Interviewing – Conducting The Interview, Part I

As a new manager, you may be called on to interview prospective candidates for your department. This process can be stressful for both you and the candidate. You can eliminate most of this stress by following some simple guidelines. If you do this, you will not only find the right candidate, but will leave all parties with the feeling that it was a positive experience.

It is important to remember that the candidate is looking to you to set the tone of the interview. Your demeanor and approach can make or break the process before it even gets started. To ensure a positive experience, you must first prepare for the interview. That's right, the interview will fail to give you the information you need to make an informed decision if you do not prepare as much, or more, than the candidate. In part I of this series I discussed the preparation process. In this part I will discuss just how you should go about conducting the interview.

You may be as nervous during your first interview as the candidate is. This is to be expected. Even if you are, you cannot let it show. It is good to remember that the candidate views you with a certain amount of respect. After all, you are the one who will determine whether they get a chance at the job or not.

You have two goals in this part of the process. The first is to find the right candidate for the position. Equally important is the second goal, and that is that at the end of the interview the candidate will leave feeling that he has done his best. Contrary to popular myth, both of these goals are under your control, and are your responsibility.

There are four distinct parts to a successful interview, and these parts are done in this specific order. These parts are the opening, interviewer questions, applicant questions, and closing.

The first part of the interview process is the opening. This is where you as the interviewer introduce yourself. You give the candidate your name and title, and a business card if you have one. This will help the candidate later if he should wish to write a thank you letter. Remember that the candidate will take the first few minutes of the interview to get over being nervous. No matter how much we interview, it is a very personal exercise, and it makes everyone very nervous. Allow for this by engaging in small talk, also known as coffee talk during this opening time. This is a good time to reintroduce the position to the candidate.

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