Interview Tips for Employers
Guest speaker Megan Ahn discusses strategies that will help you conduct better interviews to really put you in the driver’s seat, which is vital for building the best team possible for your business. In the second part of the lesson she discusses how to create the ultimately resume that will deliver in terms of creating interest and getting interviews. And in the last part, the business expert touches on some secrets for hiring managers to attract the most qualified applicants out there.
Transcript of the Video (until 4:13)
Remember how I talked about show up on time? Well, if you’re going to interview somebody you never know when that person walks through the door if that could be the person you want to hire because you’re interviewing a bunch of people. If it is the person that you want to hire– let’s say you interview people and this person is out of this world – you have the ability to be in control of who you’re going to attract, and do the best you can. So be prepared for the person when you’re going to interview them.
Make sure that you’ve read their resume and that you’re pretty clear about their background, and that you’re ready and prepared for them when they come in because you want to make the best impression you can on every candidate. If the candidate comes in and they’re not prepared; it’s not somebody that you think has the skill sets you’re looking for – you have control of wrapping up that interview pretty quickly and getting them on their merry way.
But if it’s a candidate that is phenomenal, you’re going to be so happy that when they came in you made a great first impression. You welcomed them, you were prepared, you read the resume, you had good questions to ask them; because when you’re looking at attracting the top talent, the top talent gets multiple offers. They do. I don’t care what kind of market it is out there; things will get competitive. And when companies are looking to hire and ramp up, they are looking for that phenomenal talent. And you want to try to attract it – you better give them the best first impression you can. You have no down side.
The worst case scenario is you wrap up early and you send them on their way if they’re not great. The best case scenario is you’ve made a fabulous first impression, and maybe they get multiple offers and they don’t take your job offer, but you know what they had great experience when they showed up at your company. So let’s say their job doesn’t come back and they call you 6 months later and say, “Gosh, I interviewed with you and I don’t know, I made the wrong choice.” You may get that top talent back as well. So think about being prepared when they come to meet with you.
This is one of the biggest mistakes people make when they go to hire somebody: they said they like them first. [Laughter] You know, they come in and they chat with them; they just chat, and they don’t focus on, “I need to have this accomplished, I need to put together a team and one of the people on the team needs to do this for me.”Know what you need to have accomplished when you’re hiring. Know that you are looking for someone who’s going to be enthusiastic, passionate, has the skill sets to do what you need to have accomplished.
If that’s being a janitor, figure out: does this person really want to be a janitor? Are they going to be here on time? Are they going to do a great job? If this is somebody who is going to manage your recruiting department, do they want to manage people and recruit for you? Think about what you need to have accomplished. If it’s a salesperson, are they going to make the numbers? Have they ever made numbers before? Have they ever brought business in before? You really want to focus on what it is that you need to have accomplished so that when you interview the person, you are spending time talking to them and finding out: do they have the skill set that I need to have this job done? I don’t need to have him be my best friend, and I don’t need to have him be my next-door neighbor. But if I need somebody to come in there and make sure that the restrooms are clean and the doors are locked, I need to have that done. If I need a salesperson who’s going to bring in business and is going to be ethical and loyal and attract the clientele; I need to focus on somebody who’s already done that and has that skill set and wants t do it.
That’s the other big thing when you interview. Resumes are historic documents. When you interview real live people, they have stories, they have new MBAs, they have passions, they have new careers, and they have things going on inside of their minds that are not on that piece of paper. So when you get to know them and you’re looking for putting together that team, you are learning about what passion they have, what do they have to offer what can I maybe do for them that might enable them to reach their goals and I’ll still get the best candidate over here to get what I need to have done. So think about: where are they today?
