Interview Technique – the structured interview



Interview Technique – the structured interview

An interview is only an effective indicator of who is the best candidate if it is well structured and well executed.

Aim for: A constructive conversation that leaves the candidate feeling that they have been able to perform at their best and give you the information you need

Not: An over formalised ‘ grilling’ that leaves the candidate feeling that they did not get their points across and that leaves you with an incomplete picture of the candidate’s suitability.

Opening the Interview

Opening the interview in a clear, relaxed and open way is important as:

• It gives the candidates information about what to expect

• It helps nervous candidates to settle down and relax

• It gives you a chance to start building a rapport with the candidate

• It provides a professional image of you and the organisation

• It sets the tone for the rest of the interview and encourages the candidate to talk openly about themselves

A good way to do this is to start with the following:

• Welcome the candidate, thank them for coming, show them to their seat etc.

• Ask a straight forward question whilst they settle in to help put them at ease e.g. ‘how was your journey?’

• Introduce yourself and other panel members

• Outline how the interview will progress. Explain the approximate length, who will be asking questions, that there will an opportunity to ask any questions at the end and that the panel will be taking notes during the interview

• You may wish to provide a brief description of the job at this stage to set the scene, perhaps particularly for more senior roles.

• If there are any issues surrounding the job that are particularly important or that you anticipate may not be fully clear then it is worth spending some brief time covering these points. Examples could be clarifying the nature of the contract being offered – fixed term or open ended or clarifying hours for a part time role and discussing work pattern

Taking Notes

You should always inform the candidate from the outset that you will be taking notes throughout the interview.

Taking notes whilst listening can be a tricky skill but it is a good idea for a number of reasons:

• It shows the candidate that they are being listened to and taken seriously

• Notes will be invaluable at the end of each interview and especially at the end of the day when it can be hard to remember who said what. Such an ‘aide-memoire’ can help avoid subjectivity or inaccuracies creeping into decision making

• Notes will be useful in providing any feedback to unsuccessful candidates or even to defend your decision.

• You need to record the key points of what the candidate is saying, as they answer the questions, so that you have an accurate record of whether or not they have displayed the criteria required.

The notes on each candidate must be completed during or immediately after their interview to ensure that all salient points are noted whilst still fresh in your memory.

Note: under the Data Protection Act, any candidate has the legal right to make a request to view these notes – so think about what you write and make sure they are factual and objective and justifiable.

Putting the Candidate at Ease

Adopt an encouraging and supportive manner to get the best out of the candidate. By demonstrating that you are listening and looking attentive, you will create an atmosphere in which your candidate will relax and talk more freely.

Some of the things that you should consider are:

● Posture – sit up and lean slightly forward.

● Eye Contact – this shows interest and helps you to control the interview effectively, but remember that staring at a candidate can be intimidating and that some cultures regard not making eye contact as a sign of deference.

● Facial Expression – try to ensure that your expression conveys interest and avoid showing boredom, irritation or disbelief.

● Nodding Head – this indicates that you are finding the information useful and that you would like to hear more. However, remember too much movement could distract a candidate.

● Gestures – clenching your hands and entwining your legs can give the impression of nervousness. Try to use your hands to give greater emphasis to your questions, but not to the extent that it becomes distracting.

● Voice – talk at a reasonable pace. Simple responses such as “mm”, “yes”, and “I see” are especially useful when letting a candidate know that you are listening to them. However, using words of encouragement such as “good” or “excellent” should be avoided as they could give a candidate the wrong impression. The candidate may assume that you are saying that they are doing particularly well, when what you are actually doing is encouraging them to speak.

● Summarising – be careful not to lead a candidate when summarising. Use this as a method of showing the candidate that you are intent on getting an accurate picture of what the candidate is saying. It also helps you write up your notes.

Interview Questions - Dos and Don’ts

Do:

• Explain the format of the interview to each candidate at the outset, e.g. timing, interviewers involved and structure.

• Use open questions to encourage the candidate to talk. For instance, ‘What training have you had?’ ‘How would you organise this type of work?’ ‘Why do you think you are the right person for this job?’

• Use probing questions, to follow up responses for more detail. E.g. ‘Can you give me an example?’ ‘Can you be more specific?’ ‘Why do you say that?’

• Probing questions are also useful as a follow-up to negative questions like ‘Did you ever do or forget to do something that had negative consequences for your work?’ ‘Have you ever found yourself in a situation in which you were unable to cope?’ Having to show themselves in a slightly negative light may unnerve the candidate and distract them for the remainder of the interview. Use probing questions such as ‘How typical an occurrence was that?’ ‘How often did you have to deal with a situation like that?’ in order to allow the candidate to explain that it was perhaps a one-off situation from which they learned a great deal, including how to avoid the same situation again.

• Prepare questions which are relevant to the position and to the candidate. Refer to the person specification for help in doing this. For example, ‘What experience have you had of using Microsoft PowerPoint?’ ‘How would you deal with an irate customer?’

• Use behavioural questions to help identify past behaviour and performance. E.g. ‘Tell me about a time when you were responsible for a group of people.’ ‘Can you given an example of a time when you were under pressure?’

• Use reflective questions when you wish to confirm your understanding of points, e.g. ‘Is that right?’ ‘So you had to organise schedules and see to the smooth running of the project. Is that right?’

• Allow the interview to flow as a discussion, keeping to a logical sequence. This should be a two-way system, so it is important that you listen as much as you talk.

• Control the interview and the length of responses, to ensure that all important areas are covered. If necessary, prompt the interviewee with phrases such as ‘and then?’ ‘What happened next?’ to get to the crux of the interviewee’s point.

• Closed questions can be helpful in bringing the interview to a close or for quickly checking facts. ‘Is there anything you would like to ask?’

Don’t:

• Use leading questions. Instead of saying ‘You do enjoy working as part of a team, don’t you?’ or ‘You would have no problem managing that size of task, would you?’ Try asking ‘How do you like to work?’ or ‘How would you manage that kind of task?’

• Use multiple questions, such as ‘How would you deal with a member of staff who was suffering from stress? Would you be able to address this issue as well as keeping productivity at a maximum? Do you see any difficulty dealing with this type of thing or any other unsavoury aspects of the job?’ Multiple questions like this can confuse the candidate and you may only receive a response to one part of your question.

• Use abbreviations and terminology which will not be understood by the candidate. Again this may confuse the candidate and attack their self-esteem, causing them to perform less well.

• Concentrate so much on your next question that you miss the candidate’s responses. It is vital that you listen fully to everything the candidate is saying. If you appear to be uninterested or make mistakes that let the candidate know you have not been listening, the candidate may begin to feel negatively about the experience or even start to question the professionalism of your organisation.

• Allow the candidate to ramble and avoid answering your question. It is essential that you remain in control of the interview and can tactfully keep the candidate on track. Use phrases like ‘I was very interested in what you said earlier about creating a new database, could you tell me more about that?’ This type of controlling question will not only focus the candidate’s attention but will clearly demonstrate that you have been listening attentively and taking an interest.

• Ask any question which is discriminatory. For instance, ‘will your family demands interfere with your commitment to the job?’ ‘Will you find it difficult to do this job as well as coping as a single-parent?’ ‘You are over fifty now, will that affect your work rate?’ ‘Will you need to stop everything to pray at certain times of the day?’ ‘Will you struggle to get to work on time because of your disability?’ ‘Do you think you will physically be able to work as hard as your male colleagues?’

Active Listening

Listening effectively is just as important as asking the right questions and demonstrating that you are listening will encourage the candidate to be more open and relaxed.

Here are some general points to help you do this effectively:

• Non-verbal prompts – Head nodding, smiling, maintaining eye contact without staring and other appropriate body language can all show that you are listening and help the conversation to flow.

• Silence is okay – Allow the candidate a few seconds to think about and then answer your question. If they have not understood or cannot answer the question they will generally let you know, so resist the temptation to jump straight in if the answer is not immediate.

• Keep an open mind – Listen to the whole answer and avoid making assumptions based on the initial reply

• Probe and follow up – Verbal prompts can encourage the interviewee to continue talking if they have not fully answered your question e.g. “Go on”, “Tell us more about x”, “What do you mean by y” etc.

• Think ahead and link questions – Although you will have a list of questions in an order, the candidate may well answer or begin to answer one of your later questions at an earlier stage. If this happens do not be afraid to re-jig your order or alternatively, proceed but remember to link back to what the candidate said earlier when you come to the question.

• Confirm your understanding – If you need to check that you have correctly understood an important point, paraphrase or restate what you have heard so the candidate can confirm or elaborate where necessary

• Guide the flow of conversation – If the discussion is drifting away from your areas of questioning, bring it back on track using probing and follow up questions or by summarising. However, try to avoid interrupting or taking over the candidate.

Avoiding Bias

Panel members are only human and decision making is not a mechanical process but based on judgement. Therefore, we are all potentially susceptible to unconscious bias, distortion or stereotyping. The risk is that this could lead to decision making that is potentially discriminatory. Listed here are some things to remember to help you avoid this and ensure your decision is an informed one:

• The primacy effect – If you are interviewing several candidates, the most recent will be clearer in your memory than those seen earlier in the day. This may magnify the good or bad points of the most recently seen at the expense (or benefit) of those seen earlier. Good notes and making sure you refer back to them can help to avoid this.

• Accuracy of recall – Your memory of who said what can become blurred and distorted as they day progresses. Again, your notes will help to ensure you counteract this effect.

• The ‘halo-horns’ effect – Sometimes one particular element, whether positive or negative, can influence your overall judgement of a candidate. Try to avoid this by checking the candidate’s performance against the full range of your selection criteria.

• The ‘like me/us’ syndrome – It may be tempting to favour people who seem similar to you or to those already in the team. If this feeling is based on an objective judgement that the person best fits the selection criteria then fine. Make sure that the other factors are not influencing your decision and remember that the best teams have a range of people with different personalities and skills sets.

• Personal liking bias – Similarly you may find yourself feeling a preference for someone because they seemed the nicest person or appeared to be someone you would have a lot in common with. Again, you need to focus on whether they are the person who best meets the selection criteria and will do the best job.

• Interpreting information differently – Different panel members may interpret the same information in different ways. That is why it is so important for the whole panel to have a full and detailed discussion about each candidate to identify and discuss any differences in interpretation.

• Unconscious prejudices and stereotypes – If you, or other panel members have any generic comments or feelings (“gut feeling”, “not sure if they would fit in” etc), try to identify the evidence this based on and the selection criteria it relates to. If you cannot, then this might indicate some element of unconscious bias or stereotyping creeping into your judgement

• Avoid making assumptions – About people based on personal appearance, name, how long ago they were at school or university, family or caring responsibilities etc. – focus on assessing each candidate objectively on how well they meet your selection criteria based on the evidence they provide to you.

Closing the interview

The closing section of the interview should contain the following:

• The opportunity for the candidate to ask any questions they may have

• A stage at which to ask if the candidate has any questions on the terms and conditions of employment and employee benefits. This is an opportunity to promote and confirm this information which can often be an important factor in people’s decision making process

• A final opportunity to probe any gaps in employment or other unclear matters

• An explanation of what will happen next and an indication of timescale. Do not commit to something you will not be able to achieve for all candidates

• Thank the candidate for attending

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