This article is the 9th in our series of 15 articles to help you with hiring for your organization. In our previous article we discussed the traits of an organized interview process. In this article we take the concept and process of interviewing even further and talk about some of the top tips of conducting an effective job interview.
Having helped our clients conduct thousands of interviews, we know a fair bit about job interviews and what can be done to make the process smooth and efficient. There are a few tips that have worked consistently well for our clients and will also do you a world of benefit. Some of the tips that you should follow while conducting an effective job interview include:
Start Slow and Personal
Most interviewers are often lost for possible options when it comes to starting the interview on a safe note. We recommend you to start your interview with a question like ‘Where did you grow up?’ or ‘What was your first job out of college?’ as these questions help set the right tone and humanize the process. You might also end up listening to a surprisingly good story from a candidate who has had it tough or has done some inspiring stuff in life.
Coax, Not Hammer
The slam jock approach might work for some interviewers, but the rest of us should maintain a gentle tone during the interview and shouldn’t fall to low-rent tactics. We have always preferred interviews with a soft and gentle coaxing style to generate newsworthy, revealing and useful answers. You can take the lead of multiple TV anchors here that run successful interview programs by gently coaxing their subjects and guests into answering rather tricky questions with ease. Do the same with your candidates!
Have Some Open Ended Questions
While close ended questions with a definite answer might help you measure the repertoire of your candidate, open ended questions help you identify the range they have. Ask questions that don’t have a definite answer to them. Something like, ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?’ Such questions force your candidates to think and come up with some inspiring answers.
Listen Hard
Finally, no job interview is complete without avid listening. Once you are conducting an interview, it is highly necessary that you listen hard to what your candidate has to say. Don’t cut them off and do allow them to wander off a bit in open ended questions.
Knowing the top tips for an effective job interview process, we will now head to the questions you should and shouldn’t ask in a job interview in our next article.
We at JS Benefits Group have worked with numerous clients to discuss the tips for conducting a successful job interview. You can get in touch with JS Benefits Group immediately to discuss and devise a strategy.
