Hiring Secrets: How to Amplify the Relative Impact of Interviews
Indisputably, job interviews are an inseparable part of the employee selection process. While talent acquisition tools are emerging and becoming a huge part of the hiring process, we, with some degree of confidence, can happily declare that perhaps the most important part of the process — the job interview has more or less escaped automation and various tech transformations.
This has its explanation too. If not interviewing then how else can we confidently identify which qualified candidates match our job requirements, our company’s corporate culture, and our values? You can’t evaluate these things properly by simply scanning a resume or doing the prescreening. Generally, assessing the soft skills of our candidates help make the final hiring decisions.
Let’s take a closer look at what we call an “interview” and examine how it is engineered.
It would be naive to presume that for hiring people, interviews only serve as the ultimate selection tool. It’s essential not to forget that job Interviews are also critical means for impressing top talent (if they are really “A” players, then they are inevitably in the hiring process with other employers too).
Digging deep to discover the real essence of the interviews will lead to improved time to fill, a positive candidate experience, smoother onboarding as well as will ensure a huge impact on matrics of “successful hire” for your company.
That’s why as a recruiter, you should first look inside your company and understand why the role matters. Meanwhile, you should also keep in mind that the goal of recruiting is to make sure — the fit happens…
And here comes into play the concept of “quality of hire”. The quality of your hiring decision mainly depends on the quality of the interviewing process. It’s that simple. If you have a well-tuned interview process, you’ll hire better. But you shouldn’t also overlook the fact that the decisions you make can often be based on personal preferences, gut feeling, professional biases or subjective reasons.
But note that not all candidates can make a great first impression. Thus everyone should be given an equal opportunity to present themselves in the best way possible. Using predefined scorecards to evaluate the strengths and the weaknesses of each candidate will always prove efficient and will also help solve the dilemma between professional and personal you. You could also consider adding extra steps like testing, final interviewing, situational interviewing or some other form of standardized evaluation to the hiring process.
“Too Much Love Will Kill You — Every Time”
Do you remember the last time you were looking for a job? If you do then you’ll agree that there is nothing wrong at all if candidates show up for an interview a little nervous. It’s natural that candidates, even the best ones, who really care for getting the job are a little bit tense.
In this nerve-wracking situation, as a recruiter, you have an important mission to accomplish — help the applicant to relax first. This way they will be able to make the right self-presentation when meeting the hiring team. Of course, the candidate can feel like being judged and they know for sure that every employer has their rules of a game. But they really never know the rules. The only outcome they’ll receive at the end, in most cases, is an offer. But you’ll agree that in some cases interviews don’t end with offers, but — rejection. The idea that they might be rejected is another thing that can make a candidate really nervous and distant.
But with the right coaching, recruiters should minimize the candidates’ anxiety which primarily is being triggered by fearing the unknown…
So here are a few tips for recruiters to help put the applicants at ease, cope with stress and get comfortable during the interview:
- Find a moment to pitch that they are the ones who control the situation, and the interview is designed to help them make the right choice. The thing is if they feel like they are in control of the situation and they have some pinch of power, their anxiety will be drastically minimized.
- Explain that the entire hiring process is a mutual decision and the move should make sense for both parties — the candidate and the employer. Also, it’s worth emphasizing that the candidate should get the chance to ask questions and get an accurate and realistic vision of the role, its responsibilities and how this all fits in with the company mission in general. At least, what is the entire point of the process if not the elimination of the unknown?
- Shed light on the fact that the only soft skill employers are always looking for is the candidate’s ability to deal with pressure and handle tense, stressful and awkward interactions with interviewers.
If the candidates are unnecessarily stressed out, they can’t be their best, so help them feel ready to meet the hiring team with the regained self-confidence.
And let’s be honest, the only person who struggles to control the outcome of the interview, for the most part, is the recruiter herself — so, hope you’re happy… As we are the ones who are usually anxious and stressed (“Every time”).
About the author: Varduhi Petrosyan is an HR manager at SFL.
Check out our open roles at https://sflpro.com/job/.
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