicant Tracking System: An applicant tracking system (ATS) is software used by employers to manage the recruitment process, from receiving applications to tracking candidates throughout the hiring stages. It streamlines the hiring workflow, making it easier to filter resumes, schedule interviews, and communicate with candidates. By automating many tasks, an ATS enhances efficiency and ensures that qualified candidates are not overlooked during recruitment efforts.
Behavioral interview: A behavioral interview is a technique used in the hiring process where candidates are asked to provide specific examples from their past experiences to demonstrate how they have handled various situations. This approach helps employers assess a candidate's skills, competencies, and potential fit for the organization by focusing on actual behavior rather than hypothetical scenarios. By using structured questions that prompt candidates to reflect on real-life situations, this method provides deeper insights into their decision-making and problem-solving abilities.
Candidate Experience: Candidate experience refers to the overall perception and feelings that a job applicant has during the recruitment process, from the initial application to the final decision. It encompasses all interactions with the organization, including job postings, interviews, and communication, ultimately shaping how candidates view the company as an employer. A positive candidate experience can enhance the company's reputation and attract top talent, while a negative experience can drive potential candidates away.
Candidate Satisfaction Score: The candidate satisfaction score is a metric used to assess the overall experience and satisfaction of job candidates during the recruitment process. It reflects how candidates feel about various aspects of their interaction with an organization, including the interview process, communication, and feedback. Understanding this score is crucial for organizations aiming to improve their hiring processes and enhance their employer brand.
Confirmation Bias: Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information in a way that confirms one’s preexisting beliefs or hypotheses. This cognitive bias can significantly influence decision-making processes, particularly in high-stakes situations like interviews or when addressing unconscious biases. It can lead individuals to overlook or dismiss evidence that contradicts their views, resulting in skewed perspectives and poor judgment.
Discrimination Laws: Discrimination laws are legal provisions designed to prevent unfair treatment of individuals based on specific characteristics such as race, gender, age, disability, and religion. These laws are crucial for ensuring equal opportunity in various contexts, including employment practices, hiring processes, and workplace environments. By upholding these laws, organizations can create inclusive spaces and minimize biases during critical activities like interviews and evaluations.
Equal Employment Opportunity: Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) is the principle that all individuals should have equal chances for employment, promotion, and other job-related decisions, regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information. This concept is crucial in promoting fairness and diversity in the workplace while ensuring compliance with legal standards that protect against discrimination.
Halo effect: The halo effect is a cognitive bias where an individual's overall impression of a person influences their feelings and thoughts about that person's character or abilities. This phenomenon often leads to overly positive evaluations based on a single positive trait, impacting decision-making in various settings such as evaluations, interviews, and performance assessments.
Interviewer training: Interviewer training is a structured program designed to enhance the skills and effectiveness of individuals conducting interviews, ensuring that they are equipped to evaluate candidates fairly and consistently. This training typically covers various aspects such as understanding bias, developing effective questioning techniques, and mastering the art of active listening. Proper interviewer training helps organizations improve their hiring processes and make better decisions based on candidate assessments.
Job fit: Job fit refers to the alignment between an individual's skills, interests, and values with the demands and culture of a specific job. This concept is crucial because it influences job satisfaction, performance, and employee retention, highlighting how well a candidate matches the expectations of the role they are applying for. When both the employee and employer find a good fit, it can lead to a more productive and harmonious workplace.
Open-ended questions: Open-ended questions are inquiries that allow for a wide range of responses rather than a simple yes or no answer. They encourage candidates to elaborate on their thoughts, experiences, and feelings, providing deeper insights into their qualifications and fit for a position. This type of questioning is particularly useful in interviews as it promotes dialogue and enables interviewers to gather richer information about the applicant's skills and personality.
Pre-interview preparation: Pre-interview preparation refers to the process of gathering information, organizing materials, and strategizing before an interview to ensure that candidates or interviewers are ready to engage effectively. This phase is crucial as it sets the tone for the entire interview experience, allowing both parties to present themselves authentically and confidently while aligning expectations and objectives.
Situational Interview: A situational interview is a type of job interview where candidates are presented with hypothetical scenarios related to the job they are applying for and asked how they would respond to those situations. This interviewing technique helps assess a candidate's problem-solving skills, decision-making abilities, and how they might handle real-life challenges in the workplace. By focusing on potential future behavior, situational interviews aim to predict how a candidate will perform in the role.
STAR Technique: The STAR technique is a structured method for answering behavioral interview questions by detailing specific Situations, Tasks, Actions, and Results. This approach helps candidates present their experiences in a clear and concise manner, effectively demonstrating their skills and qualifications to potential employers.
Time-to-hire: Time-to-hire is a key recruitment metric that measures the time it takes to fill a job vacancy, starting from the moment the job requisition is approved until the candidate accepts the offer. This metric is crucial as it reflects the efficiency of the hiring process, impacts organizational productivity, and can influence candidate experience. Reducing time-to-hire can lead to better talent acquisition strategies and is often connected to various elements of the recruitment process, including interview techniques and data analytics for decision-making.
Video Interviewing Platforms: Video interviewing platforms are online tools that allow employers to conduct job interviews with candidates remotely via video technology. These platforms facilitate the interview process by enabling real-time communication, recording sessions for review, and often incorporating features like pre-recorded questions or assessments. This modern approach to interviewing connects candidates and employers across distances, streamlining the recruitment process and enhancing flexibility.