Interview Preparation and Conduct

Name: Interview Preparation and Conduct
Author: Susan Sherman

Learn the importance of preparation and planning for your interview process.

Preview the first lesson free — get full access to all 9 lessons.

Course: On-Demand

(upbeat music) The purpose of an interview is to assess the skills, abilities, and experience of applicants. In these next lessons, you'll learn how to assemble your candidate pool and how to plan and conduct effective interviews. Adequate preparation for an interview is critical to success. If you expect your candidates to be prepared, so should your recruiters. Being unprepared can result in: ineffective interviews, poor hiring decisions, wasted resources, increased costs, and poor representation of your organization. Before you conduct an interview, first define your objectives clearly. While the overall goal may be obvious, such as finding the best candidate for the open position, taking time to develop a plan will ensure you ask the right questions. This also provides a successful foundation for the interview. These three steps can help you prepare for your interviewing process. Make sure you have a complete understanding of the position. Meet with the immediate supervisor of the position to learn what they're looking for specifically. This will help you identify and assess the right qualities during the interview. Define the position. What are your organization's expectations for this position? What are the necessary technical and soft skills? Identify success factors. What behaviors and achievements did previous top performers in this position possess? Having a good understanding of the position and setting goals before the interview creates a solid foundation. Let's discuss some preparation tactics you can use to conduct a successful meeting. First, know your candidates. Take the time to thoroughly review resumes, profiles, and applications. What key points concerning their skills do you want to explore? Take notes on what you wanna learn more about. Next, have an agenda and plan enough time. Make sure you'll have plenty of time for the interview and that you won't be interrupted. Doing this will help you stay on track and ensure you and your candidate touch all bases. Build your interview team. Identify ahead of time who will interview each candidate. Delegating the responsibility of interviewing at the last minute can leave that person unprepared, which can poorly represent your organization. Prepare to sell your organization. Develop a pitch to sell your employer's brand, culture, and benefits. Remember, your candidate is interviewing your organization, as well. Develop a rating scale. Collaborate with your recruiting team to create a metric system to rate applicants based on the results of their interview. And finally, prepare specific questions. Avoid thinking of all your questions on the spot. You can always go off script for follow-up questions, but you should also have a set of questions to go through. There are various types of interview questions, such as: Ice breakers. These are used to build rapport and put you and your candidate at ease. Traditional. These types of questions gather general information about a candidate and their skills. Behavioral. These questions can be about the candidate's work habits or their average mood at work to discover specific examples of their demonstrated behaviors. Case interview. For this, you can provide your candidate with a specific scenario related to the open position and ask them to describe how they would best complete the task. Problem-solving. These questions require applicants to solve a problem and explain their approach or process. Competency. These questions require candidates to relate their past experiences to specific competencies required for the position. Careful preparation will give you or your interviewer the confidence and skill to obtain the right information, which ultimately helps you make an informed decision.

Intermediate Provider : Susan Sherman 9 Lessons · 26m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

It’s important to prepare and plan your interviewing process. In this module, you will learn how to assemble and assess your candidate pools and conduct effective interviews. You will learn how to reach candidates, choose your interview style and format, and build rapport through conversation. You will also be introduced to some common signs to look for when assessing your candidates.

What You'll Learn

Determine your interview goals and plan your interviewing process
Assemble and assess your candidate pool
Use social media and communication technology to reach out to candidates
Choose an interview style and format that fits your needs
Build rapport with candidates through conversation
Recognize common signs to look for when assessing candidates

Key Takeaways

Preparing and planning your interviewing process is important to interviewing effectively.
Effective interviewing involves assembling and assessing your candidate pool before conducting interviews.
Social media and communication technology can be used to reach out to candidates.
Choosing an interview style and format and building rapport through conversation support effective interviews.
There are common signs to look for when assessing your candidates.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this module cover?

This module covers how to assemble and assess your candidate pools and conduct effective interviews, including reaching candidates, choosing your interview style and format, and building rapport through conversation. It also introduces common signs to look for when assessing candidates.

What are the learning objectives of this course?

The learning objectives are to determine your interview goals, distinguish between various interview styles, and learn how to assess your candidate and build rapport.

What topics are included in the lessons?

Lessons cover interview goals, assembling and assessing the candidate pool, using social media and communication technology, reaching out to the candidate, choosing an interview style, choosing an interview format, building rapport through conversation, signs to look for, and a Test Your Knowledge section.

Why is it important to prepare for the interviewing process?

The course states that it is important to prepare and plan your interviewing process so you can assemble and assess your candidate pools and conduct effective interviews.