During the hiring process, after you have screened potential job candidates, you need to schedule interviews with your short list.
The five major objectives of the job interview are to:
- Collect relevant information about the candidate
- Describe the job and expectations to the candidate
- Assess the “fit” of the candidate
- Educate the candidate about your organization and its corporate culture
- Answer any questions that the candidate may have
Planning the interview
When preparing for the interviews with job candidates, make sure you:
- Review the job description and discuss it with all stakeholders
- Prepare a list of standard questions, focusing on the candidate’s skills, abilities and past work performance, ensuring you adhere to the Ontario Human Rights Code
- Determine measurable criteria for comparing the candidates
- Select an interviewing style, such as a one-on-one or panel interview
- For panel interviews, have panel members discuss how they will run the interview
- Re-review the candidate’s resume
- Set appointments with reasonable time limits
- Arrange to conduct the interview in a quiet space
- If applicable, prepare any tests required and ensure they clearly relate to the skills required in the job
Determining the interview questions
Bear in mind the two main types of interview questions:
- Closed-ended or direct questions that focus on facts
- Open-ended questions, which generally fall into one of the following categories:
- Hypothetical—that is, “what if” questions about a situation that has not happened
- Behavioural—that is, questions that ask the candidate to describe past behaviour when they handled a real situation
Open-ended questions will be the most relevant as they allow you to assess the candidate’s ability to communicate in a non-structured way. This can create opportunities for you to probe into many important aspects of the person’s experience and skills.
Conducting the interview: Your roadmap
Use the following as a basic roadmap to steer you through the interview:
- Start the interview on time
- Introduce yourself and panel members (if applicable) and explain your role(s)
- Offer the candidate water to drink and establish a rapport
- Give a high-level overview of the interview process and the job
- Begin the interview questions and keep track of relevant information
- Use open-ended questions
- Ask the candidate if they have any questions or comments about the job or organization
- Explain the follow-up process, including reference checks and the timing of any job offer and start date
Conducting an interview: Do’s and don’ts
Interviewing is an art. That said, it is a good idea to follow these rules:
- Do have a thorough understanding of the candidate’s background
- Do stay focused on the candidate
- Do ensure consistency in the questions you ask each candidate
- Do express curiosity and interest—and ask more questions if necessary to better understand the person’s perspective
- Do not take over the conversation. Permit the candidate to talk as long as it is relevant to the interview
- Do not let the candidate veer away from the focus of the interview
- Do not ask questions about the candidate’s religion, gender, sexual orientation or any other area of potential discrimination
- Do not allow your personal biases to affect your opinion of the candidate
- Do not take notes about your opinion of the candidate—simply record their answers
- Do not oversell the job
- Do not permit unnecessary interruptions
Interview follow-up
Following the interview, you will need to embark on a number of tasks:
- Complete the interview assessment template as soon as possible
- Review test results, if applicable
- Meet with stakeholders to review and discuss the interview assessments and test results
- Conduct reference checks and discuss what you learn with all stakeholders
- Contact the winning candidate to negotiate an offer
- Assuming the winning candidate accepts, contact the other candidates to explain the decision and answer any questions
Useful templates