From an average to a great interview experience
The interview process might be one of the most stressful experiences in one's career - a whopping 93% of those looking for a change in the role registered anxiety (thanks, JDP for this statistic!). The interview process is not just stressful because it’s an unusual type of interaction with a weight shift to being under the radar of the interviewer by default, occasionally the interviewers themselves make it worse by increasing the pressure, asking inappropriate questions, or removing the transparency from the equation.
Let’s face it - not all people that do the interviews are skilled in the art, have time, or are trained to evaluate the candidates through the process properly. Not all companies approach the interview process systematically and might favor some of the Voodoo methods that don’t help you select the best person and don’t bring you closer to your objective. How does it happen that one of the most important, comprehensive, and expensive processes your organization takes in its growth agenda deserves little attention from some teams? It’s like asking your marketing assistant to do yearly books - the same level of responsibility.
If you found yourself at the crossroads, at the start, or doubtful about your interview process, let me give you few tips on where you can start to improve it -
Let’s start by breaking it down to the stages:
The preparation: needless to note you need to define what you need the person to accomplish in the role, document that and derive the mission of the role. Prepare the glossy pack to share with qualified candidates detailing your culture, the role, the interview process, and how best to prepare/what to expect from each stage, the team they will be working and the interviewers. Each candidate should be able to understand where they are in the process, what the role is about, and who they need to get in touch with in case of any questions.
The (targeted) reach out: stay relevant, positive, and polite.
The first conversation: listen first and talk second. This is not the time to sell the opportunity first, so put it on your list as a secondary objective, instead, focus on learning what the candidate wants from the next role. Bonus point - this will cross off the usual tire-kickers.
The speed of the feedback: preferably within 24 hours after the interview you should be able to get the feedback through and set a next date for the interview. Allow yourself 3 days max to come back to a candidate. If your C-level management is not providing feedback even in the written form within that time, this role is probably not a priority and you are just spreading the bad reputation on the talent market.
The length of the interview process: are you trying to attract engineers with 12 hours of the interview process? Good luck! The majority of the roles would call for 2 well-structured, well-defined interviews with a test included in them. For managerial or lead roles, consider 3-5 and an informal lunch with colleagues to get to meet the team. Keep in mind that good talent will always have options- so the longer you stretch the interview process and feedback time, the higher are your chances of losing the individual to your competitor.
The “standing out” piece: the content of the interview is like a filling of the cake - quite essential. Try to steer clear from the beaten-down path of the standard questions and differentiate by asking open-ended questions, turning the topics into an active discussion, gamifying the experience of the hands-on tasks, or writing samples (few good ideas in this HBR article).
