Julia WeeksWhile many companies are brainstorming different ways to improve their employer brands in order to attract top talent, many are forgetting the importance of updating their interviewing strategy. Modernizing your interviewing strategy is quite simple and can greatly improve your candidate selection. There are several easy ways to quickly modernize your interviews:
1. Including your Team
Interview strategies of the past quite often only included the hiring manager and the candidate. Consider including your team members on interviews with candidates that you believe would be a good addition to the team.
By including your team in these interviews, you are showing your team and the candidate that you value your team’s opinion and feedback, as well as opening your mind to the opinions and ideas of your team.
When I started including my recruiting team on interviews, I was surprised at how many things my team members picked up on from the candidate that I may have missed or overlooked in my interviews.
2. Questioning Techniques
Think about your interview style. Does your interview seem stiff with fire-drill questions, or does it have a casual flow to the conversation?
When you approach the interview as if it is more of a conversation with a candidate, versus an “interview”, you will notice a more relaxed candidate. When the candidate is more relaxed, you are better able to assess the candidate’s traits, skills, and cultural fit.
3. Interview Location
Do all of your interviews take place in your office or in the company conference room?
Consider changing the location of your interviews. Perhaps you meet with a candidate over lunch or over a cup of coffee. When you meet a candidate in a more relaxed, day-to-day setting, you are able to see how a candidate reacts in these types of situations.
For example, if a candidate is rude to the wait staff, that will be a good indication of how the candidate will react to certain staff or customers in your business. In addition, by being able to see a candidate in a typical day-to-day setting, you will be more apt to see the candidate in a relaxed attitude. This will contribute greatly towards your ability to interview for cultural fit.
Another more modern interview location to consider is the virtual location. If you have not implemented video interviewing into your interview strategy, you should consider the positives of this form of interviewing.
When you implement video interviewing into your strategy, you are opening possibilities for you to interview candidates that you may not have considered when only conducting in-person interviews. With video interviewing, you are able to consider non-local candidates as well as candidates who are unable to take considerable amounts of time off work to interview in-person.
What are some other ways that you could modernize your interviewing strategy? Please share your tips in the comments below.
Image: Wavebreak Media Ltd/BigStock.com
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