I need to hire my first employee! Where do I begin? (part 2)

By Kim Becker, Vice President of Human Resources, Hometown Bancorp

In part one we talked about the initial steps you should take when preparing to hire your first employee.  Now it’s time to look at how to conduct an effective interview.  You know that great companies have great employees, so you want to commit to hiring the best.  Unfortunately, sometimes we find ourselves hiring the best …. of the worst!  Let’s take a look at a couple of steps you can take to help you select the best and brightest candidates to hire.

It is important to do your homework before the interview actually takes place.  Make sure you have a written job description.  This will help you tailor the interview questions to specific job-related duties.  For free job description templates go to www.onetcenter.org.  From there, click on the O*net OnLine link. Once you are comfortable with your job description, create an interview guide.  This is simply a list of job-related interview questions that you will want to ask of each applicant.

So now you’re all set to go!  You have completed your phone screens and have determined which candidates you’d like to meet face-to-face.  The interviews are scheduled and your first applicant arrives.  Suddenly, you’re a bit nervous about this whole process!  Take heart!  This is very normal.  And remember…the applicant is very nervous too!  They read your ad, they are ready for a new challenge, and this sounds like the perfect opportunity they’ve been looking for!  So, they don’t want to blow it.  However, you will also find that some applicants have rehearsed and rehearsed, and they have some “canned” answers ready to knock your socks off.  They are very comfortable and seem very confident…almost too confident.  Beware of the “professional interviewer!”  They say all of the right things, but for some reason you just don’t feel good about the interview.  How do you get beyond the “fluff” and get down to the real facts as to whether or not this individual sitting in front of you is the right person for the job?  Let’s look at a couple of different approaches to conducting the interview.
 

"Remember….the best way to stay out of any legal trouble is to stay away from questions that are not related to the individual’s ability to do the job."

Interview Styles

Basic Interviewing:  Typically, an interview begins with a pre-planned agenda.  You have prepared your list of questions ahead of time.  You may ask the questions in the order that you have them written, or you may skip around in a more relaxed, freestyle fashion based on the answers the applicant gives you.  Either approach is fine, as long as each applicant is asked the same questions, which is important as a defense against discrimination.  In an unstructured interview, the interviewer does not have a prepared agenda but rather allows the applicant to set the pace of the interview, and the questions asked are derived from the information that surfaces during this more-or-less informal conversation.  This style of interviewing does not always provide you with the information you are seeking however.  It is also too easy to get side-tracked by off-topic conversations, which can be a slippery slope.

Behavioral Interviewing:  The premise behind this style of interviewing is that a candidate who has previously demonstrated a particular behavior to address a situation will presumably repeat that behavior in the future when faced with a similar set of problems.  This style involves a little more thought and preparation but is worth the time and effort. Questions might be phrased like:  “Think of an occasion when you…” and then describe a particular situation.  Or “Can you give me an example of…”  Follow up with questions like “What needed to be done about that situation?”  “What was the result?”  “What did you learn from that experience?”  Examples of other criteria you may want to delve into with the candidate address values/work ethic, work pace, relationship skills, problem solving, people management and other behaviors that you determine would be associated with success on the job.

Additional Interviewing Tips

You want the applicant to do about 80% of the talking, so it is important to make the interview setting comfortable.  Try to put the applicant at ease with introductory and welcoming remarks.

Focus on your listening skills during the interview.  After you have asked a question, the applicant may appear to freeze while they are thinking of their response, creating what seems like an eternal and awkward time of silence.  As uncomfortable as that may feel, do your best to be patient and allow the applicant to think through your question.  If you rephrase the question or insert additional comments, you could inadvertently lead the candidate to the desired answer.
Ask open-ended questions, rather than questions that can be answered “yes” or “no.”  For example, have the applicant describe a situation in which they handled stress rather well, instead of asking “do you handle stress well?”
Take notes and record the applicant’s responses.

Avoid the “halo and horn” effect.  There will be times where you will make a connection with a candidate which could innocently stem from some of your opening remarks.  For example, as you are welcoming the candidate into your office you may casually ask if they watched the Super Bowl.  The candidate may respond by saying “Yes!” and he or she is a huge Steelers fan, and coincidentally so are you and….bingo!  You spend the next 10 minutes talking football and you are finding yourself liking this candidate simply because of that connection.  The same conversation could have a negative effect.  If asked the same question, the next candidate may say “I hate football.”  Will that individual be granted the same attention afforded the one who engaged in a topic that was appealing to you?  Perhaps not.  Don’t allow prejudicial or judgmental thoughts cloud your ability to be objective.  This is easier said than done, so the key here is just to be aware of this potential.

If it’s obvious from the applicant’s responses that this is not the right fit, it’s okay at the end of the interview to let the individual know you have others that you are talking to.  Most people know that companies will talk to more than one candidate.  Set a timeframe for getting back to them, and let them know you will respond to them either way, even if it’s in the form of a “no thank you” letter.

If you think you have a winner, it’s time for you to close the deal.  Sell your company.  Talk about the benefits of working for you.  Let the candidate know that you will be in touch with them within a specified timeframe, and then follow through.  If you have a good candidate “on the hook,” you want to be sure you can reel them in.

Remember….the best way to stay out of any legal trouble is to stay away from questions that are not related to the individual’s ability to do the job.  Through well thought out and practiced interviewing techniques you will be able to find and secure that right person for your job!  It is one of the most rewarding experiences an employer can have