Conducting Interviews

by Dara Golden
DMV Contributing Editor

Dara Golden is a former technical writer, now homeschooling her five-year-old.

People are hired for their skills, but often fired for their personality.

An interview should cover two areas: skills and personal qualities. Whether a candidate has one or ten years writing experience shouldn't be enough to land a job; the skills the candidate has are what's important. During the interview it is also important to ensure that the candidate will fit into your group and company.

Before the Interview

• Determine job requirements
  
  Ensure that the job description matches what you're looking for in a candidate. Determine general skills the candidate must have, such as writing, indexing, and translation skills. Be specific. Additionally, omit skills that are irrelevant or easy to teach.
  
• Create a general list of questions
  
  These are questions asked of all candidates. General questions include what the candidate is looking for in the job, what they want to do, and why they want to work for your company. These questions determine a general fit into the company and group; what they want to do may not be something done at your company.
  
• Create a skill-specific list of questions
  
  Like the general questions, these questions will be asked of everyone. In general, writing skills must be asked of all candidates. However, questions can be created for desired job requirements, such as reading code and UNIX networking experience.
  
• Create a list of open-ended questions
  
  Open ended questions are ones where a "yes/no" answer isn't sufficient. The candidate needs to elaborate on answers, thus giving you more information. An example of an open-ended question is "What was your biggest challenge in a past job and how did you meet it?"
  
• Review the questions
  
  Are the questions clearly worded? Do they cover the areas important for the job? Do they cover the goals for the interview?
  
• Determine candidate-specific questions
  
  Once the resume is received, determine if there are additional questions you'd like answered.
  
• Rank and divide the questions
  
  Determine the hierarchy of the questions, such as which questions can be asked during the phone screen interview opposed to the live interview. What questions must be asked and which questions can be asked if time permits? If multiple people are interviewing the candidates, divide up the questions.

During the Interview

• Be professional
  
  A good rule of thumb is to treat the candidate like you'd like to be treated during an interview. Arrive on time for the interview, shake hands, and introduce yourself. At the end of the interview, thank them for their time and let them know what they're to do after your interview, such as being escorted to HR or interviewed by another coworker.
  
• Listen
  
  A good rule of thumb for interviewers is to talk 25% of the time and listen the rest of the time. Don't be afraid of silences - the candidate may be gathering their thoughts before answering your question. Giving an occasional head nod or saying "uh huh" lets the candidate know that you are listening.
  
• Ensure questions are answered
  
  If an answer isn't clear or completely answered, ask "Could you elaborate on that?" or "Why?" Before ending the interview, glance at your list of questions to ensure that the areas your are focusing on have been answered to your satisfaction. If you ran out of time, have one of your co-workers ask the questions you were not able to ask.
  
• Remain neutral
  
  Keep a poker face. Showing expression may skew the interview. Studies have shown that taking notes during interviews can also skew answers, so keep note taking to a minimum.
  
• Keep control of the interview
  
  Lead the candidate, don't let them lead or dictate the interview.
  
• Leave time at the end
  
  This time can be used for you to summarize what was covered and how you understood the information. Ask if there's anything else you should ask them or if they'd like to ask you anything. Do not feel obligated to answer any questions if you feel uncomfortable with them.

 

After the Interview

• Write down your impressions
  
  Include supporting data for both positive and negative impressions. If you include quotes, ensure that they are accurate. Try to keep personal biases out of the impressions. Don't talk to any of the other interviewers before you commit your impressions to paper.
  
• Get other opinions
  
  A candidate may click with one interviewer and not with another. With different questions being answered, one interviewer may be impressed while another disappointed. Talk to the other interviewers at an agreed upon time, preferably after all interviews have been conducted. One company asked interviewers to report to the manager after the interview
  to give the manager an idea how to adjust the questions they were going to ask the candidate.

Keeping these pointers in mind can assist in ensuring that the right candidate is hired for positions at any company.