How to Conduct High-Quality Interviews: Best Practices and Tips

Table of Contents

Add a header to begin generating the table of contents

Learning how to conduct high quality interviews is an integral part for hiring the best candidates possible for your business. A well-conducted, well prepared interview will help you learn more about your candidate and give your candidate an opportunity to learn more about your company.

Conducting an effective job interview that helps you hire the right candidate for your open position requires

correct understanding of the needs of the role and
a proper structure of the interview,
efficient and thorough preparation,
conducting the interview in a purposeful manner.

Here are some tips that will help you level up your interview quality and the best practices for interview structure, interview preparation and active listening for efficient recruiting.

Interview Preparation

1.Conduct proper research

It is essential to conduct research for having a well-done interview preparation. Research about the candidate that you are interviewing, the organisation they work for (if any) and the subjects that you will be discussing in the interview. This will help you prepare relevant questions, build a strong rapport/bond with the interviewee and also showcase how interested and invested you are in the interview which will lead to selecting quality employees.

2.Prepare questions

Develop a list of open ended questions. This will help and encourage the interviewee to share their thoughts, opinions and experiences in a more free manner. Moreover questions should be structured in a more logical and rational order so as to create an organic flow to the conversation. This will boost the quality of hiring and selecting of quality candidates.

3.Test your line of questioning

Make sure that you share your questions either with your recruiting team or an HR professional in order to get feedback. This will help in refining your line of questioning to ensure that they are clear and easy to comprehend.

4.For video interviews

Test your technology such as camera, microphone, internet beforehand to see if they are properly working. Make sure to choose a quiet and well-lit background for the interview and that the background is professional and free from distractions. Ensure that you have a clear connection, communicate well online and pay attention to what the interviewee has to say. This will ensure the selection of quality employees for your organisation.

During the interview

1.Build a strong rapport

Rapport building is essential for securing a quality hire. Make sure to start by introducing yourself and establishing a comfortable environment for the candidate. Allow the interviewee to share their thoughts and experiences. Make sure to give them enough time to speak and not interrupt them in their flow of thought.

2.Explain the interview process

Make sure to inform the candidate about what they can expect during the interview process. This includes its format, the number of people that will be interviewing them, information about the interviewers, expected duration of the interview. Do inform them of any work-related tests or assessments that they need to complete. Doing so will keep the interview organised, and sets clearn objectives and expectations for both the candidate and you. This will ensure a well-conducted interview and the selection of a quality candidate.

3.Active listening

Take notes if necessary, and listen attentively to the interviewee’s responses. Do not interrupt and ask follow-up questions to clarify any points that you were unable to understand only after they are done talking. Active listening is very crucial as it helps you understand the interviewee’s perspective and you can gain a deeper insight into their experiences and thoughts. Active listening is important to clarify ambiguous information, identifying key themes and ideas that emerge during the interview etc. It also shows the respect you have for the interviewees’ time and experiences. Build on your active listening skills to ensure the selection of the right candidate, and a quality hire.

4.Flexibility

Be open to making changes in the structure of the interview plan. If the candidate is talking about certain topics that seem valuable or particularly interesting, make sure to ask them to elaborate on those topics. Moreover, to conduct a good quality interview, if the conversation goes off-topic, ensure that you politely steer the conversation back to the main theme to ensure the structure of the interview is maintained.

Monitoring and tracking interview quality

Monitoring and tracking of interview quality is necessary to ensure that you are hiring the right candidates and making the most of your recruitment efforts. Here are some ways to do so:

1.Develop an interview scorecard

An interview scorecard is a tool which is used to assess the quality of every interview. It mainly includes a list of skills that are important for the job and a rating scale that allows the interviewers to rate the interviewee’s performance in each category. An interview scorecard can be used to track the quality of the interviews over time, and also help identify the areas for improvement. This can greatly help the quality of hire and ensure a good-quality interview.

2.Monitor interview performance

It is absolutely essential to monitor the interviewer’s performance to ensure high-quality interviews. This can be done by a plethora of methods. Observing interviews, reviewing interview notes and feedback as well as assessment of the interviewers’ scores on the interview scorecard. Post this, companies can provide feedback and training to help the interviewers improve their skills.

3.Seek feedback from candidates

Seeking candidate feedback on the quality of interviews can be another method. Companies can seek feedback through surveys or the recording of interviews after the completion of the interview process. This feedback can provide valuable insights into the interview process and can consequently identify areas for future improvement.

4.Analyse and track hiring outcomes

Another way to track interview quality is to analyse the hiring outcomes. Through the tracking of the performance of the hired candidates, companies can assess the efficacy of the interview process. Tracking retention rates, performance metrics and other relevant indicators.

Thus, the key to conducting high-quality interviews is to be prepared, focused and listening well. Doing the necessary research, developing relevant questions, active listening and efficient structuring of interviews can help greatly. BarRaiser is committed to providing a productive and engaging interview experience that yields valuable insights and perspectives.