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There’s an assumption that new managers will magically be able to carry out tasks such as selection interviews. But what if you’ve never done it before? “Take comfort in the fact that managers tend to get involved in the second round of interviews when most of the nonstarters should have been weeded out already,” says consultant trainer Terry Gillen...

#01
GET THEM TALKING
You want candidates to be at ease, so warm them up with simple questions. How was their journey? Did they find the office OK? Once they’ve relaxed, move on to detailed questions about the job at hand or their relevant experience. “It’s about building up a climate that lets the candidate know that they are there to do the talking,” explains Gillen. “They have to be in a frame of mind to open up to you.”

#02
GET WHAT YOU WANT
Think of a selection interview as a conversation with a purpose, ie to get the right information. For that to happen you have to let the interviewee talk. “A good interviewer won’t dominate proceedings,” says Gillen, author of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s DVD, Selection Interviewing Skills. “They will put the interviewee at ease and in doing so, get them to offer much more information than they had planned on providing.”

#03
AVOID THE PREDICTABLE
Every candidate will have prepared answers for routine questions, such as what are your strengths and weaknesses or why have you applied for this position? And if they haven’t, they’re probably not the kind of person you’d want to employ. “It’s when you start digging that you start to get results. So if they come back with the answer, ‘I’m a good team player,’ say ‘Give me an example’, followed by ‘What happened then?’ and so on. It’s not the first question that yields the information. It’s the third or fourth follow-up.”

#04
PREPARE TO SUCCEED
An interviewer must know exactly what good performance means in the job you are recruiting for. What knowledge, skills and experience are you looking for in a successful candidate and what questions can you ask an interviewee to help extract that information? “It’s better if you can build up to the challenging questions and ask them in such a way that the interviewee hasn’t got a clue what answer you’re looking for. In short, there’s no way they can fudge them.”

#05
COVER ALL BASES
Most jobs require successful candidates to possess both operational and personal skills. However, as many managers aren’t trained in interviewing techniques, they tend to focus on technical questions. Try to look at personalities too. “The cost of recruiting someone can be very high, but it’s still peanuts to the costs incurred by hiring the wrong person,” warns Gillen.

#06
PLAY GOOD COP
A good interviewee won’t need to be a Rottweiler in the interview room. Nor will you have to resort to pressure techniques if your questioning is prepared well and delivered effectively. “Most untrained managers assume an aggressive approach is the mark of a good interviewer,” says Gillen. “It’s not. It’s bonkers.”

#07
IT’S A TWO-WAY SELL
Yes, the candidate is there to impress you but you should also try to paint your company in the best possible light, which means professionalism in every area, from the original job ad through to how they’re greeted at reception. “Even in times of recession, good people are in demand,” says Gillen. “So an employer looking for a strong candidate is in competition with other employers. It’s up to you then to convince them that they should be working with your organisation.”

#08
KEEP THEM INFORMED
When the interview is finished, don’t just show the candidate the door and say “We’ll let you know.” Thank them for coming in, tell them how many more people you’ve got to see, when you’ll be making your decision and when you’ll be notifying them. “It’s what people expect from a professional organisation.”

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