Tell me, do you fantasize about spending your weekends conducting in-person interviews?
Do your friends wish you'd quit going on (and on) about video interviews, functional interview questions, and personality assessments?
Are you looking forward to trying to sell that mediocre benefits package to your candidates?
Maybe you're anxiously awaiting your next chance to go through the interview process, only to be fooled again by a smooth talker?
No? You aren't alone.
Interviewing employees can be very stressful if you don't feel confident in your process.
Check out my video for my step-by-step interview process that you can start to use immediately and feel confident about!
Here's My Time-Tested Interview Process
Step 1. Share the deal breakers
Is there anything less-than-ideal about the position you’re hiring for? Working weekends, a questionable neighborhood, far from public transport? If so, be sure to disclose this in the first few emails. Similarly, what are your deal breakers? Do you require that your hire has a college degree, a car, or a specific certification?
I’m sure you've included that information in your meticulously crafted job description, but it doesn't hurt to remind candidates in your initial emails. Just this one step will save you (and your candidates) so much time!
Step 2. Conduct a phone interview
Even if they’re local. Really! It will save you so much time and give you insight into their general demeanor and how they come across on the phone – particularly important if they’ll be working in a sales or public-facing role. Find out why I think you should always do a phone interview here.
And what do you ask them during that phone interview? Functional interview questions.
For example:
Have you ever managed a team of people?
Have you used Quickbooks?
Have you ever developed a marketing plan?
These questions will help you quickly establish a candidate’s level of knowledge and experience. Want a cheat sheet of Functional + Behavioral Interview Questions + Tips? Click here!)
Step 3. Conduct a face-to-face interview
When you meet your candidate face to face, you’ll get a better idea of their personality and how they present themselves. If you work remotely or aren't ready to fly your candidate in for an interview, a video interview can be a nice substitute. When you’re chatting face-to-face, try out your best behavioral interview questions. These questions will help you get a good idea of how your candidate would deal with challenges, communicate, and fit in with your team.
For example:
Tell me about a time you went above and beyond for a customer.
Give me an example of a time a co-worker frustrated you & how you handled it.
Describe a situation when you had to resolve conflict in the workplace.
Step 4: Use your selection tools
Once you've narrowed it down to your final candidates, this is the time to use those pre-employment assessments. This could be a personality profile like the DiSC, or an intelligence test like the Wonderlic. There are a million (actually, probably more than that) tools that will help you understand your candidate better.
I love self-assessments! You can learn more about how I use them to be a better leader here.
Now it’s time to see your candidate in action!
A Pre-Hire Project is a task that tests a candidate’s skill in real time, with real colleagues and challenges. It might be a quick design mock up, a ride-along, a day-in-the-life experience or any number of things that are specific to your industry or position. These are an underutilized, yet highly valuable selection tool + they are free!
Step 5: Extend the offer
This is (usually) the fun part! As you’re moving your candidate through the interview process, make sure you’re talking about compensation as you go (without sounding like a jerk).
Also make sure that your candidates know about any other forms they might be asked to sign: non-competes, non-disclosure agreements, drugs tests, etc.
When all your documents are ready and you’ve prepared a compensation and benefits package you know they’ll fall all over themselves to sign, make the offer! See? It’s not so bad. Go ahead and use my 10+ years of expertise to make your interview process about a million times easier.
Like Practical + Actionable Advice Like This? You'll Love My (free) Hiring Hacks ebook!
You know what Zig says about motivation – right? Like bathing, he recommends it daily. If you need some daily hiring motivation, check out our Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for daily tips on how to find and hire great employees!
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