11 Tips for Great Interviews

Here are 11 tips for great interviews that you should consider before interviewing your next hire.

One key factor in a successful hiring process; is ensuring that the candidate has a mindset that matches your company values.

There may be professionally qualified individuals who may not fit within the organizational culture of your firm, and without the proper mindset, these individuals could harm your company.

Interviews are an opportunity for you to quickly assess if the candidate is a match for the position or not; essentially, in many scenarios, attitude is more relevant than competency.

It’s not uncommon to do interviews through Zoom, Google Meet or Skype nowadays, since the pandemic it’s convenient to avoid contact, in case you’re working in a non-remote capable industry or job-specific requirements, the first interview can be done virtually, and then doing a second one, on the ground.

Clear requirement list about whom you’re looking for

When hiring a new person to the team, this means additional costs.

Hiring the wrong person will bring a financial and time burden on the company, and it should be evident what you’re looking for in your next hire.

• Is technical competency the critical factor in your hire?
• Are you open to starting with a low competency individual that will grow in your company?
• Does the candidate need to be a team player, or will he mostly work alone?
• Are there any critical skills that the candidate needs to possess?
• Does the candidate require a specific type of personality?
• Is a background check required for the kind of work that this candidate will do?

Finding a good match for a position is crucial to your company resource-wise.

You should go thoroughly into the employee vetting process to ensure that he is the right person for your business.

Interview Questions & Requirements

A great starting point in understanding your candidate is to give him a few minutes to the Big Five test during the first part of the interview.
These test results will most likely not reflect reality accurately, as the candidate might want to make a good impression during the interview, and if you choose this path, you’ll want to test his test score through the interview questions.

During the interview, your goal is to know the candidate better understand his weaknesses, strengths, and personal goals.

Depending on the precise function you’re trying to fill, the candidate testing step will differ.

Deciding what type of evaluation is necessary for the role is crucial.

Skill assessment tests are objective and reliable and can be used to gauge a candidate’s soft or hard skills.

Skill assessment tests provide critical information about the candidate’s ability to perform in the workplace.

Hard skills are acquired through education, training, certifications, more focused on the technical aspects of executing the work.

Soft skills are a combination of social and interpersonal skills and personality traits, and these are acquired through experience and the mindset that was gained.

Example Questions – Conversation Starters

Depending on your style, you might want to start the conversation with the candidate with a few simple questions just to get an idea of how quickly the candidate can answer questions.

• What are your impressions of this company/organization?
• What drew your attention to this position?
• Why are you interested in this particular position?
• What is your motivation for seeking a new job?

Example Questions – Mindset

The mindset of the candidate is an important factor in every hire, this word is very broad, but you should see it as his way of approaching problems & challenges, his view about the external world, and his opinions.

• What do you consider to be your best strength?
• Are you comfortable talking about failure?
• What does it mean to be an ethical person?
• What does it mean to be a professional for this position?

Example Questions – Career Goals

Knowing if the candidate is likely to sit in your company for the long term is essential; this can be determined based on the candidate’s personal goals.

Research to determine what perks and benefits your candidate desires so that your team is prepared to either alter your offer to meet their needs better or negotiate when the time comes.

• What do you do to achieve your professional goals?
• What are you looking for in your next position?
• Where do you see yourself in five years?
• What career path interests you most?
• What are your professional objectives?
• What motivates you?

A person who constantly strives for more work and better compensation might not fit your company.

If there’s no room for growth in the industry, this isn’t an issue for online business, but this might be the scenario for an offline business.

Example Questions – Corporate Accounting Department

• What ERP software have you used before, and which is your favorite one?
• How skilled are you with making spreadsheets and reports?
• How would you describe your account reconciliation experience?
• What’s your approach for detecting fraudulent entries in a ledger or journal?
• How do you resolve a financial discrepancy?
• What do you think it’s most important when preparing for a financial audit?
• Can you give an example of how you can help a business save money?

Example Questions – Corporate Logistics & Shipment

• What logistics management software have you used in the past, and what are some system limitations you’ve encountered?
• What are the challenges you faced in supply chain management?
• How do you measure transport costs?
• How experienced are you with freight arrangements?

Example Questions – Sales Representative

• What’s the best way to close a deal with a customer?
• When do you stop pursuing a client?
• What’s the difference between a cold and warm lead?
• How do you keep up to date on your target market?
• How do you keep a current customer?
• How would you increase the company’s number of sales?

Example Questions – Software Developer

• When did you write your first line of code?
• What’s your opinion about code refactoring?
• When does it make sense to rewrite a project from scratch?
• What is a Migration System?
• Your task is to create an ACL system; what are some important details you need to consider?
• What’s the difference between == and ===?
• Give me an example of a situation where using the while loop statement makes sense.

During the Interview – Candidate Assessment

Candidate assessment is used to find the best candidates for a position and test them to decide who is the best fit.

Effective applicant assessment programs should include the following:

• Increase recruitment efficiency and cost-effectiveness
• Finding the best candidate from the hiring pool
• Allow for objective hiring judgment
• Ensure a fair candidate experience
• Enabling recruiters to retain a pipeline of competent candidates

Constantly Improving your Hiring Process

Interviewing is a process that needs to be improved constantly.
Take an analytical approach to your interview process.
Consider the lengthiness of the process and the total resources used.
Recruiting successfully and without hassle takes a lot of time to master, and it’s different across every industry out there.
If you can notice automatic disqualifiers in mindset by taking a look at past hires, or automatic qualifiers, you should implement them, avoid wasting your time doing a full interview with a candidate, and just cut it short.

Bonus Tips for Great Interviews

It’s not easy, keep that in mind, and in your career as a recruiter or business owner, you’ll fail to hire the appropriate talent a few times, and this is fine, as your experience and instincts will shape in time, and allow you to make better decisions.

• Trust your instincts.
• Do not rush to hire a candidate, always do your due diligence.
• Always have preliminary research about the candidate ready when conducting the interview.
• Adopt a trial period for your company, where you can fire on the spot bad hires, without consequences.
• Have a simple way to cut an interview short, in case you determine that the candidate is a bad hire quickly.
• Do not feel pitty for your hires, exceptions when this is acceptable exist, but it’s not something that is usual.