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Employers are always looking for ways to create a better, more effective interviewing process. You can have a great sourcing platform and applicant tracking system, but the interview largely helps determine which candidate you hire, so you need to make sure you’re nailing it. Looking for specifics to improve your interviewing process? We have a few suggestions.
Train the Interviewer
Interviewing candidates to determine fit isn’t necessarily an innate ability. Especially for hiring managers new to interviewing, you may need to train your team to conduct more thorough interviews. Weeding out candidates who don’t fit the position or the culture is imperative, and often where poor hiring decisions are made. A recent survey by Leadership IQ found that 82% of managers said that in hindsight, there were signs during the interviewing process that an employee was going to be trouble.
What can managers do to help? They can help their hiring team focus on emotional intelligence over technical know-how. Mark Murphy (@LeadershipIQ) CEO of Leadership IQ, explains.
"The typical job interview process fixates on ensuring that new hires are technically competent. But coachability, emotional intelligence, motivation and temperament are much more predictive of a new hire’s success or failure. Do technical skills really matter if the employee isn’t open to improving, alienates their coworkers, lacks emotional intelligence and has the wrong personality for the job?"
See what advice @LeadershipIQ gives on helping your hiring team focus on the right candidate qualities!
Introduce Video Interviews
In a situation where a face-to-face interview is impractical, whether it’s for remote work or an out of town candidate, it’s time to start using video interviewing. It removes any need to travel for an interview, either on your end or for the candidate. More than 60% of hiring managers and recruiters use video interviews to hire employees for remote positions, making it one of the most consistent and reliable ways to talk to candidates who can’t be physically present.
Of course, there’s always the phone interview. However, keep in mind 47% of candidates who’ve gone through at least one video interview prefer it to phone interviews. Although some candidates might have some trepidation towards the technology, the results will be better, more personal interviews.
More than 60% of hiring managers and recruiters use video interviews to hire for remote positions.
Provide More Feedback
After you’ve met with the candidate, the interview process isn’t over. You have to reach out to both accepted and rejected candidates afterwards to give and ask for feedback. Both groups want to hear back from you, but unfortunately, just over half (52%) of managers respond to fewer than half the candidates, for the following reasons:
● 32% of managers don’t think they need to respond to everyone who applies to their jobs.
● 29% of managers say there are too many candidates to respond to.
● 18% of managers say they don’t have enough time to respond to every candidate who applies.
● 10% of managers say they don’t respond to every candidate who applies because it’s not company policy.
Regardless of why you’re not responding, it can damage your employer brand and your consumer brand, since 69% of candidates say they’re less likely to buy from a company after a poor interview experience. Make an effort to contact everyone you interview; the worst thing you can do to a candidate you’ve interviewed is leave them guessing.
There’s always something you can do to make the interview process better, whether it’s helping your hiring team conduct better interviews, introducing more remote interviewing solutions, or giving candidates more information about their status afterward. When you put these fixes in place, your interview process will go from “good” to “great” in no time.
There’s something to be said for a personal touch during the hiring process. Learn more about ClearCompany’s video interviewing solution to see how we can augment your interview!
