The 90-Second Interview

1. Havecandidatescompleteanaptitudeorskillstestpriortoschedulinginterviews.Onlineservicesallowyoutodothisquicklyand
easily,withoutbringingcandidatestoyourofficeorspendingtimewithcandidateswhocan’tmeetyourminimumrequirements.
1 Aptitudeorskillstest
Printthejobdescriptionandkeepitnexttoyouduringtheinterview.Thiswillkeepyoufocused,allowingyoutoeasilycompare
thecandidate’sresumewithyourspecicneedsandaskquestionsthatdirectlyrelatetotheposition.
2 Printthejobdescription
Askingthesamequestionstoallcandidatesallowsyoutocompareapplestoapples.Havingthemwrittendownguaranteesyou’ll
remembertoaskallnecessaryquestionssoyouwon’twastetimeonfollow-upphonecallsoremails.Itwillalsofacilitatethe
interviewprocessifyouareunabletoconductaninterviewandacolleagueneedstostepin.
3 Prepareasetofrelevantquestionsinadvance
Askbehavioralquestionsandpose“what-if”scenariosinordertotestanapplicant'sabilitytohandletypicalsituationstheywould
encounterintheposition.Includeanunexpected,challenging,orthought-provokingquestioninordertogaugetheirabilityto
workunderpressure.Aboveall,askopen-endedquestionsthatrequireexamplesorexplanation–don’tletacandidategetaway
withasimple“yes-no”response.
4 Askbehavioralquestions
Observeacandidate’snonverbalsignalsduringtheinterview.Badposture,lackofeyecontact,ortoomuch dgetingcanallbe
indicationsofacandidate’slackofcondence,interpersonalskills,oractualinterestintheposition.Whatyouseeinfrontofyou
isprobablewhatyou’llseeifthey’rehired.
5 Observeacandidate’snonverbalsignals
Aretheylookingtolearnandgrow?Dotheyseethispositionasasteppingstonetosomething“better”?Doestheircareerplan
(orlackthereof)twithyourneedsandcompanyculture?Thereisnouniversalrightorwronganswertosuchquestions,onlya
considerationofhowtheirplansmeshwithyourneeds.
6 Askcandidateswheretheyseethemselvesinafewyears
It’stimeconsuming,butitallowsyoutoreevaluate rstimpressions,includecolleaguesintheprocess,andassessanapplicant’s
motivationinsecuringtheposition.Italsoallowsyoutotidyupanylooseendsifyou’veneglectedtofollowtip#3!
7 Conductmorethanoneroundofinterviews
Assessthecandidate’spassionforthe eldandmotivationtoworkforyourcompany.Thesearekeyfactorsforsuccessonthejob
andlongevitywithyourcompany.Investedcandidateswillbeself-motivatedtoseekoutlearningandtrainingopportunities,and
willhavetakenthetimetoresearchyourcompanyinordertohaveanactualdialogwithyouduringtheinterview.
8 Assessthecandidate’spassionforthefield
Justlikecandidatesdotheirhomeworkbeforetheinterviewtolearnaboutyourcompany,trylearningabitaboutthem by
lookingattheirpagesonsocialmediasiteslikeLinkedIn,Twitter,orFacebook.You’llgetideasforadditionalinterviewquestions,
aswellasasenseofthecandidate’spersonalityandhowitmay twithyourexistingofficeculture.Butkeepanopenmind-how
candidatesbehaveorportraythemselvesintheirpersonallivesisnotnecessarilyanindicationofhowtheywillperformonthejob.
9 Trylearningabitaboutthem
Finally,checkreferencesforallnal-roundcandidates.Sadly,toomanyprospectiveemployersseethisasawasteoftimeand
neglectthisstep.Previousemployershavereal-lifeexperiencewithcandidates,andwhattheychoosenottosaycanbejustas
informativeaswhattheydosay.Consistentresponsesacrossacandidate’sreferencesshouldhelpyoubuildasolidpictureofthe
candidate.Inconsistentresponsescanopennewlinesofquestioninginthenextinterview,ordisqualifyacandidatecompletely.
10 Checkreferences
Canyouconductaproperinterviewin90seconds?Probablynot.But,inasurveyof
2000bossesconductedbyClassicsandCareers,athirdofrespondents(33%)said
thatwithinthefirst90secondsofaninterviewtheyknewwhetherornottheywould
hirethecandidate!Nowconsiderthis:Theaverageinterviewlastsapproximately40
minutes!
Theanswertoathoroughyetefficientinterviewliessomewherebetweenthesetwoextremes.Howdoyouquicklyand
accuratelygaugeanapplicant’sskills,qualifications,fitwithcompanyculture,andpotentialforsuccess?
Herearethetoptipstoconsiderwhenstructuringaninterviewprocessthatmeetstheneedsofbothyouandyour
candidates.
The90-SecondInterview...
www.TestUP.com
TheOnlinePre-EmploymentTestingSolution