After screening the candidates who, according to the information we had access to (internal talent pool, external talent pool, nominations, professional social media; currently having Linkedin as the most popular) , the time has come to get closer to the candidates so that, if it makes sense for their professional moment, we can schedule and carry out the interviews.
This is a valuable moment, initially for the candidate looking for an opportunity, but mainly for the company. If well executed, it can yield excellent results with ROI (Return On Investment) in the medium and long term. For that reason, it's worth putting in the time and effort. The good news is that, with a little discipline and structure, you too can do this with great performance.
The first step is to actually define an interview script, if you haven't already. And even if you already use one, it is always worth checking if any adjustment is necessary. With the speed of change we have today, we always find opportunities for improvement. Here at Good Bridge, we have developed a basic skeleton that, with minor adjustments according to the sector, area and seniority level of the position, goes very well in our daily lives. And it is exactly this practical skeleton that we will share in this article.
The main stages of the Interview Guide that we use are:
- 1 - Warm up
- 2 - Technical Knowledge
- 3 - Behavioral
- 4 – Cultural Fit
- 5 - Future Vision
1 - Warm UP
This is the beginning of the interview. That's when we start chatting with the candidate. After due introductions from both sides, we ask "light" questions that make the candidate feel at ease. At this time, we also took the opportunity to ask for "permission" to take notes, already emphasizing that we want to record important points of the chat and not forget valuable details. Out of respect for the candidate, we take notes on paper to keep an eye on him (body language, reaction to questions, facial expressions, among others). Recruiters who have had the opportunity to interview ten or more candidates in the same day know how easy it is to confuse information.
Sample Warm Up Questions:
What attracted you to this “financial administrative manager” position?
What do you like about the company in question (if you can disclose the name).
Is it reasonable distance for you to travel to the company?
2 - Technical Knowledge
At this point, we already have a favorable environment to start asking more specific questions about the position in question. And this is also a key point of the script. Maintain a positive climate for the chat, but mainly the focus on the position to be filled out, with relevant questions for this purpose.
Each position to be filled, depending on the sector, area and seniority, brings particularities with regard to technical knowledge. One way to keep this phase on a "track", is precisely to understand the experience and the candidate's knowledge in that sector and area. From there, create questions that allow the candidate to share the main responsibilities and interactions that he performs or has performed previously.
Example s of Technical Knowledge questions:
Tell me about your experience in the "furniture sector".
Tell me about your responsibilities as a "Financial Administrative Manager".
What were the main interactions you developed with other areas.
3 - Behavioral
At this stage, we already have a set of important information about the candidate's professional profile. We can then move on to a somewhat subjective phase, in search of hard and soft skills that help us capture the profile more comprehensively.
In our selection processes, we seek to avoid the obvious without losing focus - that is - the vacancy to be filled. Questions that make the candidate recall a specific moment and the behavior adopted, as well as the way he tells the event, help us to understand how he positions himself in situations of certain pressure, without making him feel uncomfortable.
Examples of behavioral questions:
Tell me about a time you did something surprisingly positive as an Administrative Finance Manager, and you received strong praise from the team.
What would you do in "a situation x of high criticality".
4 – Cultural Fit
Each company has its own values, objectives and mission. Bringing this reality to the candidate, the similarities and synergies between company and individual are fundamental for a long-term partnership. As quoted by Simon Sinek, the selection process takes months to actually materialize. And for that to happen, they must point in the same direction.
In practice, company and individual need to be in similar tune. If a company is experiencing accelerated and exponential growth, it will be a challenge for a candidate looking for something stable and routine to adapt to this reality. And the interview script needs to include this dimension as well.
Examples of cultural fit questions:
What values do you have that you believe are fundamental in a job opportunity?
What is your mission as a professional?
How do you believe our values are similar to yours "if it is possible to disclose the company"?
5 - Future Vision
In our interview script, we put this stage as one of the last. When we get here, we have already captured a considerable amount of information about the candidate and that, added to the documentation that we previously had access to, help us in composing the profile.
Let's then look for the next steps he intends to take, professionally speaking. What do you plan to study, how do you plan to update yourself and, finally, what activities you would like to do in the future. And some things don't necessarily go out of style, they can be adapted. This is the case of classic questions, as we will put below in the example.
Example question Future Vision:
Looking ahead, what types of activities and responsibilities would you like to assume in the medium term (3 to 5 years)?
This question, in addition to providing us with information about the candidate's professional goals, shows how he plans to achieve his goals. And with that, we have a good closure of our script.
Conclusion
It is very important that you have a roadmap for the interviews, but just as important, it is to adapt it to the audience. As the saying goes in English "practice makes perfect" and the more you do, the better you will adjust your script.