CANDIDATE INTERVIEW STRATEGIES
Like Jeff Hyman would say in his best-selling book, Recruit Rockstars, you need to make your interview process as objective and standardized as possible so you don’t accidentally under or over-treat a candidate. So much of your decision can be influenced by emotions or personal connection with the candidate, we want to make sure that there’s an objective argument for hiring the candidate when it comes to their functional background and aspirations
STANDARDIZED INTERVIEW
During the stage of face to face interviews – develop a new non-repetitive standardized interview sheet. When I say non-repetitive, I mean, don’t go over the same questions that you made necessary in the initial screening stage. These questions should dive deeper into functional experience, motivations for change, drives, passions, and career aspirations.
CANDIDATE SCORECARDS
All associates involved in the face-to-face interview process should be filling out their own candidate scorecards for each interview. They should not reveal their opinions to others involved until all candidates have been interviewed. Every opinion is important and should not be influenced by other team members until /after/ they are recorded.
CANDIDATE TEST DRIVES
One of the best methods for lowering turnover (and creating stronger attraction) within the first 180 days of hire is to include an interview round that would be considered a candidate test drive. Due to the time constraints, you should only be test-driving one or two candidates. A test drive should be developed internally to take a candidate through a typical half-day or day of a role, and involve them in functional ”tests’ to see how well they stack up versus what they have spoken about in screening and interviews.
What’s Next..?
The interview process can be a daunting one, but in my opinion, is way easier than the sourcing period. As long as you have a plan, and create objective interview sheets and rankings, you will have no problem making the right decision when it comes time to make an offer.
To learn more recruiting strategies, see the Elite LBM Talent: The Blueprint (link)
