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Episode 21 – Part 2: Getting the most out of your interview process
42 Plays2 years ago
In this second part of the episode, we're discussing how you can get the most out of your interview process.
In Episode 21 we are speaking to Chris Litras, Director of Development and Construction and Deverell Smith recruitment.
Chris has over 12 years of experience in the recruitment industry across both transport, development and construction.
In part two, we discuss:
😄 Prioritising your candidate experience to boost your interview process
👂 Setting expectations properly
📝 Planning your interview questions
🙋 Questions to ask in an interview
🥸 The importance of preparing as a candidate
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Transcript
Essentials of a Good Interview Process
00:00:00
Speaker
Perfect, perfect. So I suppose moving on then, one of the key parts of recruitment process is interviews. It'd be great to understand what, from your experience, makes a good, well, I suppose two things. One, what makes a good interview generally, but also what makes a good interview process? You know, how long should it be? How many interviews should there be? All that type of stuff. Yeah, okay. So there's a few things in there. So I suppose firstly, what makes a good interview process? What should it look like? How long should it be?
00:00:30
Speaker
What makes a good interview process? I think how long should it be? Should it be appropriate to the level of the role? You know, if you're seeing it higher, clearly there's going to be more stages. If it's a graduate role, there might be one stage or there might be an assessment centre. So it's always different.
Impact of a Poor Interview Experience
00:00:48
Speaker
I guess what makes a bad interview is probably better to rule out what makes it bad and then talk about the good. So what makes a bad interview is if a candidate comes out of the experience, you know, with a
00:01:01
Speaker
know, a lesser opinion of the company than when they went in. And that always boils down to the person. You know, I, I for one think most candidates buy into the person before the role. So, or need to buy into the person before the role. So what makes a good experience is that candidate buys into the hiring manager, the person that they meet, that person is, is the window to that company.
00:01:27
Speaker
And it doesn't matter how great the opportunity is. If the candidate does not buy into that person sat across the table or nowadays on a team school, they're probably not going to take the job. They need to be inspired. And that person needs to demonstrate and represent the business in the best possible light. So I think that first and foremost is really key thing.
Importance of Clear Communication
00:01:50
Speaker
In terms of the wider process, information is key. And setting expectations from the outset is really valuable.
00:01:58
Speaker
Let's say, for example, a candidate is thinking it's going to be a two-stage process, one of them being a formal one, the second one being slightly more informal, or the other way around. If after the second interview it goes to a third, you know, you stand the risk of disengaging that candidate. Or if they throw in an exercise in between the interviews, it may disengage the candidate.
00:02:23
Speaker
It's not necessarily a bad thing. The exercise might be something to test the competency around a certain set of tasks. But if it's something that's transparent upfront and shared, it's completely different to throwing in curve balls. I think the more curve balls in an interview process are just going to make the process more difficult.
Setting Expectations in Recruitment
00:02:42
Speaker
It's like when you're buying a house, the more transactions there are in a chain, the less chances there are of everyone transacting successfully and completing.
00:02:52
Speaker
is the same for the recruitment process. The more stages there are, the more you're really going to weed out candidates for their skill level or their motivations and having the right motivations to come across. But at the same time, it's only appropriate if you communicate that to the candidate upfront. And setting timescales and expectations is really the only thing that we can control. If the candidates weren't for the job, they're right for the job. If they're not, that's absolutely fine. That's why we do interviews.
00:03:22
Speaker
In order to make the process as smooth as possible, you just really need to be clear and say what you're going to do. So let me redo that. In order to make the process as smooth as possible, you need to be really clear and do what you're going to say.
Balancing Interview Dynamics
00:03:37
Speaker
Yeah, I suspect that's what you said earlier, which is it's a signifier to the candidates to what working there might be like. So if you keep shoving in curveballs and changing what the process is versus what you've suggested, it does suggest that working working there could be complex as things could just keep changing and goalposts could keep changing. Yeah. Also, plan for the interview. Don't just be complacent and walk in as a hiring manager. Don't walk into an interview.
00:04:06
Speaker
and freestyle it, have a plan of what you're going to talk about and what you're going to ask. Have a bit of a balance, you know, to talk about the candidate and ask them about their CV and their experiences. And then talk about the, you know, the company and the role, but don't leave one of those out. We see that all the time. Candidate goes for an interview and all the client talks about is the company and then the interview is over. Yeah. So we say, you know, what, so what did they ask you? Not, not much. Okay. Well then,
00:04:33
Speaker
you didn't get the opportunity to demonstrate yourself and therefore see if you were a good fit for the role. Equally, if a client comes in and asks lots of questions, but doesn't really talk about that, you know, that's the client's opportunity to sell the company and the job. And again, we hear about this all the time. It is very interesting. So, you know, we make a point of trying our best to educate our clients on how to interview, you know, make sure you don't miss out those key elements.
00:05:03
Speaker
because more often than not nowadays, the interview is for a candidate to interview the company. Gone are the days where the candidate should be lucky to work for a company. Times have changed. Are there good questions you can ask? And it obviously does depend on role and so on, but are there good questions that you can ask to understand the fit of a candidate? Yeah, I think so.
Effective Candidate Questions
00:05:26
Speaker
I think good questions are open questions and competency-based questions and demonstrate
00:05:33
Speaker
using examples, that is gonna promote a wide open conversation rather than a tick box exercise going, can you do this? Are you gonna do that? Yes, no, yes, no.
00:05:48
Speaker
Yeah, because I think it's, you know, years ago, when I had been through interviews, one of the worst things I thought was when you get asked questions, but there's no context to it. And then it's just met by silence. And again, I don't actually understand from your question what you're asking me to demonstrate. Yeah. Therefore, I can't really answer it in a way that's going to help you make a decision on me. And then that's the shame, isn't it? It's a lost opportunity. Completely, completely. I think on the flip side, as a candidate, there are good questions you can ask, because I think
00:06:18
Speaker
It has a perception that you should always ask questions during the interview. I get that. You want to be understanding how the role will work for you, how does the company work for you, will fit for you and lots of stuff. But I think often it can be met with
00:06:35
Speaker
you know, sort of just a generic type of, you know, when will I hear next, that type of thing. Are there good questions you can ask from the candidate perspective to get more out of an interview and to show that you've actually understood the role or what you're applying for? Yeah, I think so. I mean, you're right. Absolutely always ask questions as a candidate because it just shows intent and taking an interest. Very hard to say which questions are good, but
00:07:04
Speaker
I think questions to ask about the next steps and get some feedback there and then. Is there anything that you'd like to find out about me that you haven't asked yet so far? Is there any initial feedback? What are your thoughts? What are the next steps? But also just being inquisitive about things that they haven't asked because I think how do you impress someone who's interviewing you or maybe catch them off guard
00:07:34
Speaker
might be a good way. So don't ask generic questions would be my advice. I'd certainly say if I, if I was in an interview, I'd want to ask some questions that leave them with the lasting impression as opposed to covering the basics. Yeah. I think, you know, most candidates can cover the basics by getting information online now. Yeah. So asking questions that are different other things that can set them apart.
00:08:04
Speaker
Yeah, that's a fair point. And I think it shows from a candidate's perspective that you have put the effort into understanding that it's the right role rather than it's just another process you're going through in hope of a salary at the end of it.
Interview Horror Stories
00:08:17
Speaker
So yeah, are there any horror stories you've had over the years from either side that these sort of things that could easily have been avoided? Oh, yes. Or plenty.
00:08:32
Speaker
Silly things, you know, the client, the client is running late or the candidate is running late, but no communication as to why. Or, you know, they could have probably said something a bit sooner, but they've left at the last minute candidates drop out. Unreliable. Don't turn up to an interview after confirming, you know, these are the horror stories for the recruiter. I think horror stories for the clients. Um, you know, when a candidate turns up and they're unprepared and they're not presenting themselves in the best way, it's probably a huge bug bear.
00:09:03
Speaker
Yeah. It's a waste of time then, isn't it? It's a waste of time. Yeah. If you're working with a good recruiter, they should have prepared the candidate with the company overview, the person that they're meeting and what the role entails. If it's a standard competency based interview, they should have also prepared the candidate with
00:09:29
Speaker
some examples and some key achievements and some highlights about
Preparation and Onboarding Process
00:09:32
Speaker
their work that they can share with the company and not just, you know, sell it with jazz hands, but do it in part of the conversation and in line with what the questions are being asked, you know, have examples. But I think, you know, maybe these aren't horror stories per se, but, you know, that is the majority of feedback that we get as to why the candidate may not be offered a role.
00:09:58
Speaker
It's lack of preparation, didn't ask, answer in a way that provided enough examples, didn't expand where they should have expanded. But yeah, I mean, I could tell you about the majority of horror cases just being candid, just don't turn up, don't know where they are, don't know why, don't hear from them.
00:10:20
Speaker
I love that. It's bizarre when people ghost like that, isn't it? If you put so much time and effort into that point, why not just be clear? It's really odd. It's like the eternal question us recruiters ask. It's like how surely the anxiety will be too much for you to just go, why don't you just say, I can't make it.
00:10:40
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Then just go silent. We'll never know. Yeah. I suppose the key thing to an interview process then is just prep from both customers like candidate side and hire side is prep and then we get that right. Then everyone can get more out of the process. Yeah. Preparation is key. Just anything that makes it a smooth process, anything that sets expectations and anything that eliminates surprises and that is from taking the brief
00:11:08
Speaker
to doing the interviews and later interviews. And then the offer, presenting the offer to the candidate and negotiating between the candidate and the client for acceptance and onboarding. And even when they start, you don't want surprises, do you? No one wants a surprise in this process. So we have to do our best and go over and above in order to give them all of the information.
00:11:34
Speaker
and then hope that that's enough so that if there is anything that's slightly different, what is acceptable?