Interviewing A to Z Part 2
The last article (Interviewing A-Z Part I) covered the all-important need to be prepared for interviewing. This article covers the actual interview session and should complete your education for conducting successful interviews and hiring the best candidates.
The Effective Interview Stages
Stage One: The "Put at Ease" or "Icebreaker" Stage (no more than five minutes)‑‑Start off with small talk; for example, "I see you are from this area" or "You went to XYZ school; so did I [or so did my kids or my wife or husband]" and so on. Your purpose is to show some common ground between you and them. They need to be assured that you are a real person and not some fearful being about to make a "judgment."
Stage Two: Interview Summary‑‑Tell the candidate what is going to happen during the interview (describe Stages Three, Four and Five). By doing this, you will let them know that you will be asking about their work‑related background, you'll be describing the store (past, present and future), you'll be discussing the job's pros and cons and after that you'll answer any questions they may have.
Stage Three: The Questions (allow 30 minutes) ‑- Now refer to your pre-arranged interview‑question list and begin asking the work‑related questions. Make notes about the answers. Here are sample questions for your list:
Question 1: Can you give me a quick four‑minute autobiography? This helps the easing process. Everyone's favorite subject is himself.
Question 2: Tell me what you did at your last or current job. What were you responsible for? If they can't give you the specifics or their duties, they either didn't have the job they listed or never understood it. Example: If they claim they were management, yet their last job sounds more like a clerk's, beware.
Question 3. What did you like best about your last or current job? Good applicants will usually want to discuss their positive activities; poor applicants will discuss negative activities. Again, is what they liked a match for your position's duties?
Question 4. What did you like least? If they were upset with their last or current job, try to determine if it could happen in your store. If their dislikes are part of your day‑to‑day activity (for example, working with customer complaints), let them know up front. Next Page...