Interviewing Skills for the Non-HR Supervisor

Jennifer Fisher Graduate Retention Program Manager

Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce

Different types of interviews

How to conduct a good interview to get the right candidate

Questions to ask college students with limited experience

Take time to review the candidates resume and cover letter right before the interview

Have a list of questions you can ask

Have the job description in front of you

Be prepared to answer the candidates questions

Leave yourself plenty of time for the interview and to take notes (1 hour)

Have a score card to keep your evaluation of each candidate consistent and fair

Different Types of Interviews

Phone Interviews

• Great alternative to candidates who can’t come in for an interview.

• Allows you to pre-screen candidates and reduce your pool of candidates.

• Should be conducted the same as an in-person interview.

• Make sure that you are in a quiet and interruption free environment to conduct the interview.

• Best to do over landline to avoid cell phone signal problems.

In-Person Interviews

• Gives you an opportunity to meet the candidate and see their professionalism in person.

• Should be conducted in a quiet and interruption free environment (consider a conference room away from your office or normal work area)

• If you have pre-screened candidates by phone, an in-person interview can be the next step and give you a chance to give a tour of the work area.

• Can be conducted by one person or a group of employees.

Skype Interviews

• Done online and provides video feed of both the candidate and the interviewer.

• Must have a good connection on both ends for it to work well.

• Allows you to interact with the candidate and see their professional appearance.

• Can be a great alternative for candidates who cannot come onsite for an interview.

What to Ask

• Open-ended questions that allow the candidate to talk.

• Avoid the dreaded, “So tell me about yourself” question. There are other ways to get the candidate to open up and talk.

• Behavioral style questions can help you understand a candidates past behavior: (Tell me about a time when you were working together with a team. What role did you have on the team?)

• Refer to sheet of questions. Come up with your own.

• Remember, you’re talking to a student who may not have a lot of experience. You’re looking for trainability and work ethic, not necessarily job knowledge.

Definite Don’ts• Don’t make assumptions about the candidate before the

interview has started.

• Don’t be late. Start the interview at the scheduled time.

• Don’t allow interruptions once the interview has started.

• Don’t spend the whole interview talking.

• Don’t leave the interview open-ended. Give the candidate a timeline of when you plan to make a decision and tell them how you’ll follow up.

• Don’t stray too far from your questions or the reason the candidates

Tips

Good Example of a Bad Interviewer

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PMv4vtX4_A&feature=related

Jennifer Fisher, Program ManagerGraduate Retention Program

Thank You!!!