There are a few job interview questions and techniques you must know to ensure success in hiring. Let’s look at how to interview employees to hire the very best. And what defines the best … those with great character. Most hire for skills and fire for lack of character. If you hire for character, employee retention problems will be a thing of the past.
Being Purposeful in Your Job Interview
Character and attitude should be the first traits you seek in a new employee and specific job skills second. This will never happen unless you are prepared to interview knowing which character traits are a must for your business. With this you will be able to select interview questions that give you useful information.
How to Interview Well
A job interview that succeeds gives both the employer and employee vital information. It is a win-win situation for both parties. The job interview questions must elicit the character and skills information you need and the proposed employee must learn about you, your company, and their future fellow employees. The candidate at the job interview needs to get information they need, to learn if this job is for them. Don’t waste the time money that constant hiring and firing entails, rather improve employee retention by learning how to interview better.
When hiring experienced people I like to clearly explain not only what the job entails but what our business culture is, the character and attitudes we display, and take them through a typical day. They need to understand what your business culture is.
Interviewing employees and knowing how to interview well is a skill and an art. One of the failures many employers make is simply going through their job interview questions and never helping the candidate to learn about the culture of the business. It has to work for both of you.
Your Current Employees Can Make the Difference!
The job candidate should always interview with at least one of your current employees, not just you. This will help them to determine if the job will fit them. Spending time with a existing employee and learning about your business culture is invaluable to them. They’ll ask questions to their future co-worker that they would never ask you. Don’t hire someone who won’t fit with your business culture. It wastes both your their time and yours.
Not Once, But Twice!
Want a great job interview tip? Learn from the carpenter! You’ve probably heard the old carpenter’s adage: measure twice, cut once. Try this in recruiting employees: interview twice, hire once!
You must give a second interview to any candidate with potential. Never make a hiring decision at the first interview. Generally interviews make people nervous. Sometimes a person might do very well at a first interview but another well qualified person may not. That second job interview might just give you the insight you need to understand the person.
Interviewing employees a second time often helps an employee relax and helps you see who they really are. Compare results and answers from both employee interviews to help you determine the best candidate for each position.
Remember to get another employee involved in the first job interview. The potential employee will have a better picture of your business when they come for the second job interview. They will have thought of other questions that will give you more insight as to their character and ability. The give and take of job interview questions will give a better result for both of you.
Don’t forget, that no matter how well you conduct a job interview, you won’t really know how things will turn out until the new employee is on the job.
I remember an employee we brought onboard years ago. Three people interviewed her and she seemed like a wonderful choice. Her first day with us shocked us all. We surely must have interviewed her identical twin sister. The employee who showed up for work was absolutely not like the one we interviewed!
The lesson: some can breeze through your job interview questions and some will struggle. Talk to prior employers, preferably two jobs back. It’s an excellent way to gain valuable information and to avoid unhappy surprises. Do it right by taking your time. Interviewing employees is truly as much an art as a skill. Keep working at it.