In our Interview Guide article, we had the opportunity to share with you a little about the steps we follow here during this important process.
We now share a little of our methodology, that is, how we prepare to interview qualified candidates, and also how we conduct it.
Many of the leaders - Human Resources professionals or not - have been practicing this activity for years and, because they have experience, invest little time in preparing and conducting interviews. Added to this is the fact that time is a very valuable and scarce resource, especially in the corporate environment, which increases the need to "hurry" time with the candidate.
If we dedicate ourselves to all the previous steps, the chance of candidates being really qualified increases significantly. And with that, investing time and seeking new techniques for interviews can bring a significant return.
But how to prepare to interview the candidate? And what techniques can we use to make better use of time? These and other suggestions will be shared with you below.
1 - Preparation
A quality interview begins before we are with the candidate. For those who work with different vacancies, even if at some point they have already read the position description, it is worth going through each of the points listed well in advance of the interview. This brings clarity about what we will actually address with the candidate and reduces the loss of focus.
With the position profile in mind, we set out to recall important points about the candidate. We will re-read and understand your resume, your Linkedin profile and other materials you sent us. We always have our Interview Guide at hand, but this is the time for the first fine adjustments, questions based on the candidate's unique profile: motivations for any changes, professional experiences that, despite not being specific to the profile, can complement and add unique to that position.
2 - Initiation
This is the moment when we receive the candidate and start the interview. Our suggestion is to invest something between 5 and 10 minutes to make the environment pleasant and conducive to a professional dialogue, but not rigid. A little relaxation helps the candidate to relax and feel more comfortable with the interaction and responses. It's worth a brief presentation about yourself and, after that, open questions to him, such as: what attracted you to the vacancy, if the place where the company is located (if it was possible to open which one) is easy to access, among others.
The candidate needs to feel that he is with us because he can make important contributions, that he is the focus of our attention. Regardless of the result of the selection process, we have the real intention of meeting you, if not for the position in question for future opportunities.
3 - Conduction
Here we enter the interview itself, with specific questions for the vacancy. It is our practice, before starting the questions, to ask the candidate for permission so that we can take notes during the conversation. And we made these notes on paper instead of on the computer, this to turn attention and eye contact whenever possible to the interviewee.
While guiding the interview, we have the possibility to confirm and highlight relevant points, repeating part of the candidate's lines to ensure understanding and also demonstrating our attention and understanding through gestures. At the same time that this shows kindness and care with the dialogue and interlocutor, it encourages the candidate's desire to elaborate the answers a little more. This will bring greater richness of details in the profile capture. But it is important to be careful with the balance, so that the driving mode is quite natural.
4 - Closing and Conclusion.
At this stage of the interview, we already had the opportunity to go through the entire script and we are moving towards closing. If the general reading with the candidate was of high adherence, it may be a good time to reinforce the "sale of the vacancy", emphasizing the positive aspects of the company, area, activities and even the benefits package. It is also worth opening up for questions, as a way to ensure the understanding and even the candidate's interest in continuing in the selection process.
About the process as a whole, it is important to divide the next phases and also the expected time for them to occur. If for any reason the deadlines are not available, we also make it clear to align expectations. And always, we wish you the best and best of luck.
5 - Follow-up and feedback.
At the end of the interview with the candidate, we carry out the notes obtained with a lot of detail. Our objective is to register at the end of the interview and, if this is not possible, always on the same day. With recent information it is easier to remember all the important points. For this reason, even if we have several candidates scheduled, we leave a time gap of at least 15 minutes between interviews.
We seek transparency throughout the process, both with the contractor and the contractor. We are available to candidates as well, and any and all information that may be transmitted - without prejudice to either party - is shared.
This methodology has been very useful around here, but every week we have chats to evaluate possible improvements. We believe that we can change the team that is winning, because the adjustments are easier when everything is going well.
By Good Bridge Team.