Interviewing: steps and techniques

The interview often becomes a real stress for candidates - this is a fact. However, conducting interviews is also a whole art. Managers planning such actions must know all the stages, features and techniques.

The classic idea of ​​how to conduct an interview with many HR personnel is a serious brake. Leading specialists in the field of management have long noticed that "insidious issues" have ceased to have any serious effect. All the same, all such moments have long been made public. And any the applicant can practice at home in front of the camcorder or in front of the mirror, thereby providing a pleasant impression. Therefore, a feature of modern interviews is the maximum orientation to future work.

Preparing for such questions by rehearsing or quickly inventing the wrong answers is almost impossible. There are much more chances to get an adequate candidate. Thinking through the list of issues, you must avoid all those for which you can prepare in advance. It is worth probing thematic sites and communities in social networks that future applicants can easily find.

The following questions are categorically unsuitable for characterizing a future employee:

• about strengths and weaknesses;
• a personal assessment of their prospects;
• about the "dream job";
• about where a person sees himself ideally in 5-15 years.

The situation in the economy, professional environments and communities is changing very quickly. And the most brilliant result obtained 3-5 years ago, says little about the prospects. Yes, and past failures in this sense, too, by the way, are not so important.

In addition, the difference in corporate culture and the specifics of specific organizations can also not be discounted.

Questions should be something like this:

• Does the applicant know what he will face immediately, how he will act and in what order;
• whether a person will be able to solve a specific problem (formulate in general terms one or more tasks for which they are usually hired for this position);
• whether the person will cope with the search for problems and shortcomings in the current work process (using real-life violations as an example);
• how the candidate presents his plan for professional development, consultations, necessary consultations, networking within the team, how he will assess success or failure.

But all this does not mean that you can ignore the questionnaire and resume of the applicant, other documents they sent. On the contrary, all similar materials must be carefully studied before the interview. And not just to study, but to take on it to immediately clarify certain points, adjust the process. The interview script must be prepared in advance. And this rule must be borne in mind even by the most outstanding, most experienced managers and personnel officers.

This is the only way to eliminate errors. And the omission of even one question or incorrect wording can be extremely dangerous. It’s so easy to overlook a valuable employee or to hire the wrong person. Moreover, acting on a clear scenario, you can save a lot of time. At the reception dedicated to the conversation with the candidates, no side issues should be discussed.. Subordinates are warned in advance that they intervene only in urgent cases indeed.

It is unnecessary to talk about such subtlety as emphasizing a quiet and calm office. For an interview, the manager must take a job description. On such a “cheat sheet” it is easiest to evaluate both experience, and the level of competence, and the quality of human motivation.

The interview plan should be made as clear as possible. When compiling it, one should not only study the resume in detail, but also establish how exactly a particular applicant will be evaluated. Almost every company has its own standard recommendations in this regard. The algorithm should be formed taking into account such recommendations. In any case, it is necessary to conduct a conversation from the very beginning in such a way as to develop an atmosphere of trusting equality and to support it in every way.

Because experienced recruiters and wise leaders ask primarily neutral questions, make other efforts to overcome natural distrust and wariness. The transition to the main part of the interview occurs only after close contact is established.

The second part of the interview is precisely the candidate’s monologue. Particularly often, an independent presentation is checked during the examination of candidates for senior positions in the field of trade and marketing.Attention is paid not only to the essence of the stated facts, assessments, views and approaches of the applicant (although this is important, of course). It is necessary to assess the sincerity and adequacy of a person, the ability to hold on and communicate with unfamiliar people. Those who fail to demonstrate this at the interview are unlikely to become a good leader.

It is worth emphasizing that in general it is estimated as follows:

• the confidence of the candidate (which should not, of course, turn into self-confidence or aplomb);
• the correctness of the construction of speech;
• logical monologue;
• tact in speaking on sharp and controversial issues (very important in negotiations);
• general behavior;
• gestures, facial expressions and other non-verbal signs.

No matter how significant the monologue is, the bulk of the interview should still take the form of a monologue. It is the recruiter or leader who plays the decisive role at such a moment in the conversation. He needs to control the general course of the conversation. Wherein authoritarian style is strongly discouraged.

At such moments, you need to ask "closed" questions, such as:

• "How much time you need to communicate with subordinates";
• “How to evaluate the result of completing an assignment of such and such”;
• “How much time does an employee need to give for such an operation”;
• “Do you agree that such and such should be done in the organization.”

Having compiled a list of questions for an interview, you should postpone it for a while and then return, re-read with a fresh look. At this point, you need to abandon everything that:

• invades personal space;
• commonplace;
• does not help disclosing the identity of the applicant and his professional qualities;
• too predictable and can be easily learned at home rehearsal;
• irrelevant;
• It has a very vague wording that makes it easy to mislead;
• it is already clear from the resume, other documents sent and information obtained from public sources.

The end of the interview “physically” usually occurs at the allotted time. Tighten it is not worth it, unless in the most extreme case. But sometimes the recruiter or manager is convinced that the decision can be made now. In this case, they need to make it clear to the applicant that the reception is over. This is done in various ways:

• expressive looks at the watch;
• preparation for leaving (appropriate posture, as before lifting from a chair or from a chair, folding or sorting out things);
• offer to ask the last question;
• calling the secretary in person or internally with the question of the next visitor, event.

The recruiter or manager, following the usual rules of courtesy, thanks the candidate or several candidates if the interview went in a group format. They are told how they will continue to consider the candidacy, to keep in touch. But even after the applicant leaves, the work of specialists does not end.

But here we must return to such a topic as a check list.

An experienced recruiter will add the following items there:

• call in 30-60 minutes (to see if the candidate suddenly changes his mind or if he can arrive on time);
• perfecting in the meeting room or in the office;
• transfer of all interfering affairsmeetings and so on;
• business card exchange;
• Presentation of the interview plan to the applicant (so that he knows what he can count on), and optionally - the determination of the time frame for each stage;
• what should the candidate tellthat he should learn about the upcoming work and activities of the organization;
• necessary additional tests (tests, cases of general and professional plan);
• which staff in the same area to inviteto assess deeper professional competency.

This option of interviews implies a clear and uniform procedure for evaluating all candidates. Special studies have shown that this approach is effective even when searching for people in creative positions with a poorly formalized nature of activity.

The difficulty is that you have to:

• develop clear lists of issues;
• check their effectiveness;
• to achieve strict observance of the established order by all recruiters.

It is aimed no more to assess the competence of people in general, but to establish whether they can behave correctly in a very tense situation. Under the influence of emotional shake-up, all the superficial layers of the psyche go away, the opportunity to use “homework” is lost.

There are 3 main options for creating stress:

• exhaustion by expectation;
• a deliberately uncomfortable environment (low light, loud and unpleasant sounds, filling out profiles standing up, the presence of strangers doing their own thing, cold or heat);
• intentional ignoring (including calls, visits of other employees, working with documents, processing incoming mail) - that is, checking composure in such an environment.

Stress interviews are recommended for assessing qualities:

• educators;
• Nannies
• detectives;
• Journalists
• security guards;
• air traffic controllers;
• sales managers;
• operators of responsible and hazardous industries.

This type of job interview is being carried out more and more often these days. The bottom line is that people are invited to describe their actions when resolving a specific situation. The more complicated this situation, the more skills it requires, the more valuable such a case. Most often This method is practiced for those involved in advertising, sales, marketing, and for managers at all levels.

Another name is competency interview. It is assumed that hypothetical situations will not be resolved (as in the previous example), but the experience of the applicant will be maximally disclosed. Recruiters and managers will need to draw up competency models and build schemes for their assessment. For example, under the general definition of “leadership” are hidden such moments as a clear assessment of the situation, the ability to convey it to other people. But also the leader sometimes has to take unpopular or simply incomprehensible measures so far, precisely because he "looks beyond other employees."

Similarly, the following competencies are laid out into their components:

• analytical approach;
• ability to solve several problems at the same time;
• communication skills;
• ability to maintain discipline in a team.

The most logical way to use this format when hiring for remote work. But it is useful for evaluating nonresident applicants, and for the initial selection of people living in the same village. Total the procedure takes no more than 25 minutes. Of these, 10-15 minutes are in the main part, and 5-7 minutes for summing up, plus initial communication setup.

This approach works effectively when you need to check the previous activities of candidates and carefully evaluate it. The head or recruiter finds out what tasks the candidate for the position in the organization solved, how he got out of the difficulties that arose.

An alternative name is the modeling method. The difference from a prospective interview is that exactly one or two situations are simulated. The rest of the conversation is quite common. The respondents are expected to receive adequate answers to the alleged challenges. The task and evaluate the results should be people who know the specifics of the organization from the inside.

This method involves active business games. The model is used anyway. But it should be initially close to real practice: Do not be afraid even to reveal the difficulties that your organization faces. A common option: a recruiter or manager plays the role of a buyer, a client. In this case, the applicant must properly serve him.

We are talking about individual elements of the interview, allowing you to check the stress resistance of applicants.

Attention:

• the method is not suitable for all posts;
• implementation should be as tactful as possible;
• it must be remembered that incorrect application of the method poses reputational costs for the company.

For a job seeker in a large organization, you must definitely ask questions regarding the ability to interact with people. At the same time, one should try to reveal the ability to communicate normally even in a critical environment (or the absence of such ability).

So, when talking with programmers, it is advisable to be interested in:

• knowledge of programming languages, cycles, procedures;
• knowledge of the methodology of programmer work;
• knowledge of data sorting methods;
• ability to use algorithms, create systems for processing large amounts of digital data.

It is more appropriate to ask candidates for the position of seller in such a way as to evaluate:

• knowledge of sales techniques;
• speed of thinking;
• negotiation skills with a client;
• persuasiveness of speech;
• professional literacy.

Regardless of who is employed in the organization and for what position, a systematic assessment of the results of the interview is very important. Recruiters need to abandon the myth of a "good job seeker." It’s best to simply compile a list of criteria and evaluate the candidate’s conformity or non-conformity sequentially from the list. There are no likes and dislikes: just like they would pick up a car, apartment or other item for themselves - pure composure and iron rationality.

Other common mistakes:

• evaluation of applicants for the position primarily in their manners;
• formation of final judgments at the very beginning of the interview;
• exaggerated attention to appearance;
• attempts to find confirmation of the initial impression in the interview materials.

It is worth considering that even when conducting a stressful interview, courtesy and tact are very important. From the very beginning, it is better to tune in to a moderately favorable attitude towards applicants. The interviewer, whether a boss or an ordinary recruiter, should allow the person to talk more. He himself mainly listens attentively. For the sake of a more complete disclosure of personality and professional qualities, it is sometimes worthwhile to abandon individual issues, swap them, add new ones or even add a little time beyond the plan.

It is necessary to carefully control yourself so that neither gestures, nor facial expressions, nor intonations give the interlocutor a preliminary verdict and an impression. For similar manifestations in the candidate must be watched as closely as possible. It is strongly recommended that you record in a free form during the conversation.. Regardless of the preliminary decision, it is worth spending a few minutes informing the applicants about the job responsibilities and nuances of the upcoming work.