Is your interview process is costing you candidates?
Hiring and onboarding new employees is a challenge for any company, no matter how big or small. That’s why it’s important to have a well-designed interview process that takes into account both your specific needs and the unique qualities of candidates.
Creating a memorable interview experience is the first step to winning top talent. Getting the interview process wrong could negatively affect your recruiting efforts and your employer brand as well.
83% percent of candidates say a negative interview process can significantly impact their interest in a company!1
Today I will walk you through three steps that can help you shape an effective five-star interviewing system—one that will ensure the best new hires for your organization as quickly and painlessly as possible!
How to Create a Five-Star Interview Process:
- Pre-Interview Preparation:
- Align internal teams on must-have candidate qualifications. Do this to avoid confusion and ensure the same goal is in mind. This may look like creating a wants vs. needs list, knowing what the first 90 days should entail, which soft skills are essential, etc.
- Schedule a 5-10 minute meeting with your team of interviewers right before the interview. This is to ensure everyone is prepared and briefed on the candidate. During this meeting you’ll be able to provide a quick overview of the candidate, share important candidate details, key skills, and the reason this candidate was chosen to be interviewed.
- Create behavioral-based interview questions. You’ll want to assess soft skills and combat predictable answers. Also, equip interviewers with key talking points to allow for free-flowing conversations to be had and insightful questions to be asked.
- Candidate Experience During the Interview Process:
- Prep your candidates in advance too! Your team isn’t the only one who can be prepped pre-interview. Help instill confidence and vested interest in your candidates by sending them an interview readiness email. This may include a schedule, interview team details, potential interview questions, and what to wear. After all, you want this to be a success, right?! Help them be successful!
- Be mindful of your body language and distractions. Practice active listening ahead of the interview. Note details while a candidate is talking, listen with intention, and don’t check your smartwatch or attempt to start multi-tasking.
- Allow candidates to visualize themselves in the role. One way to do this is to invite them for an office tour. Show them the gathering place and allow your candidates the opportunity to chat with other team members about what the day-to-day looks like.
- Share your decision timeline immediately at the end of an interview. Candidates are understanding of the time it takes to make these big decisions! Be transparent about your next steps and set clear expectations on when you’ll be giving them the next update.
- Post Interview:
- Get feedback from your team immediately to tackle bias. This will allow you to hear their raw candidate assessments before potentially becoming biased by the opinions of the other interviewers. It will also ensure hiring details remain fresh.
- Create an interview scorecard to provide a quantitative basis for comparison between interviewers. This will standardize feedback, consolidate comments, and allow you to make a hiring decision faster. When interviewers have different feedback styles, making a side-by-side candidate comparison can be well…. difficult! The interview scorecard can combat the disparity.
A positive interview experience is the first step to impressing top talent and winning them over!
So present your company in the best light by ensuring every touch point from before, during, and after the interview looks polished. This will take extra effort on your part, but it’s worth it to add that professional touch that marks your company as a great place to work. Ready to get started? Reach out so we can help you build custom interview process to turn star candidates into star employees! Contact us here.
-Bianca
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Bianca is a Recruiting Strategist at RNG and the best part of her job is networking, meeting people for coffee, and being actively involved in the community. She’s an Idaho native and graduated from Boise State University.
