Interviewing Skills for HR Professionals
Transcript of Interviewing Skills for HR Professionals
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INTERVIEWING SKILLS.
Interviewing Skil ls for HR Professionals
At some point you may find yourself looking to recruit a new salesperson for your organization.
This could be as a result of someone leaving, or a strategic decision to expand the team due to
increased market potential, development of new products or a new business site. Some
companies also have an ongoing recruitment strategy to enable succession planning, especially if
they have a large team, and may always be on the look out for good sales staff internally or
externally. Whatever the reason, recruitment, and selection of new staff can be costly and time-
consuming exercise. If you choose the wrong person to employ, you have the additional concern
of putting the situation right and minimizing the potential damage it can do.
Salespeople are the lifeblood of any organization and, without sales being made; nobody else has
a job to do. Think about the cost of first advertising the post, the time involved to sort the
applications, prepare for and conduct interviews, offer the position and undertake the induction
training. Then consider the salary and benefits you provide, the time during which the new
recruit is not generating business and so on. The costs mounts up and could go anywhere
between 1 to 3 Lac depending on the position.
Add to this the potential damage of recruiting the wrong staff can do to your existing business, to
the morale of the existing team, as well as to the reputation of the company, let alone the cost of
the time lost when new business was not being generated. According to a survey, 19% of the
interviews yield in hiring of a wrong person. That's 1 out of 5. Now in this modern day pressure
situation of competition, such decisions makes or break the business. And lets not forget the
nightmares of high attrition, Employee dissatisfaction, low productivity, politics and many more
undesirable situations, Most of the times the basis behind all that is improper hiring. So in simple
words, the most important step in order to get the right person for the right job is to interview the
right way, All the Bad hiring is due to improper interviewing techniques, or ignoring the proper
process and instead, imposition of personal judgment, which is not an ideal approach as one can
never rely on personal judgment when it comes to make such decisions influencing the entire
organization.
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INTERVIEWING SKILLS.
Today, we will highlight and identify the ideal processes of an interview that can be adopted in
order minimize the room of error by developing a better understanding of what interviewing
process should be.
Let's start with asking a question to you that what interview is? Employee hiring. Yes, like almost
everybody in the world, we hear or read the word “interviewing” and we think “employment.”
Interviewing is simply getting information from another person. In more elaborate words,
Interview is selection procedure designed to predict future job performance on the basis of
applicant's oral responses to oral enquiries.
We interview to learn, to gain knowledge. We need to get information from another person. It’s
an interactive process that takes a certain skill to assess and identify the Job relevant skills and
attributes of a candidate, for instance Willingness to learn, Communication, Listening Skills,
Enthusiasm, Motivation, Positive Outlook, Reliability, Responsibility, Analytical Skills, Loyalty,
Dedication, Integrity, Flexibility, Confidence and other technical skills as per pre requisite job
design.
So what is it that we need to do in order to get ourselves appropriately equipped with the
essential tools and techniques to keep ourselves up to the mark? Well first of all, we need to
plan. Abraham Lincoln once said that If he had eight hours to chop down a tree, he will spend
six sharpening the ax. A job interview provides a valuable opportunity to the interviewer and the
candidate to learn more about each other. Learning more about candidates will enable
Interviewer to predict more accurately how each candidate might perform in the specific position
to be filled. Candidates also have a right to learn about the job for which they are interviewed.
You can get the most from the interview by carefully planning in advance what you want to learn
from candidates as well as what they will need to learn from you and it is a fact that planning for
an interview for an interviewer is twice as more important and necessary as it is for an
interviewee. An interviewee might only have one consideration and that is to get the job by
answering well and posing himself in a best possible way to make an interviewer believe that
selecting him/her would be the obvious right choice, where as the interviewer not only has to
carefully examine the candidate with oral probing, but also he is an ambassador of the
organization as he is the first image of your company to the candidate you want to get into your
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INTERVIEWING SKILLS.
organization. He must act in a way that the candidate should get a good impression of the
organization he is seeking an opportunity inn and he must be 100% sure about his understanding
toward the job he is interviewing for, so that he don't miss on any information from the
candidate, the second thing that makes it even more tougher obligation for an interviewer is that
he has to justify the superiors and the concerned persons with his decision(s) since even a slight
wrong choice can bubble up to catastrophe.
Now with the picture clear, nobody would want to go for interviewing without planning, but how
to initiate planning? Planning needs to begin long before the person you’re interviewing arrives—
and even before you set up the interview! “But,” you say, “I don’t have time to plan and I’m
good at winging it.” Well, since you’re here, I believe I have a shot at convincing you.
Planning is as much for the benefit of the person you’re interviewing as for you. What planning
does for the other person?
1. It saves time during the interview.
2. When there’s evidence we planned, the person feels like we want to do this, we have
time, and it’s important.
3. Since the person knows what will happen in the interview, he or she feels more confident
and more prepared to give us the information.
What planning does for you?
1. It saves time during the interview.
2. It reduces nervousness.
3. It reduces mistakes.
4. It allows you to get the information you need
Since we have initiated the planning phase, the first and foremost important step to begin with is
setting the objectives. One must clear up his mind about the activity he or she is going to
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perform. Successful hiring personnel do consider it as a critical step in interviewing. SMART
objectives helps narrowing down the planning process into 5 steps which are:
1. Specific – Objectives should specify what they want to achieve.
2. Measurable – You should be able to measure whether you are meeting the objectives or not.
3. Achievable - Are the objectives you set, achievable and attainable?
4. Realistic – Can you realistically achieve the objectives with the resources you have?
5. Time – When do you want to achieve the set objectives?
if the objectives set before the interview as per above mentioned framework, it results as follow
You can use it in planning for the interview.
You can let the person you’re interviewing know it ahead of time so he or she can
prepare.
You’ll be able to express the objective to the person in the interview easily, without
reading from your interview tools.
You’ll be able to make changes as the interview progresses and not go off track, because
you’ll know it so well.
Generically speaking, Interviews are of two types, Structured and Unstructured. Although its
pretty clear from the name of the two types what these are, lets get into a bit more detail to find
what exactly they mean
1 . S t ructured In terv iews
The interviewer approaches the interview with an organized and well-planned questioning
method while always staying on task. Some interviewers will ask the interview questions in a
specific order while others take a more relaxed approach, though still addressing all pre-planned
questions.
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Structured interviews generally provide the interviewer with the information needed to make the
hiring decision. All candidates are asked the same questions, rather than tailoring the questions
to target a specific individual.
2. Unstructured Interv iews
Unstructured interviews do not rely upon a prepared agenda. Instead, the candidate sets the pace
of the interview. The lack of structure makes it difficult to compare and rank candidates because
they do not respond to the same questions. However, unstructured interviews are sometimes
used to make the selection between two, equally qualified, candidates.
The most vital part of planning an interview is to understand what the job requires. The ideal
scenario is to build a competency based, structured interview that helps the interviewer in
weighing a candidate both qualitatively and quantitatively. Competencies are the skills, traits,
qualities, and behavior that contribute to effective performance in a job. Identification of such
competencies enables interviewer to decide the appropriate questions for the interview and
building the ideal candidate snapshot.
Competency based interviews are more systematic, with each question targeting a specific skill or
competency. Candidates are asked questions relating to their behavior in specific circumstances,
which they then need to back up with concrete examples. The interviewers will then dig further
into the examples by asking for specific explanations about the candidate's behavior or skills.
That's all about planning, and structuring the interview for now, we move onto the real process
itself. Since there isn't any oblivion about what an interviewer is suppose to do in an interview
after thorough planning, One might think about the questions to ask and why. Interview
questions can be extremely varied and some recruiters can be very creative; however they all tend
to revolve around the same themes. You will find here a comprehensive range of interview
questions commonly asked at interviews across all industries. These are designed to help you
both in terms of your interview skills, for which we have professional coaching, and further, to
hone your interview techniques to perform at your best during interview.
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Interview questions should accomplish the following goals:
• Determine a candidate’s qualifications and general character, in relation to the job
• Expose undesirable traits
• Clarify information
• Provide other job-related data
• Reveal inconsistencies
While formulating the pattern of questions that an interviewer needs to ask the candidate in a
competency based interview, first step is to design the job description which led to draw the
person specification. once a set of descriptions are laid down, the interviewer highlights the
minimum criteria for the job such as knowledge, experience, qualification, skills, qualities that
are required for the job. Creating a balance between the job descriptions and requirements is
very important as if the minimum standards set for the job are related to it, for instance going for
a candidate who is creative and possess initiative for a static job will result in employee boredom
and poor retention.
while formulating the list of competencies, following factors must be kept under consideration all
the time.
Nature of the role
Culture of the organization
seniority of the role
Develop interview questions by examining the job description and the required
skills/competencies in each of these following areas:
• Skills and abilities, including technical skills, communication ability, analytical ability, and
specialized training
• Behavioral factors: motivation, interests, goals, drive and energy, reliability, stress
tolerance. Performance is a function of skills and abilities multiplied by behavioral
considerations; skills and abilities determine whether someone “can do” a job. Behavior
determines whether they “will do” a job. Both must be measured.
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• Corporate culture and job fit issues: team orientation, customer service focus, and
accountability.
Interviewer should design questions to elicit information about the candidate’s job qualifications
in each of the noted areas. These questions can form a standardized guide for each interview. To
customize the questionnaire, employers should review a candidate’s résumé for points covered
on the questionnaire and individualize questions as needed.
Remembering to focus on the objectives is the key to a successful interview. Always ensure the
following points;
• avoid asking questions unrelated to the job
• avoid making quick decisions about an applicant
• avoid stereotype applicants
• Avoid giving too much weight to a few characteristics.
• try to put the applicant at ease during the interview
• communicate clearly with the applicant
• maintain consistency in the questions asked
That said, if any of these focus points are met, there you go with a proper, through the point and
result oriented interview structure but that's not all the consideration one might think, while
formulating the questions, the interviewer should must pay attention of avoiding any questions
that goes against moral or ethical customs, for instance minimize the influence of racial and sex
stereotypes in the interview process, Thus interviewers should understand the job description
and specification of the requirements for the position. Interviewers with little information about
the job may be more likely to make stereotypical judgments about the suitability of candidates
than are interviewers with detailed information about the job.
The best interviewers employ a flexible questioning technique to elicit pertinent, accurate
information. Employers should vary the questioning technique according to the goals of the
interview. For example, an appropriate technique in one instance may yield false, incomplete, or
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misleading information in another. The best interviewers use some combination of the following
techniques as the situation demands.
C l o s e - E n d e d Q u e s t io n s
Close-ended questions are most commonly asked in interviewing and are the most commonly
misused questions. The following is an example of an ineffective closed-ended question:
“ C a n y o u w o r k u n d e r p r e s s u r e ? ”
Only “Yes” and “No” are the possible answers.
The interviewer has no information and no way of evaluating any one candidate against another.
However, a closed-ended question would be appropriate and useful as a questioning technique
when looking for a commitment from the individual, for example:
“ C a n y o u s t a r t o n M o n d a y ? ”
A closed-end question also helps interviewers in an attempt to refresh their own memory or in
verifying information from earlier in the interviewing sequence:
“ Y o u w e r e w i t h C o m p a n y X f o r 1 0 y e a r s ? ”
Interviewers may also utilize the close-ended technique as preparation for a series of questions
on the same subject.
(Sample interview starting with a close ended question, followed by some more probing related
to the parent question/answer)
O p e n - E n d e d Q u e s t io n s
Open-ended questions often yield better results than close-ended. Open-ended questions do not
lend themselves to monosyllabic answers; instead, the question requires an explanation. For
example, this open-ended question requires a detailed answer:
“ H o w d o y o u s u c c e e d i n w o r k i n g u n d e r p r e s s u r e ?”
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INTERVIEWING SKILLS.
As a rule, open-ended questions are preferable to closed-ended questions because such
questions require the candidate to speak while the interviewer listens. Open-ended questions
often begin as follows:
• “ T e l l m e a b o u t a t i m e . . . ”
• “ D e s c r i b e a s i t u a t i o n w h e r e . . . ”
Lets see how in real life situation, how much information an interviewer gather about the
candidate while asking one open ended question.
(Sample open ended interview question - verity of points highlighted in one answer)
B e h a v i o r a l Q u e s t io n s
The technique of asking behavioral questions has developed into a unique style of interviewing.
Behavioral questions are based on the premise that past behavior is the best predictor of future
performance.
Behavioral questions are open-ended and request specific examples of past behavior. Such
questions elicit conversation and are usually prefaced with something similar to the following:
• “ S h a r e w i t h m e a n e x p e r i e n ce w h e n . . . ”
• “ G i v e m e a n e x a m p l e o f . . . ”
Used appropriately, behavioral questions make it difficult for the candidate to misrepresent past
performance.
N e g a t i v e - B a l a n c e Q u e s t i o n s
Interviewers often assume, albeit incorrectly, that a candidate who is strong in one area is equally
impressive in all areas. This is not always the case.
To avoid this assumption, an interviewer may ask the following questions:
• “ T h a t i s v e r y i m p r e ss iv e . C o u l d y o u p l ea s e d e s cr i be a n o c c as io n w h e n
t h e s i t u a t i o n d i d n o t w o r k o u t t o y o u r a d v a n t a g e ? ”
• “ A d d i t i o n a l l y , p l e a s e o f f e r a n e x a m p l e o f a n a s p e c t in t h i s a r e a w h e r e y o u
s t r u g g l e ( d ) . ”
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N e g a t i v e C o n f i r m a t i o n
When interviewers have sought and found negative balance, they may feel content that they are
maintaining their objectivity and move on or that an answer they receive may be disturbing
enough to warrant negative confirmation.
For example, an interviewee tells the interviewer about a situation when the individual felt that it
was necessary to go around or behind a supervisor to achieve a goal. A manager should be
troubled because if such behavior is common, the person may not be desirable to hire.
Consequently, negative confirmation should be sought with perhaps the following:
“ T h a t i s v e r y in t e r e s t i n g . L e t ’ s t a lk a b o u t a n o t h e r t i m e w h e n y o u h a d t o . . .”
Successive examples will help interviewers confirm negative traits and perhaps save the employer
from hiring a candidate unfit for the employment position. On the other hand, interviewers may
establish that the negative situation was a peculiarity — a one-time thing — and nothing that would
potentially disqualify a candidate.
R e f l e x i v e Q u e s t i o n s
Reflexive questions function to close a line of questioning and move the conversation forward.
Reflexive questions help interviewers calmly maintain control of the conversation no matter how
talkative the interviewee.
When a candidate begins to stray from the topic of the questions, the interviewer can easily
interject with a reflexive question that will allow the interviewer to proceed with other topics.
An interviewer may accomplish this by adding phrases, such as the following, to the end of a
statement:
• D o n ’ t y o u ?
• C o u l d n ’ t y o u ?
• W o u l d n ’ t yo u ?
• D i d n ’ t y o u ?
• C a n ’ t y o u ?
• A r e n ’ t y o u ?
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For example, the interviewer might say,
“ W i t h t i m e s o s h o rt , I t h i n k i t w o u l d b e v a l u a bl e t o m o v e o n t o a n o th e r a r e a ,
d o n ’ t y o u ? ”
The candidate’s reflex is to agree, and the conversation moves on.
M i r r o r S t a t e m e n t s
Mirror statements function as a subtle form of probing in conjunction with silence. To use the
technique, the interviewer mirrors or paraphrases a key statement made by the candidate and
then remains silent while offering positive reinforcement through body language such as
nodding, and looking attentively at the interviewee.
Interviewers should use mirror statements to fully understand and a candidate’s answer and gain
more insight through the candidate’s detailed explanation. For example, an interviewer would
repeat the substance of an interviewee’s key comment in a question form,
“ W h e n e v e r y o u a r r i v e t w o h o u r s e a r l y f o r w o r k , y o u , t h e n l e a v e w o r k t w o h o u r s
e a r l y t o c o m p e n s a t e y o u r s e l f f o r y o u r t i m e ? ”
Upon completion of the question, the interviewer would patiently wait for the interviewee to
expand on the mirrored statement, without a further interjection from the interviewer. This
technique allows the candidate to hear verbatim the words they chose as an answer and volunteer
further details.
L o a d e d Q u e s t io n s
Loaded questions are inappropriate as they may lead to manipulation by the interviewer.
Loaded questions are fundamentally problematic because questions require the interviewee to
decide between equally unsuitable options. For instance, the following is a loaded question:
“ W h i c h d o y o u t h i n k i s t h e l e s s e r e v il , e m b e z z l e m e n t o r f o r g e r y ? ”
Obviously, the interviewer should avoid absurd, loaded questions. However, carefully balanced
judgment-call questions may have a place in a good interview.
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The technique may allow the interviewer to probe the interviewee’s decision-making
approaches.
For example, the interviewer may want to recall a real-life situation where two divergent
approaches were both carefully considered and may do so by framing the situation as a question:
• “ I ’ m c u r i o u s t o k n o w w h a t y o u h a v e d o n e w h e n . . . ”
• “ W h a t h a s b e e n y o u r a p p r o a c h i n s i t u a t io n s w h e r e . . . ”
H a l f - R i g h t R e f l e x i v e s
Half-right reflexives can be utilized to glean specific answers and determine an individual’s
propensity for specific work-related incidents. To employ the technique, the interviewer must
make a partially correct statement and ask the interviewee to agree.
With half-right reflexives, the interviewee has the opportunity to offer personalized and
experienced insights in regard to workplace dilemmas and situations. However, the interviewee
may also demonstrate a lack of experience or inability to perform required tasks of the job.
This technique creates enlightening insights. For instance, this example of a half-right reflexive
always generates fascinating responses:
“ I ’ ve a l w a y s f e l t t h a t c u s t o m e r s e r v i c e s h o u l d c o m m e n c e o n l y a f t e r t h e b i l l h a s
b e e n p a i d , h a v e n ’ t y o u ? ”
L e a d i n g Q u e s t io n s
Leading questions allow interviewers to lead the listener toward a specific type of answer.
Leading questions often arise accidentally when the interviewer explains what type of
organization the interviewee will be joining. For instance, the interviewer might proudly exclaim,
“ W e ’r e a f as t- gr o w in g o u tf it h e re , a n d t he r e i s c o ns ta n t p r es su r e t o m e e t
d e a d l i n e s a n d s a t i s f y o u r e v e r - i n c r e a s i n g l i s t o f c u s t o m e r s ” ,
then ask,
“ H o w d o y o u h a n d l e s t r es s ? ”
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In the interviewers statement the basic principles and requirements of the job are made clear and
thus, the correct answer to any further question is a simple paraphrase of the interviewers own
statement.
Leading questions are often useful, but like closed-ended questions, the interviewer must use
leading questions appropriately. As information verifiers, leading questions encourage the
candidate to expand on a particular topic, for example,
“ W e a r e a n o r g a n i z a t i o n th a t b e l ie v e s t h e c u s t o m e r i s a l w a y s r i g h t . H o w d o y o u
f e e l a b o u t t h a t ? ”
However, leading questions should be used only after establishing a candidate’s belief or
performance in a particular area. In any case, leading questions should not be used early in the
interview or be confused with the half-right reflexive.
Q u e s t i o n L a y e r i n g
A good question poorly phrased will be ineffectual and provide the interviewer with incomplete
or misleading information. However, question layering allows an interviewer to thoroughly
probe and answer on many different levels. For example, when an interviewer wants to
determine whether a candidate could work well under pressure the basic line of questioning
(“Can you work under pressure?”) may prove to be the wrong approach because the question:
• requires only a yes or no answer, which fails to provide adequate information for the
interviewer
• leads the interviewee toward the type of answer the individual knows the interviewer
wants
Instead, interviewers can use a combination of all the questioning styles and techniques to
examine the topic from every angle. For example, to examine all angles of a topic the
interviewer may ask:
• W h o ?
• W h a t ?
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• W h e n ?
• W h e r e ?
• W h y ?
• H o w ?
Similarly, the interviewer does the same by joining the closed-ended question with some of the
other question techniques.
The following sequence demonstrates how much more relevant information an interviewer can
glean through question layering:
• T e l l m e a b o u t a t i m e w h e n y o u w o r k e d u n d e r p r e s s u r e . (Open-ended.)
• S o , i t w a s t o u g h t o m e e t t h e d e a d l i n e ? (Mirror statement.)
• H o w d i d t h i s p r e s s u r e s i t u a t io n a r i s e ? (Question layering.)
• W h o w a s r e s p o n s i b l e? (Question layering.)
• W h y w a s t h i s a l lo w e d t o o c c u r ? (Question layering.)
• W h e r e d i d t h e p r o b l e m o r i g in a t e ? (Question layering.)
These questions illustrate several different angles to the same question, each revealing a different
aspect of the personality, performance, and behavior of the candidate. The question layering
technique makes the possibilities for questions theoretically endless, depending only on the
interviewer’s thoroughness.
A d d i t i o n a l I n p u t Q u e s t i o n s
Three Techniques
Interviewers can use the following techniques to gain more information from an initial question:
If the interviewer wants to hear more — whether dissatisfied with the first answer or interested in
obtaining more information — the interviewer could say,
“ C a n y o u p r o v i d e m o r e d e t a i l a b o u t t h a t ? I t’ s v e r y i n t e r e s ti n g , ”
or,
“ C a n y o u g i v e m e a n o t h e r e x a m p l e ? ”
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The interviewer may hear an answer and then add,
“ W h a t d i d y o u l e a r n f r o m t h a t e x p e r i e n ce ? ”
This is an excellent layering technique that can give insight into judgment and emotional
maturity. Perhaps the best technique for gathering more information is for an interviewer to
simply sit quietly, while maintaining eye contact with the interviewee and saying nothing. If the
conversation lulls, the interviewee may instinctually attempt to fill the silence and provide more
information and/or details. Although an interviewer may initially find the silence difficult to
manage, patience and allowing the interviewee to speak without encumbrance can be effective.
A d d i t i o n a l Q u e s t i o n s
Employers should try to include questions that go beyond a candidate’s technical competence or
knowledge.
The interviewer should probe for qualities needed to succeed at the job:
• Organizational skill
• Willingness to put in the extra time and effort necessary to complete a project
Relevant and job-related questions might target the following:
• Incomplete information on application form
• Work experience or education
• Gaps in work history
• Geographic preferences
• Normal working hours
• Willingness to travel
• Reasons for leaving or planning to leave previous job
• Job-related achievements
• Signs of initiative and self-management
• Specialized knowledge or expertise
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• Meaning of former job titles
Interview Ethics........
The beginning of the interview is the most important part. It’s where you’ll make the process
either long and uncomfortable or efficient and pleasant. In the first few seconds, people make
decisions about you, your organization, and their ability to work with you. If you create comfort
and gain commitment to participate in the first few seconds, you’ll be able to move forward easily
with your plan. You do this by knowing the person you’re interviewing and that person’s
communication style and therefore how you’ll begin in a way that makes him or her comfortable.
If you were able to get specific information about the person in the planning process as discussed
earlier, you’re ready to go. If you have only general information, you’ll use your ability to
recognize communication styles and modify on your feet. Your planning process helps you
because you’ve created the atmosphere that will make the person feel comfortable immediately
and you’ve planned the objectives so it’ll be easy for the person to know the purpose of this
interview. Knowing about the person, creating the atmosphere, and beginning with the objectives
will allow you to achieve those objectives comfortably and efficiently
Be prepared to help calm the person or to stay calm yourself if something unexpected happens
before the interview. It could be that the person arrives late, that you arrive late, that he or she is
excessively nervous, that you’re nervous, that he or she didn’t get or didn’t understand the
information you provided in advance, that you didn’t prepare like you know you should. It
could even be that the other person has a very different picture about how giving and gaining
information should happen.
Here are things to do in some of the most common unexpected pre-interview situations that will
help you and the person you’re interviewing get calm and be able to begin the interview.
Remember to apply what you know about his or her communication style to these general ideas.
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The person arrives late. He or she will be flustered, not a good state for giving accurate
information concisely. If the person wants to explain the whole story to you (more likely with
Amiables and Expressives, but possible with Analyticals and Drivers since the pressure might put
them in their backup styles), let him or her talk for about 30 seconds (enough time to
get it out of their systems and to feel that you’re interested but not so long as to lose even more
time or venture into areas of information you don’t need to know). Then, say something like
“This can happen to anyone” or, if it’s true, that it’s happened to you and immediately move into
“I’m so looking forward to hearing about ....” (the topic objective). State how much time
You’ll be together. (If less than originally planned, simply say, “We now have ... minutes.” Avoid
using the words “We only have ....”). Then, go forward with the rest of your plan.
If this is a group interview, such as a focus group of customers or a planning meeting of
colleagues, start on time. When somebody arrives late, simply welcome the person into the
group and point out any written information that will help him or her catch up. Avoid catching
somebody up in front of the group, as this will penalize the people who were on time. Of course,
the latecomer may not be able to give as much information as if he or she had arrived on time or
you’d got him or her up to speed, but you’re more likely to get information from the group if
you move forward. If this is an interview with a candidate for employment or volunteer work or a
vendor or consultant, the person’s lateness may affect your assessment of him or her. Avoid
making the decision now. Remember: the objectives for this interview are to
gain a particular piece of information and create a certain feeling, not to make a decision to hire
or not. Stick to the objectives and you’ll achieve them!
You arrive late. The first words out of your mouth will always be “I apologize for keeping you
waiting,” immediately followed by how much you’re looking forward to hearing about … . (The
topic objective) and telling the person how much time you’ll be together (minus the word
“only”). If you’ve chosen to spend the same amount of time as originally planned, it’s important
to ask the person if this fits his or her schedule. If not, you’ll need to modify the method you
planned for getting information now or just start and then modify at the end, if necessary. Either
way, tell how the interview will work just as if this was the way you planned it (as opposed to
saying, “Well, now that I was late we’ll have to …”). Say “I’m sorry” only once at the beginning;
saying it more will only prolong your discomfort. Moving right into your plan (potentially
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changed slightly if you have less time) will help you to calm down. (If the other person is irritated
that you’re late or concerned about the time, calm him or her down, too.) Your ability to get
calm will create comfort in the person you’re interviewing, thus allowing him or her to give
information, which in turn further calms you down. Make no mistake: behaving calmly doesn’t
mean going extra slowly or pausing a lot or with a look on your face like you’re on vacation in a
beautiful island paradise. This behavior makes irritated people more irritated. Being calm means
your voice is steady (not high-pitched, cracking, or fast), which exhibits confidence that’ll translate
to the person who’s been waiting for you.
The person is nervous.
Most interviewers try to deal with this situation by adding “small talk” at the beginning. This may
eventually calm the person down, if he or she is an Amiable or an Expressive, but it will take
longer to get the information. On the other hand, if the person is a Driver or an Analytical, it’ll
irritate him or her. Instead, use your planned beginning and pause after the objectives to look for
comprehension, then restate if you still see panic. (It should be pretty obvious.) Restating the
objectives will help calm the person. (Repetition in itself is calming, like the use of a mantra in
meditation or prayer.) If he or she was too nervous to take in the objectives the first time,
restating allows another chance. Writing is also a calming activity (since it involves the left half of
the brain center of reason and logic more than the right half center of emotions and spatial
relationships), so you can suggest that the person write the objectives or, if you’re sharing the
interview tools with him or her and the objectives are already written, circle them. Keep going
with your plan. Since you’re asking questions that are behavioral, about past experiences, the
person has only to recall, not create answers. Though the first few sentences may be rushed or
choppy, he or she will at least feel able to answer your questions about past experiences. It’s their
story, not your answer. The person will become more confident. You can help him or her relax
by taking notes, nodding, maintaining eye contact, leaning forward, and the other active listening
behaviors that we’ll discuss later on
You’re nervous. Take a deep breath and speak in a slightly lower pitch and at a slightly slower
pace than usual. When you’re nervous, the pitch of your voice tends to get higher (hence the
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squeaky, sometimes cracking voice as you’re out of your vocal range) and you speak more
rapidly. You know that you sound nervous, so you become even more nervous. Consciously
slowing down your pace and lowering your pitch can fake you out long enough to allow you to
gain some confidence. As you hear your voice become more normal, you begin to feel the way
you sound. Of course, as the other person responds to you based on the way you sound, it helps
you feel like you’re conveying confidence. Stand up straight, with your hands out of your
pockets, and without crossing your arms. This posture conveys confidence, so the person reacts
to you as though you were feeling confident. Soon you’ll actually feel confident.
The person didn’t get the information y ou gave ahead of time.
If it was by voice mail, simply say, “I apologize that you didn’t get a chance to hear the info I
wanted you to have before you got here. What I said was ….” Then ask, “What questions do you
have, as I want to be sure you’re prepared before we begin?” You need to allow enough silence
here for the person to think about what you said and formulate any questions. (This is hard to
do, as silence seems like an eternity. You may want to excuse yourself for a minute to give the
person time to think, saying, “I’ll be back in a minute to answer any questions you have.”) If the
information was something to read (e-mail, fax, mail), give the person a copy and again say,
“Take a few minutes” or whatever time you feel is needed “and I’ll be back to answer any
questions you might have so you’ll be prepared to begin.” In either case, answer any questions
and then begin using your prepared plan.
What if you’re interviewing a group of people and only one or a few didn’t get the information in
advance? If you gave the information by voice mail, use the same tactic as in the earlier example
of when members of a group arrive late. If you gave the information in writing, use the tactic
discussed earlier, but instead of leaving, gives them a space in another room close by and a few
minutes to prepare, telling them to come back when they’ve read the information. Then, begin
with the rest of the group as planned. This will cause them to miss a few minutes, but they’ll be
better able to give information even after missing the first minutes than if they stay but aren’t
prepared.
You didn’t prepare sufficiently.
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Get out blank interview tool forms and follow the general agenda for any interview. Write the
questions you ask as you ask them, note the person’s communication style and the modifications
you need to make, and use the tools for recording, as usual. Is this optimal? Will you be able to
be as concise and to create as much comfort as if you’d prepared sufficiently? No, but having the
tools will give you a fighting chance. The tools (even blank as they are when you begin) are some
of the preparation; they’re just not specific to this particular interview.
The person has a very different picture of the interview process.
People come to interviews whether for jobs or for performance appraisals or for discussing doing
business with their own history of giving and gaining information. No matter how well you
explain the objectives ahead of time, you may not create the understanding you planned if the
person’s picture of the process from past experience is wildly different than yours.
Earlier we discussed how communication styles affect the ways that people understand a process
and the effects of experiences, attitudes, beliefs, and values. As we saw, we can
benefit from recognizing and predicting, but even with the best preparation you must be
prepared to think on your feet. (For example, there was nothing in my pre-interview data
gathering that would have prepared me for the candidate who was shuffling the papers on my
desk. Yes, that manager was me!)
Now, All seems to be going very well, you planned thoroughly, prepared yourself for the
interview, done the appropriate probing, now what! Like we mentioned in the beginning that the
process is about gathering information from the candidate.
In interview, you’ve planned what specifically to look for and hear in the interview that would tell
you that you were getting the information you needed. You’ll have more complete information
to use to make decisions if you know what you’re listening for and use active listening behaviors
to get it. Listen for body language, facial expressions, voice tone, and
pacing as well as words. Note in your interview tools what you see and hear. Avoid jumping to
conclusions about the meaning when the delivery is poor—hesitations, lack of eye contact, too
much information, etc. Later, when you’re using the information you gathered, you’ll have more
information than if you’d drawn conclusions about what you observed. It’s no wonder so few
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people consider themselves “great” at interviewing. It’s a juggling act that requires excellent focus
and concentration. At the same time, you also have numerous other responsibilities, projects,
things you’re concerned about…. It’ll be easier for you to listen for all the things you need to
know when you have a general understanding of what you’ll see and hear.
Movements of mouth, brow, and eyes (pursed lips, smile, mouth open, clenched teeth, furrowed
brow, raised brow, indirect or varying eye contact) are the most obvious behaviors, the easiest to
note. Write what you see as you’re writing the words the person is saying.
Look for body position and for the type and amount of gestures. Is the person sitting up straight,
crossed arms, leaning on something? Does she talk with her hands or hold them in her
lap or play with objects? Does his body face you directly or sideways? Write down what you
observe and later you’ll have a context for a more accurate picture of what the person was
communicating. When you see something that concerns you (I know, you’re not assigning one
meaning, but it did concern you), you’ll need to get clarification on it. Look for:
• If a person averts her gaze for a long time and/or at times other than when visualizing an event,
it may mean she’snot telling you the truth.
• If a person crosses his arms frequently, it may reveal a desire to protect himself. He may be
nervous, unsure of himself in this situation or in general.
• If a person is resting her head on her hands or leaning on the table, it may mean she’s bored
or not taking this inter view seriously. In a performance interview, for example, it may mean that
the employee disagrees with you.
• If a person is fidgeting, it may mean he’s nervous or he’s avoiding telling you the truth. In
an interview with a customer, for example, it may be that he or she doesn’t want to give you the
whole picture of what happened.
Listening for Tone of Voice, Pauses, and Pacing
Get into the habit of listening carefully to the tone of voice people use. Again, as with body
language and facial expressions, you want to avoid making any judgment of what it means. Just
note it and write it down with the words. Then consider what it could mean and ask questions to
clarify. Here are some examples of things you’ll hear that you ought
to explore:
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• Nervous or false laughter, if combined with an averted gaze, is likely to indicate that the person
isn’t telling the truth.
• Nervous or false laughter, when combined with asymmetrically furrowed brows, is likely to
indicate that the person thinks you’re not telling the truth or is at least skeptical. For example, a
potential customer might react this way while making a comment after listening to your ideas
about how your product/service meets his needs.
• Pauses longer than a second or two may signify that the person is distracted by a concern about
being caught telling you something that’s not the whole truth or is trying to remember a previous
untruth.
• Talking fast may mean the person is nervous or, if you haven’t noticed other signs of
nervousness, is getting through an uncomfortable lie or repeating a rehearsed answer. You might
hear this from a vendor or a consultant, for example, when you ask about a particular policy of
theirs.
Listening for Specific Words
In your interview tools, you’ve listed some specific words you’re looking for the person to say
and/or words you don’t want the person to say and you’re so used to taking notes on words that
this should be easy, right? My problem is getting stuck, placing so much meaning on the words I
don’t want to hear that I miss other words. Having the words listed in my interview tool to
check off certainly helps. Having an idea of words or word categories that might be problematic
enough to cause me to ask questions gives some things to focus on in general:
• “hopefully,” “possibly,” “maybe”: These words may reveal a lack of confidence, either in what
the person is communicating with that specific sentence or in general. They certainly don’t instill
confidence in the listener: for example, a vendor who says, “Hopefully you have more
information about our services than you did before I came” doesn’t make me feel very
confident!
• “you must,” “you have to”: These words, especially in any interview situation, tell me that the
person is awfully sure of himself or herself. This might be great if it’s a vendor telling me what we
have to do to be in compliance or fix a problem.
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We worked earlier on our ability to recognize and modify to the person’s most comfortable way
of communicating. We also worked on our ability to ask questions that engage the person we’re
interviewing and keep the interview flowing so it has a conversational feel. Our fluidity in an
interview is important, because it keeps us in control: by asking the right questions we get the
information we need and by creating a conversational flow and modifying to the person’s
communication style we create comfort that allows him or her to easily give us the information
we need to meet our objectives. Active listening skills will give you even more control over
gaining the information you need to reach your objectives, as it allows you to take in all the
information and it makes the person who’s talking feel like we’re listening so he or she keeps
giving us information. Here are active listening behaviors you can CHEER about:
C Concentrate (Get rid of distractions and other barriers to listening so you can focus.)
H Hear totally (People communicate 7% through words, 38% through voice, and 55%
through facial and body language.)
E Empathize (Think of a time you were in the same situation.)
E E licit information (Ask questions and paraphrase)
R Remember (Take notes in your interview tools.)
Body Language and Facial Expressions
While looking directly at the person, sitting or standing erect with open body posture, nodding,
and using facial expressions appropriate for what the person is saying to you come more
naturally to some of us than to others. Assuming you’re motivated to listen, you may still not use
all these behaviors—and, in fact, you may be able to listen quite well without some of them. You
may be one of those people who really can focus better if you’re doodling. You may have your
arms crossed in front of you because you’re cold or because it’s a habit for you and so it feels
comfortable. You may be a Driver or an Analytical whose facial expressions don’t vary much
from one topic to another. If any of these things are true about you, humor me for minute. Sure,
maybe you can focus and take in information, but other people may not believe that you’re really
listening if they judge by your body language and facial expressions. What happens when people
don’t think we’re listening? They either go on and on since they don’t get a signal from us that
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we understand or start giving very short answers or even stop giving information altogether! You
may be able to listen with your arms crossed or while looking out the window, but you won’t get
as much coherent information if the person is spending part of his or her thought process
wondering why you’re not listening. If you’re buying what I’m selling, you’re now saying, “OK, so
I want people to feel comfortable and feel like I’m listening, but I’ve been doing it the other way
a long time.” So, your behaviors are just a habit.
Well, the way to make new habits is—yes! you didn’t even have to look it up: do the new thing for
21 days and, voilà, new habit! Using active listening body language and facial expressions
will cause the person who’s talking to feel like you’re listening and thus give more information
and be more comfortable doing it. And, for the vast majority of us, these body states will
heighten our ability to concentrate, to focus even when the other person is boring or just goes on
and on. Now that you’ve added active listening body language to your skill set, try that television,
movie, or meeting practice as discussed earlier. With active listening body language, you’ll find
it’s even easier to take in the information.
Closing the interview
Now, you find yourself in a position where you have nothing else to ask, candidate has provided
you the information which you want, or may be some more then you did not. So now what!
Here comes another critical stage of interview process, the closing. And to initiate, the candidate
should be given an opportunity to ask questions about the organization and the job.
Interviewers should thank the candidate for the time spent on the interview and review the next
steps in the hiring process When you let the person know how the information you gained from
him or her will be used, it signals that you’ve achieved your objectives and the interview is
coming to an end. A person who knows what’s planned is more likely to be willing to give
information in the future. The explanation is also important for gaining commitment from the
person for anything you need him or her to do next. A person who knows how the information
will be used is more likely to feel like doing his or part as well. Again, you’re meeting the feeling
objective now and making it easier to achieve information objectives in the future.
• Ask whether the candidate has anything more to tell you about his candidacy or any
questions about the job/employer.
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• Explain the next step in the process, including whether there will be further interviews,
when you will make your decision, and how the candidate will be informed of your
decision.
• Thank the candidate for interviewing for the position.
• Complete your notes and/or rating sheets immediately; don't rely on your memory.
• Decide whether the candidate meets, exceeds, or does not meet the requirements.
Always make sure to go by the checklist while closing the interview.
• Ensure candidates leave with a good impression of you and the company, even if they
are not right for this role there may be others in the future
• Summaries at the end – check to see all candidates questions are answered, and let
them know the next steps
• Record feedback
• Respond quickly – capture your thoughts – good candidates get snapped up very
quickly!
• Be aware of the legalities of your records or ask us for advice Candidate assessment