8 tips for conducting great job interviews

This was one of the most comfortable job interviews I’ve ever had.

This is a sentence I’ve heard a lot of times. So many, actually, that I started wondering — what are they doing to people in those interviews?

I’ve been in a position of a candidate only a couple of times in my career, but I’ve been on the other side a lot. And I would like to share my experience in conducting interviews that seem to be working well for both sides included.

A bad interview

I remember a story from one of my former coworkers. He was in an interview where the interviewer sat behind the desk, looking at his laptop and typing, not raising their head a single time to look at the candidate. The whole interview passed in this awkward atmosphere. Was it supposed to be one of those interviews where they are “testing how you handle difficult and awkward situations” or something else, I’m not sure. My coworker never got the explanation. But would you want to work for the person that treats you like that? I sure wouldn’t. If I had that kind of experience, I would exit the room knowing this is not a company I want to join.

It’s not just about you (or your company)

One of the key premises I have coming to interview someone is — this person is currently in the middle of making one of the most important decisions in their lives. Yes sure, we as a company also have an important decision to make. We (hopefully) know how expensive hiring mistakes are. But these people are deciding on something that will have a major impact on a big portion of their lives in the upcoming period. And they are (and should be) interviewing us as much as we are interviewing them. Maybe they will not ask as many questions as we will, but be aware that both sides are being interviewed throughout this process.

So how to make this experience pleasant, and useful for both sides? I will now jump to 8 tips and practices that I think are contributing to a great job interview experience.

1. Be present

Don’t check your phone, don’t check your laptop for anything else, listen to the person, maintain eye contact and make them feel that you are completely and fully present in this conversation. Be interested in them and their answers. This alone will help with making people feel more comfortable. Anything you are doing that’s not related to this interview is surely degrading the level of comfort and good vibe at that interview.
If you are taking notes — on paper or on your laptop — inform the person in advance. Don’t let them guess if you are taking notes or replying to a Slack message from someone else. At the beginning of the interview simply state that if they see you typing, that means you are noting down something regarding this interview because you want to make sure you don’t forget anything important and that you are fully focused on this interview.

2. Respect their time

Don’t be late for an interview and don’t let the interview take longer than agreed. People may have something scheduled afterwards. They probably had to rearrange their schedule anyway to be available for this meeting / call, but don’t make them be late for something else. If you notice that there is a chance you will need a few additional minutes, ask early enough is it okay that you stay here a bit more than was initially agreed. If the person is not OK with that, cut your part shorter. You were the one who had the power to decide the length of the interview so you should be able to adjust.

3. Smile

No, you don’t have to tell jokes and you don’t need to be funny (or even overly friendly), but a smile is definitely going to help loosen up the atmosphere and improve the vibe. Especially in the beginning, when people tend to be nervous not knowing what to expect. Make them feel comfortable and not threatened by this interview.

4. Spend a few minutes getting to know each other

This is something that can be very brief, but you are letting the person relax by talking about something they know and are comfortable with — themselves. This is a good practice before jumping to questions. Also, tell them what you are doing in the company and why you are here today to interview them. Will you be their manager? Are you the person in the company with the most technical knowledge in their domain? It’s fair that they know why you are the person relevant to participate in their selection process and what will your role in regards to them be if they join the company.

5. Be professional even if the interview goes bad

Multiple times I’ve been in a situation where it was obvious mid-interview that this is not going to be a good fit. But if that happens, don’t lose interest, don’t cut the interview short or end it abruptly. Complete the interview professionally, treat them the same you would any other candidate. Even though this person may not be joining your company at this point, it won’t hurt for them to have a good experience at the interview and to leave the process with good thoughts about you and your company. Also, they have people in their private and professional circle and you don’t want them to tell stories about the terrible interview experience they had with you.

6. Leave time to explain the role

As far as I know, this is the part that tends to be skipped in the interviews. Sure, the role should already be explained in the job ad, but taking a few minutes to talk about it will surely give additional clarity to the candidate. When I finish with my set of questions, and before the candidate asks me their questions, I explicitly say I know they are making an important decision in their lives and to help them with that, I will try to explain this role the best and the most accurate as I can — no fairy tales, but actually what will it look like if they join.

Both sides will lose if you “trick” someone into joining your company, only for them to realise it is nothing as it was “advertised”. I tell them how we decided we need to hire for this role, why this role specifically. I try to paint the picture on how the job will look like, how the team is structured, how our day-to-day processes look like, how many meetings there are, who they will be cooperating the most with etc.

7. Show enthusiasm

Create additional interest by pointing out the good things in your company (high impact projects, excellent atmosphere, great work-life balance, experienced colleagues…). The idea is not to be fake, but you do want to showcase why this is a good place to work. You are here so probably there are some things that are keeping you here. Show enthusiasm and you will spark enthusiasm. Again, even if the person doesn’t join your company at the end of the process, you want them to have a positive mental image of your company.

8. Leave time for their questions

At the end of the interview, leave time for the candidate’s questions. 5–10 minutes should be a minimum. But I can tell you, if you cover things the way it’s described here (explaining the role, the team, the way of working and some important policies), people will often say “Well I had questions, but you’ve just covered most of / everything I wanted to ask”. Nonetheless, encourage them to use the opportunity while you are here for them to learn anything they would like. Also, offer them the opportunity to contact you afterwards if they have any additional questions. People may remember something they wanted to ask when they leave the meeting or finish the call.

I hope this list will be a helpful starting point for those who are just starting with interviewing others, but also that experienced interviewers will find something useful here. I’m sure there are many more great practices in interviewing so I would like to hear your stories or suggestions.

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