It is hard to look for a job, and very tough to interview for one. Be kind, respectful, and courteous with each candidate.

Start by preparing a description of the work, the environment, and the company's culture. Use your list of key skills that you developed to evaluate the resumes. Describe the job in the same manner to each candidate.

Pre-screening

I almost always do a brief pre-screening of candidates on the telephone before I invite them for an interview. Five minutes of my time spent here is a very valuable investment. You can gauge how effectively the candidate communicates, and what level of business skill they have in responding to you or your message.

Always know the candidate's salary expectations before you interview them in person. You may find someone wonderful but cannot afford him or her! Simply ask, "What are your salary expectations?" Do not accept "I am open" as an answer. Make sure you understand the difference between their current salary and the amount they expect to make in a new job.

If there is a deal-breaker skill you need, or a job condition that is critical, ask about it now. Get the right answer to key questions before you set up a personal interview.

Once you are satisfied, set up a time with the candidate, and give careful directions!

The Interview

Be on time. Waiting in the lobby long past the agreed upon time sends a very bad message about the company and about you. If you have a "crisis" go personally and explain to the candidate and ask if they can wait. If not, apologize and reschedule.

It is always best to interview a candidate in private, preferably in an office, where interruptions can be avoided. In most cases the candidate has made complicated arrangements to see you, and hopefully has done research and preparation for the interview. You want to reflect the same sense of preparation, preparedness, and professionalism.

I start the interview by describing the work and the environment and the company's culture. This gives the candidate an opportunity to relax and to be better informed.

Then I ask if they have any questions they want to ask me. You may discover a great deal from their answer to this question.

I also like to ask unexpected questions, like "How do you feel about photocopying?" Watch and listen to how someone responds to a question about photocopying and you will learn a lot about character and commitment. People rarely expect such a question in a professional interview and you see a bit of the real person.

Ask about long hours. Watch and observe their response.

Talk about skills. Skills are important, but skills can be taught or enhanced. It is the intangibles of character, of adaptability, and of work ethic that generate success.

Ask candidates what management style they find most productive for themselves. Certainly if they respond that they can't stand being micro-managed you have a key that they may or may not fit into the environment or culture that you have to offer.

A key to a good interview is to create silences that the candidate has to fill. Brief questions, with no annotation, are extremely effective. I believe they reveal what you need to know about people.

Give the candidate some feedback about where they stand at the end of the interview. If they are in contention, tell them. Telling someone you are interested is not a commitment. I have never found that expressing my honest interest has interfered with my ability to negotiate. On the contrary, it does leave a candidate with a very positive feeling.

If the candidate is not in contention, please tell them. It is heartless to have a candidate leave the interview thinking they have a chance, when they do not. I always tell those no longer in contention, in as gentle a fashion as I can, that they are out of the running.

The most important aspect of the interview is to trust your instinctive reaction to a candidate, on a person to person level. After all, that is truly how you will relate to the candidate, as a person. If they are the most talented skill-wise and experience-wise, but they don't fit with you as a person, they and you are rarely successful together.

Most people under value, or even suppress their instinctive responses. Don't make that mistake. Cultivate the ability to read your instincts and you will dramatically increase you ability to select and to manage people.

Copyright © 1998, 1999 by D.E. Summerville. All rights reserved.

The advice and suggestions in the Women in Business column are solely those of the author. DC Web Women assumes no responsibility for its content.

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