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"Having been involved in a recruitment assignment for my Livery Company some months ago, and been extremely impressed by the professionalism displayed by Agewise, I was in no doubt about who to approach when one of my consultancy’s clients wanted to appoint a part-time Accountant. Once again Agewise excelled, not only in the professional approach they adopted throughout the recruitment process but in the quality of the candidate documentation they provided and, above all, in the calibre of candidates they put forward.I would have no hesitation in recommending Agewise Recruitment to others, and in the meantime, I look forward to working with them again."
Jonathan N Rounce FCA, Chief Executive, Petersham Group
How to interview
Interview selection
Before you come to the interview day, there is pre-interview planning that needs to happen. The thoroughness with which you do this will directly influence the success of the interview. The biggest hurdle is who to select for interview. If you advertise directly you could be faced with over 100 applications which need reading, assessing and finally selecting. Ideally all applications should be replied to. If you have written a good job description, this will become the basis of your initial selection method. You are still likely to be left with more people who appear to match the job description than you wish to interview. Some companies decide to telephone interview at this stage to help shortlist. And after all this, you still will not be able to guarantee an interview list with the right person on it.
However, if you decide to use Agewise recruitment services, all this is taken care of, and you will be presented with a shortlist of people, all of whom meet the job specification. You will receive additional illustrations of the way each one matches your criteria, and the reassurance that initial interviews have been carried out to weigh their suitability.
The interview panel
You need to start by considering who is going to conduct the interview and how many interviews you intend to give. It is common to have an interview panel of between 2 – 3 interviewers [it can be many more!]. The panel should include the line manager or immediate supervisor. Alternatively, some companies decide to have a series of one-to-one interviews, where the candidate is interviewed for 20 minutes each by, say, the HR Officer, line manager and department head/director. In a very small organisation there may only be one interviewer, but it would be useful to include someone else at some stage; it could be a fellow member of staff or the accountant, for instance. Even if you decide on an informal one-to-one interview, it must be well structured.
Decide whether you are going to have more than one stage of interviews. A second interview makes the process more thorough and allows extra time to assess the candidates. At first interview there could be 6 candidates selected so that you get a very good view of who is available, with the second interview whittling the field down to the final two or three.
Planning the interview
Preparation is important. You need to decide on the length of the interview, and stick to a timeframe. You also need to plan the questions. Each candidate should be asked the same questions, in the same order, by the same interviewer. Each interviewer could cover different topics. Look at the job description and person specification and make sure your questions cover salient points. Ask open-ended questions – avoid asking questions that can be answered with a Yes or a No. Ask the candidate to ‘give an example of’ or ‘explain how’.
You can find standard lists of questions all over the Internet and published in books. Candidates see these too, and the model answers provided. The questions you ask should be directly relevant to your company and the specific role. They must also conform to equality and diversity legislation; check against your Equal Opportunity policy or consult useful websites like ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) www.acas.org.uk and CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) www.cipd.co.uk
Recording the answers
One reason to have more than one interviewer is so that someone is able to listen carefully to the answers and make notes. Don’t rely on your memory, after seeing six people it won’t be accurate. If you have prepared the questions, you can also score each answer which will give you a more impartial means of judging the responses. Each interviewer should score separately and then average out the results. This will help with feedback after the interview – remember to store notes in compliance with Data Protection legislation.
Tests
If there are specific skills that are important – a particular piece of software for instance – you may want to devise a job-related test to give to each candidate before the interview. The test must be directly related to the job. Other examples could be an inbox test to demonstrate how a person prioritises. You should warn the candidate beforehand that it is going to happen, and schedule it into the format of the day.
For more senior roles, you could ask for a presentation related to the role they will be doing. This is usually best left to the second interview stage after candidates have gained a better idea of the organisation and so that only those who are contenders are asked to devote a significant amount of pre-interview time to the task. Make it clear what equipment will be available on the day. Can they bring a memory stick for a PowerPoint presentation, for instance?
Psychometric and psychological tests are available online, however a small organisation would need to devote some time to assessing their suitability and usefulness without professional HR input. Larger companies use assessment centres which allow for group exercises and role playing, sometimes over several days. The expense only makes this viable for senior appointments and for group intakes, such as a graduate programme.
Conducting the interview
The room in which the interview takes place must be arranged properly with appropriate seating, stationery, water etc. Sit at a round table rather than behind a desk if possible. Make sure there won’t be any interruptions and switch off mobiles. If feasible, arrange for the interviewee to have a tour of the company or at least see the office where they would be working before the interview.
It is important that you have read the candidate’s application, CV and other documentation beforehand and have it ready to hand. It may influence some of the questions you ask. When the person enters, make them welcome and introduce yourself and any other interviewers by name and job responsibility. Give a brief intro to the organisation and the job, all of which gives the candidate time to adjust.
Remember, the interview is a two-way process; you are being interviewed too. There are two main purposes: to assess whether the candidate is right for the job and to provide enough details about the job and the organisation for him or her to decide whether they want to work for you.
Keep to the structure and timeframe that you established. Leave time for the interviewee to ask questions at the end. This can be the most revealing part of the interview and the questions asked may be what makes the individual stand out.
You need to signal the end of the interview clearly, and to explain what happens next. When would you invite to second interview; will there be a presentation and at what point would they be briefed; or if this is the end of the process, when will you be reaching a decision. Work out what you will say and how you will phrase it in advance so that you don’t leave anyone with an erroneous impression that they are through to the next round.
Email Agewise or telephone 020 8747 0410 to discuss how we can help you recruit successfully.