INTERVIEW NOTES

Overview

The broad format of the first interview will consist of:-

• Personal introductions

• A brief introduction to the company and its products and/or services

• A brief introduction to the job

• The actual interview.

• Reimbursement of any out of pocket expenses (if appropriate)

Guidelines

The conduct and content of the interview will depend greatly on the experience and style of the interviewer, but there are certain general guidelines.

Choose an informal interview environment, such as sitting in comfortable chairs by a coffee table rather than facing each other across a desk. If this is not possible, then at least sit at 90⁰ to the interviewee to create a non-confrontational setting.

Control the interview, directing its content along lines that enable you to form objective assessments, and setting the pace.

Structure the interview round a framework, possibly following chronological events or circumstances using the application form as a guide, and elicit information about and from the candidate that relate to his/her:-

• impact on other people

• qualifications and experience

• innate abilities

• motivation

• adjustment

Avoid projecting your own personality into the interview situation - you are there to listen, gather information, form opinions and judgements, not to make a sales presentation or recount your own life story.

Project a friendly atmosphere of warmth, empathy, sincerity and interest, but also neutrality.

Keep to a logical sequence and avoid topic jumping in a manner that seems irrelevant to the candidate, otherwise he/she will suspect your motives and spend more time wondering what you are up to rather than answering the questions.

Link questions to replies to encourage the flow of information.

Ask open questions to encourage the interviewee to expand in his/her replies and leave openings for further probing as appropriate and necessary.

Give thinking time if it seems as though the candidate needs it ask probing questions that get to the issues behind the facts, e.g. ‘Why did you choose to resign so soon after the new sales director was appointed?’

Encourage the conversation flow by linking questions and expanding comments, such as ‘and what happened then?’ or ‘how did you feel about that situation’.

Do not raise personal matters that might seem more sensitive until after you have established a rapport.

Do not use exaggerated or distracting mannerisms, whether physical or verbal, such as fiddling with glasses or pens, or using annoying phrases such as ‘you know what I mean’, that might cause embarrassment or project a prejudice.

Be sensitive to your own body language signals that might project actions and attitudes unintentionally.

Do not be afraid of silence as it can be an excellent tool to prompt the interviewee to continue expanding on comments made by him/her.

Avoid multiple questions as these can confuse the candidate.

Avoid ambiguous questions as these can also seem confusing or irrelevant to the candidate.

Avoid leading questions as these only cause a candidate to reply in a manner that he/she thinks fits the expected response.

Avoid technical jargon if this is particular to your own company or niche market rather than being standard technical terminology within the industry.

Avoid direct or implied criticism either through comment or involuntary body language signals.

Avoid constant studying of the form or just repeating information contained in the application form, as this gives the impression you have not prepared for the interview.

Inquisition

Just before starting each interview, the interviewer may wish to ask himself two basic questions:

‘Do I know what I am looking for?’

‘Will I recognise it when I see it?’

For objective assessments to be made of an individual’s ability to perform successfully in a specific job function, it is necessary to study both internal factors, which are all particular to the individual candidate, and the external factors or circumstances that impact on the internal factors.

Elicit information with the constant use of open questions that require more than a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. ‘What’, ‘How’, and ‘Why’ are the key words. For example:-

‘Why did you choose a sales career?’

‘What prompted you to leave XYZ company?’,

‘How did you determine your job priorities at your last company?’

The interviewer should ideally record meaningful notes under each of the following categories.

Physical makeup:

• appearance and first impression

• bearing

• peculiarities/habits/mannerisms

• speech

Look for any positive or negative factors that could affect job performance or acceptability to colleagues or contacts.

Attainments:

• formal educational standards

• educational attainments in relation to peers, family circumstances

• additional training sought and received

• employment history and progression

• tangible measurements of performance and achievements

Look for the motivational factors, levels of achievement in relation to opportunity, actual progression and rates of progression, drive, determination, resilience, adaptability.

General intelligence:

• general intellectual capacity

• problem-solving abilities

• academic excellence and achievements

Look for evidence of sufficient innate intellectual capacity to master the activities and functions of the job, and to develop the job and himself further.

Special aptitudes:

Special skills, e.g. mechanical, technical, linguistic, artistic.

Look for evidence of strength in skill areas that would be relevant to performance of the job functions.

Interests:

• intellectual

• social

• cultural or artistic

• practical

• active/passive

Look for depth of interest, patterns, special aptitudes, degree of activity. Expression of interest in a subject does not indicate expertise. That may need to be pursued in an interview if an interest area is relevant to performance of a job. Preferences may be revealed through interests and aid assessments of motivation and disposition.

Disposition/personality

• social interactions

• influence

• self-reliance

• dependability

• acceptability to others

Look for evidence of successful social interactions, acceptance of and acceptability to others, and an ability to inspire and influence other persons or groups.

Circumstances:

• family and home background

• early schooling

• early and later neighbourhoods and home environments

• family stability, achievements, expectations

• present situation and family commitment

• present home environment and mobility

• financial commitments

• attitudes, e.g. religion, politics, social

Look for stability, opportunities, influences, disposition and motivations and relate achievements to background circumstances.

In addition, the interviewer should throughout an interview be seeking to identify and understand the motivations that caused responses, action, or changes in circumstances.

Motivations:

• influence

• power

• social needs

• recognition

• status

• physiological needs

• rewards/ greed

• achievement/success

REFERENCES

References are best taken over the telephone. Permission to take up references should be achieved before the end of the initial interview with the candidate. These should include at least two previous employers, and should indicate their line manager and his/her manager/superior. On telephoning the referee the recruiter should promptly establish who he/she is and why he/she is calling, and that it is with the permission of the candidate. The recruiter should have in front of him/her both the candidate's job application form and any interview notes. Comments made by the referee may either be noted clearly on these documents (perhaps in a different colour ink) or on a separate and simply designed reference checking form that can record:

• applicant's name

• position applied for

• referee contacted (name and position)

• date of taking the reference

• factual employment history, including:-

• dates of employment

• positions held

• nature of duties and responsibilities

• income levels

• fringe benefits

• time keeping

• comments on achievements and progress

• reasons for leaving (if a previous employer)

• line manager's attitude to the candidate leaving or seeking to change employment

• comment on the candidate's re-employability with previous employer

• character assessment, including comments on:-

• integrity

• reliability

• independence

• motivations

• team spirit and ability to work with colleagues and customers

• leadership

• influence

• flexibility and adaptability

• strengths and weaknesses.

Start by asking the factual questions first, before progressing onto those that require or include a degree of subjective assessment by the referee. Follow up questions with supplementary questions if this seems to provide a better insight to the candidates character. Ensure you stay on line and work through all of the questioning areas.

INTERVIEW FORMAT

On Arrival

Introduction to the timetable

Beverage

Direction to Test Room

Test Paper

10 minutes to complete Test

Direction to Interview Room

Preamble

Introduction to Interviewers

Brief Introduction to the company and its products and/or services

Brief introduction to the company structure

Review of the main points of the Job Description

Statistic about the Candidate

Name

Address and telephone number (owned or rented)

Age

Nationality

Marital Status

Children or Dependants

Personal Interests

Medical History (including recurring illnesses and/or disabilities)

Driving Licence and driving record

Education History of Candidate

Schools attended (qualifications attained)

HE, college or universities attended (qualifications attained)

Other post-education courses attended (qualifications attained)

Trade qualifications

Trade association memberships

What job specific training received (including when and where)

What training has been missed or would have been liked

Employment History of Candidate

Positions held and dates applicable

Summary of key responsibilities (including financial) in each position held

Respective salary level in two most recent positions

Respective reasons for leaving

Confirmation that reference can be requested

Practical Knowledge of Candidate

What is the limit of your ability

What do you do best

What is the most difficult decision you have ever had to make

What achievement have you had in the past

What failures have you had in the past

What have you learnt in the last 12 months

What are your problem solving skills

Practical Test of Candidate

Review of the Test Paper

Completion of two examples of work for post applied for by Candidate

What are your views on the test and work examples

Company Experience of Candidate

Have you worked within Teams or Cells before

If so, what are your views of Team structures

How do you normally communicate with other members of staff

With what type of people do you have most difficulty communicating

How do you manage your time

On what basis do you make commercial decisions

How do you conduct your meetings

How do you deal with decisions made at meetings

What is your management style

Job Specific Questioning

What is the most important indicator for a (job title)

How do you know when you have got it right

What part do (job title)’s have in .......................

What is the difference between an .............., a .................., and a ..........

These are questions you will pre-determine, which will question the interviewee’s knowledge specific to the Job, testing technical knowledge, understanding, and analytical ability.

Interviewee Questions

Ask the interviewee if he/she has any questions to ask you. Make a note of the questions as well as providing the interviewee with a concise, honest, and relevant response to them.

Closing

When you have no further targeted or objective lead questions to ask, and the interviewee has no more questions for you, then bring the interview to a close, thank the interviewee for attending, and tell him/her when and how you will notify him/her of the outcome.

MORE INFORMATION
If having read this guide you would like to discuss how we may be able to help you, please call us on (01373) 454576 and speak to Peter Beech-Allen, or E-mail a request to us for further information.w