How to Prepare For Staff Interviews
When interviewing new staff it is important that the interviewing process runs as smoothly as possible. Below is a checklist to ensure that you are properly prepared. Ensure you review each candidates application in advance of the interview. This will give you the time to learn more about the candidate and prepare specific questions based on their application. It is not recommended that you just read the application during the interview as you will come across as unprepared and not giving a very good impression. You will also miss out on specific questions you could have asked to find out more about the candidate.
As an interviewer you should have a clear and detailed understanding of what the job entails, including the duties, the skills and experience requirements. If you do not prepare yourself this will come across in the interview and it will not show you in a positive light. It is also not good form to tell candidates of other duties that have not being mentioned before. One of the managers key responsibilities during the job interview is to ask the questions therefore, you need to prepare for these in advance. The questions that you ask need to be based on the skills, experience, qualities and aptitude needed for the role. Create a checklist based on these criteria to come up with suitable and relevant questions for the interview.
The interview can be a very nerve wracking experience for the person being interviewed therefore, it is important that they are made as comfortable as possible. This also means that the interviewer needs to be comfortable as well as this will be picked up by the candidate and make them more nervous. Therefore, it is important to select a place that is comfortable, private and any form of distractions such as telephones, faxes, noisy office equipment is removed. During an interview there will be a lot of information to remember and you cannot remember all this in your head. Therefore, it is important that you take plenty of notes during the interview. Notes should be taken of how the candidates responded and reacted to the questions being asked. It is also important to make notes of the candidates reactions to the questions as this can reveal very important information.
