You may not be in the hot seat when you’re conducting an interview, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to prepare. In fact, as the person hiring, you’re actually being assessed by the candidate. A strong candidate will study your presentation, how you speak about your work, and your questions. These will give her clues about both the company and your style of management. These clues will inform her decision to accept your job offer or not. Therefore, it’s important to set a strong and impressive tone when you conduct an interview. After all, it may be your first encounter with your future best employee.
To do this, follow these tips about how to prepare for your next interview.
1. Review her cover letter and resume the day before the interview. Highlight the parts that stood out to you and made you decide to interview her.
Reason: At the table, when the candidate sees that her application has been highlighted, it signals to her that you took the time to read it closely and you were moved by certain parts. Flying into an interview unprepared indicates that you’re not taking the meeting or the candidate seriously. This is a major turnoff for the candidate.
2. Jot down a few questions that are tailored to the candidate’s experience in advance of the interview.
Reason: Instead of using the same generic interview questions for everyone, your questions indicate that your approach is individualistic and relative to her experience. Just like you remember her best answers, she’ll remember your best questions.
3. Respect time boundaries. If your meeting starts at 1pm, be ready at 1pm. If you told her the interview would last an hour, wrap up the interview at 2pm.
Reason: Sticking to the start and end times of the interview demonstrates your respect of her time. It doesn’t look good to be late to meeting someone for the first time. Don’t let her reject you because you made her wait.
Remember, she may need a job, but you also need the best candidate.
How do you prepare for interviewing candidates? Share below.