The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Better Interviewer

Interviews play a crucial role in the hiring process, allowing recruiters to gauge a candidate’s skills, experience, and suitability for the role. Likewise, candidates use interviews to learn about the company and determine if it aligns with its goals. However, mastering the art of interviewing can be challenging. 

But let’s face it: interviews can be tricky. That’s why understanding different interview styles and formats can make you a better interviewer or interviewee. Let’s break it down.

Also Read: What is AI Recruitment:  A Complete Guide

What Are The Different Interview Styles?

Choosing the right interview style is crucial, impacting the candidate’s experience and the hiring process. Here are the main styles with their advantages as part of this guide to better interviewer: 

Conversational Interview

This style aims to create a relaxed and informal setting, fostering open communication between the interviewer and the candidate. By encouraging a casual dialogue, recruiters can gain valuable insights into the candidate’s personality, communication style, and cultural fit within the organization. However, while conversational interviews provide a glimpse into the candidate’s character, they may not always yield structured responses or reliable predictors of job performance. Therefore, they are often best suited for roles where assessing cultural fit and interpersonal skills is paramount, such as customer-facing positions or team-oriented roles.

For example, when hiring a retail associate, conversational interviews can help assess how well they’ll connect with customers. Imagine interviewing for a coffee shop job. You might ask, “Tell me about your favorite coffee experience.” This helps you see if they’re passionate and personable.

Behavioral Interview

Behavioral interviewing focuses on eliciting specific examples of past behavior to gauge how candidates have handled various situations in the past. By probing into concrete instances from their professional or academic experiences, recruiters can assess the candidate’s problem-solving abilities, decision-making skills, and alignment with the organization’s values. This structured approach allows for a more systematic evaluation of candidates and can provide valuable insights into their potential performance in the role. Behavioral interviews are particularly effective for roles that require specific competencies or behavioral traits, such as leadership positions or roles requiring strong problem-solving skills.

In a nut shell, candidates share real-life examples from their past. This helps predict how they’ll handle situations in the future. For instance, recruiters might ask, “Tell me about a time you solved a big problem at work.” A report published by Society for human resource management states that Behavioral interviews improve hiring accuracy by 55% compared to unstructured methods.

Also Read: How AI-Powered Tech Can Help Recruiters And Hiring Managers Find Candidates Quicker And More Efficiently

Direct Interview

In a direct interview, recruiters follow a predefined set of questions, ensuring consistency and standardization across candidate evaluations. This approach allows for a focused exploration of key competencies, experiences, and qualifications relevant to the role. While direct interviews help ensure that all candidates are assessed against the same criteria, they can sometimes feel rigid or formulaic, potentially hindering the natural flow of conversation. To mitigate this, interviewers should strive to maintain a balance between adherence to the interview script and flexibility to explore relevant topics as they arise.

Direct interviews are commonly used for roles where specific technical skills or qualifications are paramount, such as technical positions or specialized roles requiring industry-specific expertise. For example, IT jobs often use direct interviews to assess technical knowledge, like asking, “What is the difference between HTTP and HTTPS?

Structured Interview

Structured interviews involve asking questions from a predetermined set, often tailored to the specific requirements of the role. This method promotes consistency, objectivity, and fairness in candidate evaluations, as all candidates are assessed against the same criteria. By establishing clear evaluation criteria and a standardized grading scale, recruiters can compare candidates more effectively and make data-driven hiring decisions. Structured interviews are particularly beneficial for high-volume hiring or roles where multiple candidates need to be evaluated systematically. Additionally, they help minimize the influence of unconscious bias and ensure that hiring decisions are based on merit and job-related criteria.

For example, Instead of just asking, “What’s your greatest strength?”, a structured interview might ask, “Describe how your leadership skills helped your team achieve a specific goal.”

Also Read: Complete Guide To Job Description

What Are The Different Interview Formats? 

Apart from the different interview styles, now in this guide to better interviewer let’s explore the interview formats that can be employed in the hiring process:

Technical Interviews

These structured assessments are tailored to evaluate a candidate’s technical skills and expertise relevant to the role they’re applying for. By focusing on specific technical competencies, such as coding abilities or industry-specific knowledge, technical interviews provide valuable insights into a candidate’s capabilities. Conducting these interviews effectively ensures fair and unbiased evaluations, contributing to the selection of candidates who possess the required technical proficiency.

For example, coding interviews at companies like Amazon might require solving algorithms on a whiteboard.

Informational Interviews

Unlike traditional interviews, informational interviews serve as opportunities for candidates to gather insights and advice from professionals in their desired field. These discussions allow candidates to gain a better understanding of the industry landscape, company culture, and job requirements. For candidates, informational interviews offer valuable networking opportunities and can help them make more informed decisions about their career paths.

Here, candidates talk to industry professionals to learn about a field. It’s more about exploration than hiring. For instance, a college student interested in journalism might interview a reporter to understand the job.

Also Read: Importance of Soft Skills in Hiring

Face-to-Face Interviews

In-person interviews remain a staple in the hiring process due to their effectiveness in building rapport and establishing a personal connection between recruiters and candidates. Face-to-face interactions allow recruiters to assess not only a candidate’s qualifications but also their interpersonal skills and cultural fit within the organization. These interviews are particularly beneficial for roles where strong communication and interpersonal abilities are essential.

In-person meetings build rapport and allow recruiters to pick up on body language. For example, hospitality roles often require face-to-face interviews to evaluate a candidate’s warmth and communication skills.

Group Interviews

Group interviews involve evaluating multiple candidates simultaneously, providing recruiters with insights into a candidate’s ability to collaborate, communicate, and work effectively in a team setting. By observing candidate’s interactions with each other, recruiters can assess their leadership potential, problem-solving skills, and interpersonal dynamics. Group interviews are especially useful for roles that require strong teamwork and collaboration, such as project management or sales positions. For example, a group interview for a sales job might include a team problem-solving exercise.

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Panel Interviews

Panel interviews involve multiple interviewers from different departments or levels of the organization, offering diverse perspectives on a candidate’s qualifications and fit for the role. This format ensures thorough evaluations and helps mitigate individual biases by incorporating input from multiple stakeholders. Panel interviews are effective in assessing candidate’s suitability for roles that require cross-functional collaboration or interaction with various stakeholders.

Remote Interviews

According to a report published by Harvard business review, Panel interviews reduce bias and increase hiring accuracy by 20%. With advancements in technology, remote interviews conducted via phone or video conferencing have become increasingly common. These interviews offer convenience and flexibility for both recruiters and candidates, allowing them to connect from anywhere in the world. Remote interviews save time and resources by eliminating the need for travel and can accommodate candidates with busy schedules or those located in different geographic regions. For instance, a panel for a marketing manager might include HR, the department head, and a team member.

Also Read: How AI in HR helps in recruitment

Asynchronous Interviews

Asynchronous interviews involve candidates responding to pre-recorded or written questions at their convenience. This format streamlines the hiring process by allowing recruiters to assess candidates asynchronously, without the need for real-time interaction. While asynchronous interviews offer flexibility and convenience, they may lack the personal connection and rapport-building opportunities of traditional interviews.

Candidates answer pre-recorded questions at their own pace. It’s great for high-volume hiring. For instance, a retail chain might use this to screen hundreds of candidates quickly.

What Interview Techniques And Strategies Can You Employ?

Here are some interview strategies and techniques that a hiring manager can use to conduct effective interviews and make informed hiring decisions:

Build Rapport

Establishing rapport with the candidate and creating a comfortable environment can greatly contribute to their ease and confidence during the interview. When candidates feel at ease, they are more likely to provide honest and insightful responses, offering you a better understanding of their background and experience. Building rapport doesn’t require elaborate gestures; simple acts like exchanging pleasantries and using friendly verbal and non-verbal cues can go a long way in fostering a positive connection. Start with small talk to put the candidate at ease. For example, ask, “How was your commute?” or comment on shared interests.

Also Read: What is Diversity in the Workplace?

Listen to the Candidate’s Answers

While effective communication skills are important for interviewers, listening skills are equally crucial. Actively listening to candidate’s responses allows you to fully grasp their insights and perspectives. Failure to listen attentively can result in missed opportunities to ask relevant follow-up questions or provide appropriate responses.

Moreover, appearing disinterested or detached during the interview can leave a negative impression on the candidate. Therefore, as an interviewer, it’s essential to hone your active listening skills and apply them consistently throughout the interview process. For example, if they mention leading a project, you can ask, “What challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them?”

Also Read: How Job Descriptions Improve Your Interview Process?

Get Multiple Perspectives

Panel interviewing offers a valuable approach to evaluating candidates by incorporating diverse perspectives. By involving multiple interviewers, you can gain a more comprehensive understanding of the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, a diverse panel helps mitigate individual hiring biases and ensures that the selection process is based solely on talent and merit.

Collaborating with colleagues from various backgrounds and expertise areas can enrich the evaluation process and lead to more informed and quality hiring decisions. For instance, a tech company might include a product manager, engineer, and HR representative to assess different aspects of the candidate’s fit.

Also Read: How AI-Driven Interview Co-Pilot is Next Big Thing For Job Interviews

How To Become A Better Interviewer With BarRaiser? 

BarRaiser offers a cutting-edge solution to enhance interviewer and recruiter skills through AI-based training. Here’s why BarRaiser stands out:

Interview Coaching Snippets

BarRaiser’s standout feature is its ability to record interview sessions and share specific segments for feedback. This collaborative approach enables the HR recruiter and interviewers to learn from each other’s experiences, leading to more insightful evaluations and faster decision-making in the hiring process. For example, if an interviewer dominates the conversation, they’ll get feedback to encourage more candidate input.

Interviewer Quality Report

Gain valuable insights into interviewer performance with BarRaiser’s AI-generated quality reports. These comprehensive assessments analyze various aspects of the interview process and provide detailed feedback to help interviewers improve their skills over time. By tracking metrics and trends, hiring managers can identify areas for growth and offer targeted guidance to their teams. For instance, if feedback shows interviews lack structure, BarRaiser suggests improvements.

Also Read: Step by Step Guide to Write an Effective Job Description

Live Interview Guidance

BarRaiser’s AI-powered interview co-pilot offers real-time support to interviewers during interviews. From suggesting prompts to guiding on handling prolonged pauses, this tool ensures smoother interactions with candidates and encourages interviewers to provide timely feedback on each question answered. This live assistance enhances the overall interview experience for both interviewers and candidates.

Structured Interview Training

BarRaiser’s structured interview tool helps streamline the interview process by organizing questionnaires and timelines. By ensuring that all relevant topics are covered and nothing is overlooked, this structured approach not only improves interview efficiency but also serves as a valuable training tool for interviewers. With a clear framework in place, interviewers can stay focused and confident throughout the interview process.

Also Read: Benefits of Diversity in the Workplace

Conclusion 

In conclusion, effective interviewing is vital for successful hiring outcomes, and investing in interviewer training can greatly improve candidate evaluations and streamline the hiring process. By utilizing innovative techniques and adhering to best practices, recruiters and hiring managers can ensure informed decisions that align with organizational goals.