How to interview to find the right candidate

Let’s paint the scene…

You posted a great ad. You sourced a bazillion candidates and reviewed about a million resumes, give or take. You narrowed the pool down to five candidates. On paper, they all look like they could be a fit; they appear to have the education, skills and work experience you are looking for.

Now, the interview. This is your opportunity to determine which of these candidates is the right fit; The candidate that fits with your culture, has the same values and is going in the same direction your company is.

There are many different ways to structure an interview. The specific questions you ask and tone you set is dependent on your Company’s needs. Below are my interview DO’s and DON’T’s for maximizing your chances of identifying the right candidate. Just like a candidate search, evaluate them all, take what works and leave the rest for someone else.

Who is the Centre of Conversation?

The candidate is in the interview to talk about himself, not to listen to your story. That said, a good candidate knows that the more time you spend talking about yourself, the better experience you will have giving the interview, increasing the probability the candidate will get the job. DON’T spend the interview talking about yourself. Resist the urge to identify yourself with the candidate (“me too!”). If the candidate asks you a specific question, DO quickly answer and then direct the conversation back to the candidate.

Candidate: “Why did you decide to come to work for ABC Company?”

You: “ABC provided me with an opportunity I could not pass up. The company was growing; the culture aligned with my values and their product is something I am passionate about. Why do you ask / What, specifically, draws you to the Company?”

DO provide a brief (under a minute is a good rule of thumb) introduction of yourself that includes your background, what you do with the company and how long you have been there, along with any other information you think is relevant. This provides information that answers some of the candidate’s potential questions up front and can be an ice breaker.

What To Ask

Most interviews are centred on situational and behavioural questions (ie: “if you were faced with X problem, how would you react and solve it”). DO ask at least one of these questions during the interview. You are evaluating problem solving ability and general common sense. DON’T make your interview an obstacle course of questions about how the candidate has reacted to situations in the past. The candidate expects these questions so generally the answers are very rehearsed. They are also not very indicative of how the candidate will react in the future. DO instead ask how the candidate would handle the situation differently now or how they have grown over time.

DO focus the bulk of your questions on getting to know the candidate as a human being. You already know they are a good fit on paper, so what you are looking for is beyond their resume. Are they a good communicator? Are they passionate? Are their values in line with the Company?

DO understand why they left their prior job but DON’T get hung up on the details or make the interview a re-hash of the resume. You already know they have the background and experience – let the resume speak for itself and get to the heart of the person and the cultural fit. DO focus your questions on the person:

“What are you passionate about?”

“What is most important to you?”

“Of all the responsibilities of this role, what excites you most?”

“What do you think makes a good fit?”

“Tell me a few areas where you think you have room for improvement.”

In addition to providing insights about the candidate, these questions require vulnerability and will enable you to see if the candidate is comfortable being authentic.

Any Questions?

DO provide time at the end of the interview for the candidate to ask questions. In addition to providing additional information about the job, the Q&A is a great way to assess how much research the candidate did on your company, as well as the candidate’s motivations. For example, if the candidate asks primarily about vacation time, required hours per month and required travel, you might start to see that the candidate is not motivated by the same factors that your company culture promotes. On the other hand, questions about opportunities for growth, training and leadership provide insight about what the candidate wants and allow you to evaluate long-term potential. DO pay attention to your gut. Does the candidate want THIS job, or just a job? Is this a career for the candidate, or just a job?

DO answer authentically, including being transparent about the challenges your company faces. DON’T spin your answers as a sales pitch that paints a rosy picture about why the candidate should come to work for your Company. The last thing you want is a candidate that is surprised 30 days after joining your company, after you have invested in onboarding and training, once he discovers that (gasp!) there are problems within your company and everything isn’t perfect. Be real. DO give the candidate the good, the bad and the not-so-sexy truth about the job, and you have the best chances of receiving that in return from him.

Source Information

DO ask what other companies, if any, the candidate is considering. If he provides that information, DO drill down and obtain additional facts about those opportunities and compensation packages. This is a great way to obtain market information and ensure that you are being competitive. It is also an opportunity to have a transparent conversation about what piece of the opportunity is most important to the candidate.

DON’T hire a candidate that is unwilling to engage in this conversation with you. I am not saying that the candidate should bare all. It is reasonable for the candidate to withhold the name of the other companies he is evaluating or to make vague statements like “the other offer is within the same range.” DO consider it a red flag when a candidate is unwilling to even tell you if he is evaluating another opportunity or provide any information about what he is up to. If your company is a culture of transparency, open door policy and communication, DO think about whether or not adding this person to your team will change that dynamic. DO ask why he is hesitant to discuss your questions and be open and honest about why you are asking.

You: “Are you currently evaluating any other opportunities? If so, I am curious what those opportunities look like as compared to ours and what is most influencing your evaluation process.”

Candidate: “I am not sure I am comfortable sharing that information.”

You: “I understand. The reason I am asking is that here at ABC, we have an environment of open communication. We like to make these discussions as transparent as possible to eliminate any surprises and to better understand what is important to you. We would hate to lose the right candidate over something that just wasn’t addressed.”

The 2 Questions You Should ALWAYS Ask

DO close your interview with these two questions:

“Do you have any concerns that I can address?”

“Is there anything else that we did not discuss today that you feel that I should know?”

Asking about concerns provides additional clues about what is important to the candidate and what might be holding him back. Providing that final opportunity to disclose information is almost always when something important comes up that the candidate just didn’t find the right time to talk about.

Sorry, You Aren’t The One

DO follow up. A candidate has invested a lot of time in the application process for your opportunity. It is very important that you give them a good experience and leave them feeling good about your Company, regardless of it they get the job. Not hearing back after an interview is a great way to tank the relationship you have built with the candidate.

DON’T make your follow up an email. That can sabotage your relationship with the candidate, who is a potential referral source and advocate. DO call and let them know that they did not get the job. DO have an honest and transparent conversation with them about why they didn’t get the job (check with your HR department about what is okay to disclose) and DO ask if there is anything else you can do for them. And then DO keep in touch and check in periodically. Foster that relationship, like you do anyone else in your professional network. DO look at that candidate as a potential referral source, a potential client and potential customer.

The Bottom Line: Focus on the person behind the resume, find out what is important to the candidate and match it up with what is important to the company,DON’T compromise, listen to your gut and maintain the relationship.

Looking for the right candidate is hard. Hiring the wrong candidate is harder.

Published in collaboration with LinkedIn

Author: Katie McConnell CPA, director of recruitment and development at Gallina LLP.

Image: A Japanese new graduate, who wishes to be called Shinji (R), speaks with a counsellor inside a compartment at Tokyo Metropolitan Government Labor Consultation Center in Tokyo in this April 8, 2010 file photo. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao