Conducting an effective interview is essential – this is your chance to attract the best candidates and talent for your company. Quality interviews can be a great indicator of whether a prospective hire will fit in with company culture as well as their work ethic and overall attitude.

Our Recruitment & HR team have come up with 6 things you can do to achieve a productive interview before you conduct it. Remember that although you are interviewing potential employees, the candidates decide whether they want to work for you just as much as you are trying to hire them.

Establish what you are looking for

Besides having a well-written job description, every interviewer should start by preparing a list of job qualifications, requirements, the company’s expectations and the key responsibilities of the job in question. While preparing the list, keep in mind your company brand, values and culture. In turn, this list will help you outline what type of questions you need to ask during the interview.

Make a list of questions

Preparing a list of questions beforehand will help gain the required information about the candidate while utilising the short time available. Think about specific questions you need to ask according to the role but make sure that you balance and vary the types of questions asked:

• Situational questions
• Behavioural questions
• Competency-based questions

This is also a means to standardise your interview and avoid unconscious bias.

Practice

Now that you have a well-prepared list of questions, it’s time to practice. Rehearsing your questions will help you feel more confident when conducting the interview.

Learn about your candidate

Set aside time before each interview to review the candidate’s documents to familiarise yourself with their work experience, strengths and skills. In addition, you can also search the candidate on LinkedIn or their other socials. Finally, remember to make a mental or physical note about things you would like to ask about or mention during the interview. Besides helping you feel more prepared, this will also help to make the interviewee feel comfortable.

Check the interview room

Checking out the interview room before the actual interview will make the process easier. Observe the environment and decide whether the room’s environment will allow your interviewee to feel comfortable and welcome. Also, check that you have the necessary equipment to conduct the interview.

If you will be conducting the interview online, practice using the software and anticipate any technical issues that may arise.

Conduct the same interview with all candidates

You need to have consistency throughout the recruitment process. Although questions are personalised to each candidate’s work experience, you also need to ask the same questions to all candidates since this will allow you to assess the answers fairly.

Why GCS Malta?

Hiring the right people is important for any company. At GCS Malta, our Recruitment & HR team can assist you with all your recruitment demands. Think you’re the right fit? Click here to view our vacancies or contact us today for further information on how we can help you.

Article by Sarah Jane Gauci