This article may be republished for non-commercial purposes subject to the provisions of the Website Use Agreement. All Rights Reserved. Republished under license. Toggle navigation. Allow them to finish talking before you jump in with another question, as by taking it slowly the candidate is more likely to elaborate on their response, or share more experiences.
Taking it slowly will also provide you with the time to think of intelligent questions to ask them that are directly related to them as an individual, rather than those that are clearly pre-planned. A good candidate will take this opportunity to ask intelligent questions about the culture, expectations for the role, ongoing projects, etc.
Let the candidate know what to expect next, for example if you are interviewing more people, if there will be a second round of interviews and when they should expect to hear back from you.
Make sure that you have both covered everything that you wanted to discuss before closing the interview. Ending the interview on a slightly informal and friendly note will leave a good lasting impression with them.
Panel interviews can also help less-experienced employees get involved in the hiring process. The panel should include no more than four or five people; a larger panel could be intimidating and unwieldy.
One interviewer should serve as the leader, and other participants should serve in support roles. While all the interviewers need to be involved throughout the interview, the difference in the two roles needs to be very clear. To help ensure the validity and effectiveness of employment interviews, the interviewer must prepare in advance. Before implementing the interview process for a given position, the HR professional who will be asking the questions should complete the following preparations:.
Interviewers must know how to elicit desired information from job candidates. It doesn't require a sophisticated technique, but it does require more than just asking candidates if they possess the required skills and attributes. The most recent thinking on how to conduct job interviews recommends that employers ask applicants about specific incidents in the workplace.
Therefore, questions should be designed to show how the candidate has displayed the required skills in specific situations during his or her career. Responses to such questions can provide enhanced glimpses into applicants' actual experiences.
For both the employer and the candidate to get the most out of an interview, it is essential to carefully consider the type of questions to ask. Despite the importance of preparing questions in advance, the employer should not go into an interview with a list of ideal answers in mind. It is unlikely that any applicant would come close to providing such answers.
A better approach is to keep in mind ideal characteristics that a successful candidate would possess. See Sample Interview Questions. Questioning should elicit information that will shed light on a candidate's ability to perform the job effectively.
Many experts say it is best to ask open-ended questions "Tell me about your relationship with your previous manager; how could it have been improved? Interview for Emotional Intelligence. Open-ended questions encourage candidates to provide longer answers and to expand on their knowledge, strengths and job experiences. For interviewers, such questions can provide greater insight into a candidate's personality. They can also help employers gauge an applicant's ability to articulate his or her work experience, level of motivation, communication skills, ability to solve problems and degree of interest in the job.
Open-ended questions can provide a sense of an applicant's potential and whether the person would be a cultural fit. Following are some examples of open-ended questions:. Closed-ended job interview questions can enable the employer to receive direct responses and specific information from the candidate, and they can help the interviewer control the direction of the interview. But such questions can have drawbacks:. Along with choosing an interview approach and shaping the questions ahead of time, the interviewer should become familiar with the types of questions and statements that must be avoided in any interview.
For example, interviewers should not make statements that could be construed as creating a contract of employment. When describing the job, it is best to avoid using terms such as "permanent," "career job opportunity," or "long term. In addition, to minimize the risk of discrimination lawsuits, interviewers must familiarize themselves with topics that are not permissible as interview questions.
Provisions of various federal laws affect the types of questions that organizations may ask an applicant during an employment interview. For example, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, color, national origin and religion. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of prohibits questions about a person's age. The wide-ranging Americans with Disabilities Act of ADA protects qualified individuals with disabilities from discrimination in employment.
The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of prohibits employers from collecting and using genetic information. The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures of , though not in and of themselves legislation or law, have been given deference by the courts in litigation concerning employment issues. Questions relating either directly or indirectly to age, sex, race, color, national origin, religion, genetics or disabilities should be avoided entirely. If information needed about an applicant might fall into any of those categories, the interviewer should make sure that the question relates to a bona fide occupational qualification or is required by federal or state law to be asked.
Employers should also be aware of some of the specific prohibitions contained in the ADA. Employers may never ask if an applicant has a disability. They may ask only if there is anything that precludes the applicant from performing—with or without a reasonable accommodation—the essential functions of the position for which he or she is applying.
State laws can be broader in scope than federal laws. For example, federal law does not cover sexual orientation, but many states do. In addition , all states have enacted at least one law pertaining to employment discrimination.
Whether a particular state's law would apply to a particular organization, however, could depend on the size of its workforce. In some states, employers with just one employee are subject to the state's anti-discrimination laws. By comparison, only employers with 15 or more employees are subject to the most complex and comprehensive federal anti-discrimination laws.
Thus, in some states an employer could be exempt from a federal law yet still be subject to a similar provision under state law. It is important for interviewers to be familiar with the employment laws of the state in which they are operating and to be well versed in the federal and state legal provisions regulating the types of questions permissible in an employment interview.
Some questions that appear innocent on the surface may be considered discriminatory. The way they are phrased is key. Employers should determine in advance of the interview if the information sought by each question is really necessary for assessing an applicant's competence or qualifications for the job. Even if a particular question would not be barred under federal or state law, it should be omitted it if it is not essential.
Asking irrelevant questions may offend an applicant or damage the organization's reputation. Following are examples of questions not to ask during an employment interview:.
In addition, the interviewer should not ask questions about arrests that did not result in a conviction. Some states also prohibit employers from asking candidates about marijuana-related convictions that are two or more years old.
And employers should never ask an applicant to submit a photograph—even if the request makes clear that providing a photo is optional, not mandatory.
Interview training presentation. Guidelines on Interview and Employment Application Questions. Federal Laws Prohibiting Job Discrimination. The manner in which human resource professionals and hiring managers interview applicants can be pivotal in identifying the top candidates for a job. A successful and effective interview is one in which both the interviewer and the interviewee receive accurate information and can make informed decisions about the applicant's suitability for the job.
See Basics for Effective Interviews training presentation. The interview process can be stressful for both the interviewer and the interviewee. It is normal for an applicant to be nervous, so interviewers should try to put the person at ease from the moment he or she enters the room. By helping the interviewee feel relaxed and comfortable, the interviewer stands a better chance of obtaining a clear idea of the applicant's abilities and personality.
Before commencing with prepared questions, the interviewer could ease tensions by encouraging the applicant to talk about a particular interest—perhaps something on the person's resume. At this point the interviewer might also want to recap the position and what it entails. This can help the applicant answer questions more knowledgeably and consider again whether he or she is genuinely interested in the job.
For an interview to be as useful as possible in the employment-decision process, the interviewer must maintain complete control over the interview at all times. Establishing and maintaining control requires, in addition to good questioning techniques, effective listening skills.
Effective listening is challenging, partly because people are often more focused on what they're saying than on what they're hearing. The key for the interviewer is to speak as little as possible. One approach to effective listening is a paraphrase of the golden rule: Listen to others as you would have them listen to you. Here are some tips for listening effectively:. To gain as much information as possible from an applicant, the interviewer should create an atmosphere that promotes communication.
Following are suggestions for building rapport and fostering discussion:. Asking follow-up questions—also called probing—can be necessary when the interviewer does not fully understand a response, when answers are vague or ambiguous, or when the interviewer require more specific information from the applicant. Probing questions inviting more detail often begin with "what" or "how.
Reflection questions are designed to help the interviewer achieve a deeper understanding of the applicant's responses. Such questions rarely evoke defensiveness; applicants want the interviewer to understand their responses. Reflection questions might begin with phrases such as:.
A popular method of closing the interview is to say the interview is ending and to offer the candidate the opportunity to ask questions. This will enable the candidate to gain clarification on aspects of the position and on employment conditions such as hours, salary and benefits.
The interviewer should answer the candidate's questions as frankly as possible. If it is not an appropriate time to discuss compensation—perhaps others are present—the interviewer can suggest a follow-up discussion. Interviewers should be prepared to provide documents describing the company and its benefits. Such steps can ensure the applicant is left with a positive impression of the interviewer and the organization. After interviews, the interviewer should update the assessment grids for all active candidates.
Find resumes. Help Center. Find Jobs. Post a Job. How to Conduct a Job Interview. Post a Job Are you a job seeker? Find jobs. What is a job interview? The STAR acronym stands for: Situation: Describe the situation or challenge faced Task: Describe the individual task or requirement Action: Describe the action taken to overcome the situation or challenge Result: Describe the result or the outcome of the action taken Job candidates often use this method when you ask them behavioral interview questions.
Describe the company and the position to the interviewee Kick off the interview by introducing yourself and discussing the position with the interviewee. Explain the interview process to your interviewee Inform the candidate about what they can expect during the interview process, including its format, how many people will be interviewing them, the expected length and whether or not the company expects them to complete work-related tests or assessments.
Take notes to help you remember important information To help you make more confident and informed hiring decisions, take notes during the interview so you can remember more details later on. Give candidates the chance to ask questions Make sure you give your interviewee time to ask questions about the position, team and company.
Describe the next steps Close the interview by explaining what the candidate can expect in terms of next steps, including when they can expect to hear back from you and what the rest of the interview process might look like. How to conduct a job interview FAQs How do you start an interview?
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