The document provides guidance on effective interviewing techniques. It discusses identifying the impact of ineffective interviewing, asking high-impact questions, and looking out for potential red flags. The document also reviews common interviewing pitfalls to avoid, such as similarity bias and pressure to fill positions. The overall goals are to help interviewers select the best candidates and avoid common mistakes.
Imagine that you are Eric and you have been asked to come interview for a job at GXI Technology. This is one of Fortune's ten best places to work and you have been trying to get your foot in their door for quite a while.
You arrive on time, dressed in your best suit. You have been a top performer at your current job, but a dream position for you has now been dropped in your lap at one of the best places to work. You are very excited.
The manager that comes in to interview you is 30 minutes late. You pass it off as, “hey. They have to be busy here.” Jim, the manager, is also eating his lunch while talking to you and asking you questions about where you currently work and went to school. It is very obvious that he has not read your resume, nor has he prepared questions for you and is ad-libbing the whole interview.
How would you feel about the job or the organization?
The first thing we need look at is getting prepared for the interview, and that means understanding why we are interviewing. There are 5 main reasons we interview our candidates:
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Evaluate ability – We definitely want to find out if they are qualified and have the right skills for the job, but that isn’t always enough.
Evaluate Fit– Those with the best skills are not always the right fit with the organization or team. The interview helps you evaluate the candidate’s responses and see if they would fit within the organization and team.
Job preview – They are also interviewing us, so this is their opportunity to ask questions about all aspets of the job and for you to have an open and honest dialogue about the position. We are trying to avoid the dreaded, “If I had only known that, I wouldn’t have taken the job.”
Complete the profile – This is the chance for you to go beyond the resume and fill in the gaps. You may discover something that is not on their resume that could be quite meaningful to the job.
When you have a grasp on why you are conducting the interview, you can prepare a list of questions that can help you meet that objective. Let’s take a look at some of the types of questions that you can ask during an interview that can help you get th most out of your time with the candidate.
The first type of question is the Competency question. We are all probably familiar with these. Competency questions are all focused on ascertaining what the candidate is bringing to the table. What do they know, what can they do, why are they qualified, etc. But it also focuses on their motivations.
Why are they leaving their current job, or changing careers? What is their philosophy about work? What are your major career aspirations?
These help us discover more about the person, how they feel about work, and what they are going to bring to the table at Availity.
Interviewing techniques page 3
Read the first of the two questions again: “Tell me what you did when you had a coworker who didn’t get their part of the project done.” As you’re reading the question, you’re thinking about a coworker who didn’t get a project done. It’s immediate. It’s automatic. Our brain thinks in pictures and as the interviewer is saying the sentence your brain is painting the picture. Now read the second of the two questions again: “If a coworker doesn’t get their part of a project done, what will you do?” Nothing. No pictures. While the interviewer is saying the sentence, your mind is blank. After the interviewer finishes, you review the question in your mind. Then you think, “Hmmm, when has something like that happened?”
Our brain thinks in pictures and as the interviewer is saying the sentence your brain is painting the picture. Now read the second of the two questions again: “If a coworker doesn’t get their part of a project done, what will you do?” Nothing. No pictures. While the interviewer is saying the sentence, your mind is blank. After the interviewer finishes, you review the question in your mind. Then you think, “Hmmm, when has something like that happened?” Then you review what happened. Then you start talking. By this time the interviewer is writing notes like “slow thinker.” Or, after reviewing the question in your mind, you think, “Hmmm, I wonder what they mean. I wonder what they’re looking for. I wonder how I should answer this?” Then, assuming you’re cool in test situations, you think about what you’re going to say. Then you start saying what you think they want to hear.
The first question, in contrast, makes the other person feel comfortable. He or she is giving me details, providing the information I need fast—at least faster than the person who was asked the second question and who’s still thinking, fumbling, and rambling. You can get the information faster and it’ll be more accurate, more detailed, and come from someone who’s feeling confident because you asked a question he or she can answer. It’s about the person. It’s about something that happened to the person.
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Describe a time when you needed to say what you thought, even though it made you unpopular with your coworkers. • Tell me where you are on each of the Action Plan items. • Why haven’t molds released in the past? • Describe a situation in which you were able to get all your filing done (even if it happened only once). • List the things your product will do for us. Hypothetical Open-Ended Questions • Describe what you would do if you disagreed with the way one of your coworkers was handling a situation. • Some people have trouble getting all their Action Plan items done.Why do you think that is? • Why do you think the mold isn’t releasing? • Imagine you were able to create the exact service you needed to get all your filing done. Describe exactly how it would look. • Tell us about the things that make other customers happy with your product.
In guide In guide give examples of questions to avoid
