5 tips for recruiters on how to do a job interview 

Preparation for a job interview 

Getting prepared for a job interview for those of you who are going to recruit staff is certainly nothing new. One aspect many may not think about is that in a recruitment process you represent the company externally. As much as you want to find the right candidate, a candidate wants to get a good feeling about the company they will start working for. You are a brand ambassador for your company in that way! Because it is just as important to make a good impression for you as it is for a candidate during a job interview. Hence the importance being prepared for a job interview for those who are recruiting staff. 

But how to prepare? What is important to consider? How do you best prepare for holding and conducting a job interview? Here are 5 tips! 

5 tips for you who are going to hold a job interview in a recruitment process 

1. What type of job interview are you going to hold? Should your job interview consist of skill-based questions? Questions about different situations and how the candidate would act? Prepare the layout of the interview based on the type of questions you want to ask. Listen to the answers and leave room for follow-up questions as well. Also remember to ask open-ended questions where you avoid questions with yes/no answers.
2. When you know what type of interview you want to hold, you can prepare further by being well versed in the requirements profile. Prepare the type of questions you chose based on it. Think about whether the focus is on the personal qualities or experiences? Is there an opportunity for on-site training, so maybe having the right personality is more important? Or do the candidate’s experiences weigh more heavily? Has the candidate gone through an application process before where there is something relevant and distinctive to bring up? Think through but don’t prepare too much – important to listen to the answers too. Full focus must be on the candidate.
3. Be transparent if questions arise during the job interview. Be honest about the conditions, development opportunities and what the company can offer. Important not to embellish or mitigate the circumstances surrounding the role the candidate has applied for if it will face tough challenges and demands.
4. Inform how the process will look like after the interview is finished. When can the candidate expect feedback? What does the process look like from here? Are there more selections/tests the candidate will have to complete?
5. Be available. Questions can and often will come up so be sure to be available throughout the process.

Create an image of the candidate 

Now you have 5 good and concrete tips on how to conduct a good job interview when recruiting staff. If you always start from these points, you can conduct good interviews and feel well prepared. If you are prepared, you can also be more spontaneous in follow-up questions and focus on listening to the candidate’s answers, which is absolutely the most important thing during a job interview. You should feel that you have as good a picture of the candidate as possible. 

A final important aspect is not to focus too much into the length of a job interview. We are all different and sometimes you find an excellent candidate in no time. So don’t put too much weight on if the interview was too short/long. We are all different! 

Do you want even more tips about job interviews? Read more here.

What will recruitment look like in the future? What can we expect to see more of in the future? Read Recruitment guide: The recruitment of the future today!

Author: Malin Cartagena Lindell

Reviewer: Moa Jacobsson