Top Tips for Interviewers
All of us at DNA Recruit see ourselves as your recruitment partners. Our mission is to always provide the best service to all of our candidates and clients. We act swiftly when we receive a brief, we aim to match great candidates with great roles and we are on hand at all times to ensure the whole process runs smoothly - for both parties. We get involved as and when necessary and are always happy to advise during any part of the process, whether it is how to best advertise a role, who to shortlist, even helping to facilitate the interviews, e.g. booking offsite venues, and sometimes even giving advice on 'how' to interview.
We have been doing this for a long time now and feel very well placed to advise our clients on the best ways to attract, recruit and retain top talent. During this current period of candidate scarcity, we feel it is more important than ever for clients to present themselves in the best possible light and work harder than ever to make themselves attractive to potential future employees.
It is not enough to just rely on your reputation and client list, you need to work hard at winning the approval of candidates from the very first interaction. The job spec must be clear, the salary and benefits package must be competitive and the recruitment process should be made clear from the outset.
Once all of this is in place, you should have no trouble getting a good number of candidates to interview. What happens next is also crucial. It is not just the candidate who needs to give a good account of themselves at the first meeting. You need to work harder than ever at selling the role and the agency.
As we have said many times, candidates are now in the driving seat with the best ones often receiving multiple offers - as well as counters from their existing employers. By performing well at the interview and giving them the very best impression of yourselves, you have a good chance of securing them at offer stage.
So here's our top tips on how to get what you want from interviews - a yes from the best candidate.
Ensure that the candidate is provided with all the information they will need before the interview. Not just the time and date - the full job spec, who they are meeting, what their roles are, how long the interview is likely to be. A prepared candidate is a more relaxed candidate and you will get more out of them if they are well informed.
1. Don't keep them waiting
2. Be polite
3. Come prepared
Make sure you have their CV, the job spec and any other relevant information to hand. Have your questions prepared but also don't forget to think about the kind of questions they may ask you. Have the answers ready, e.g. what is the team structure, why has the role come up, who are the key clients, what are the key projects the person would be responsible for.
4. Practice your technique
Interviewing is not easy, even if you do it a lot. Being able to ask good questions, receive and record the answers and respond accordingly is the ultimate in multi-tasking and takes practice and concentration - another reason why it is key to ensure there are no interruptions on the phone or even worse, with colleagues 'popping in'!
5. Be discreet
6. End the interview on a positive note
All of this is basic common sense but sometimes it is worth reminding ourselves about good interview etiquette – particularly at a time when candidates are so thin on the ground and you have to work harder than ever to attract the best.