Introduction to Awesome Interview Techniques

As in any business, as it grows, you will need to recruit staff. This can be quite a daunting process, when you don’t know what questions to ask.  You may be wondering how long the interview process should take, how do you know you have found the right candidate, what if the process didn’t work and you didn’t get the right person, what then? Right?

The whole process should not be so stressful. After all remember this is a positive process. The fact that you’re looking for staff means that your business is thriving. When you find the right people, this will allow you to concentrate on important matters within the business, such as following up on sales leads, implementing better systems and procedures, and ensuring the day-to-day running of the business is performing at its very best.

Often you will be able to decide on an individual within the first five minutes or at a handshake. Trust your instincts – they will often be right. Look at their appearance, their mannerisms, the way they speak, present themselves, and whether you can see that person fitting into your organisation.

The next is a big one! “What do you know about our business?” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve received a blank stare back from candidates, when I ask that question. If someone hasn’t taken the time to research your business, then you really need to question whether you want this person in your organisation. It is most likely that they are hopping from one interview to the next without any real care for the position. Meaning they have no real interest in what you do, therefore being quite a difficult employee to motivate, inspire and rely on.

So, if you got past all these initial questions and hurdles, you can begin the real interview. We will shortly be providing you with a great list of questions to ask so you are able to gauge your interviewee and hopefully get a good understanding of their outlook on your business, as well as the reasons why they have decided to approach you for a position in your organisation. This list can be adapted to fit your individual needs, so feel free to do so. 

Our Favourite Interview Technique

Often in an interview, the interviewer can settle into a bit of a pattern, glaze over and just run through the process! We all do this, as interviewing multiple candidates, one after another is tiring work. In this scenario we look to do a group interview. 

Now obviously this will not work for everybody . However, with a little bit of creativity I do believe that this could work for most companies. If you are recruiting for a retail environment or sales role, this works perfectly. We call it a “pop idols audition.” It works as follows. Organise a number of interviewees to arrive at the same time, the number can be as large as you wish. We like to catch people off guard,  by not letting them know it will be a group interview, which tends to give us insight into their real character. Even if they freak out and get totally flustered. This is good to see, especially if you have a stressful position to be filled…if they can’t handle this pressure, then how can they fit into that role. Again coming back to the fact that you will use the interview process to really gauge whether the individuals can fit into your organisation.

As you will come to realise, every single person you speak to in an interview process will tell you, “I can do the job.” It’s very rare indeed for any interviewee to be completely open in the interview process. The above technique when implemented correctly will take the interviewee out of their comfort zone, and expose their strengths and weaknesses.

As mentioned earlier, we will make available a download for you to understand how this system works effectively, we will be compiling a free download containing an explanation of this technique. As well as a number of great interview questions you can use. Subscribe below, and we will send it straight to your inbox.