Do not accept phone calls or allow any other interruptions during the interview. Surprisingly, ignoring this one rule ranks among the leaders in reasons for turn downs. Candidates equate chaotic interviews to also mean a chaotic, unprofessional work environment!

Individuals change jobs for many reasons. Before the phone screen or face to face interview make sure you know the specific reason(s) causing them to want to change jobs, and make sure to explain how coming to work for you will correct the problem(s). (You can't turn down a person that has no intention of accepting an offer!) Remember that the candidate is also interviewing you and your staff. Be enthusiastic and sell the opportunity at all times.

Answer all questions in an honest, open, straightforward manner.

Make sure you are time sensitive during all of the dealings with the candidate. If you tell them something will be done by a certain date either make sure you meet the commitment or personally contact the candidate and explain why you will not be able to do so.

Any written material you can get about your firm, benefits, and location should be given to the candidate. (People like to buy things they can touch!)

If a recruiter is involved, take the time to educate them about your firm, the department the candidate will be working in and your specific needs and goals so they can communicate the highlights to the candidate.

Be prepared for the interview by having any information you might need in front of you. We suggest that in addition to a scratch pad, to take notes, you have:

A couple of words about your interaction and working with a recruiter.

Increase Your Ratio Of Interviews To Hires
One of our clients told us that he had been getting an unusually high percentage of turndowns. He remarked that almost every rejection had come as a surprise because in most cases he had offered the dollar amount the candidate said they were looking for.

He was disturbed by the fact that he was not getting the people he wanted on a timely basis, he was not getting his first choices, and he also realized that every turndown meant all the time spent with the candidate was unproductive. Since he still had several open positions, something had to be done.

The candidates he had talked to came through his personnel department (including advertising and employee referrals) and from other sources such as recruiting firms and employment agencies. He had already determined that the percentage of turndowns was fairly consistent no matter what the source of candidates had been with the exception of a few recruiting firms that were responsible for a 100% acceptance ratio! As one of those firms, we became the logical choice to review their hiring process.

We started our investigation by having them walk us through each phase of the interview process. Although we were able to make some suggestions regarding fine tuning, nothing they were doing (or not doing) was important enough to create a poor acceptance ratio. Their routine was well thought out and consistently followed.

The client gave us the names of all of the people who had turned down the offers so we could contact them. As we spoke to each one it did not take very long to see the problem. Our client and his staff had never tried to find out, prior to meeting with the candidate, what the candidate was trying to accomplish by changing jobs.

Although they all felt that our client's interviewing process was conducted very professionally and that they had been given enough information to make a decision, most of them did not consider our client's firm or opening their first choice! When they got a offer from what they thought was a better situation for them they accepted the other offer. Based upon what they told us were there reason(s) for changing jobs, as it turns out, in almost every case, our client's position would have been the best one for them after all. Frankly the client had given them so much information they could not filter out what was important and what was not.

In almost every case where the candidate had accepted our client's offer they had been told by the recruiter they were working with how the client's job addressed the needs they had indicated had been the motivation for them to change jobs. Moreover, they had all been told by the recruiter before the interview what kind of questions to ask to determine if this firms fit their need and they had all come into the interview prepared to ask those questions!

My intent is not to extol the virtues of recruiting firms, but to point out that although the client's interviewing process covered every topic, it did not accomplish all that was necessary. No one ever gave the candidate a reason to want the job above all others.

Prior to meeting with the candidate, you should talk with the person that referred them to you and make sure you know what the person is looking for in a new job. Keep in mind that most people change jobs for a professional, not personal reasons, and you MUST know the reason(s) before going any further. If you can't satisfy those needs with your job, you should not be wasting your time meeting with the candidate. History shows that the eventual outcome will be a turndown or a resignation a few months later. However, if you can satisfy the candidate's needs, make sure you address all of those needs before the end of the interview.

A job interview is a two way street where both the interviewer and the candidate gather information. Making the decision that the person you are meeting with has all of the qualifications to fill the job will do you no good if the candidate leaves the meeting without being convinced that they want the job. Recruiters call it "selling the job", however, no selling is really involved. It is simply knowing or finding out what the person is trying to accomplish by changing jobs, determining if your position will fill those needs, and if it does making sure the candidate is aware that your job fills those needs.

QUESTIONS TO DETERMINE THE CANDIDATES NEEDS

Over the years, we have developed and use a series of questions which help us reveal the true nature of a candidate, these include:

When trying to determine what questions the candidate might like answers to, consider the following. Although you should tailor the areas you discuss to fit the situation, the following questions are representative of those candidates ask us most often. You may want to incorporate them into your presentation.