Interviews can be terrifying for candidates, but they’re not always a walk in the park for employers either. There’s a definite knack to getting this right – and it’s important that you hone yours if you’re to get the best possible personnel for your organisation.
To help you along the way, we’ve identified five things that you definitely should NOT DO when you’re recruiting new staff.
1. Fail to prepare
OK, so you’ve got a million things to do and it seems impossible to set aside some time to think about your upcoming interviews. However, as wise ol’ Mr Franklin knew, by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. Simply pulling some stock questions off the web at the last minute doesn’t count either. Think carefully about what you want to know about the candidates, and how best to extract this information.
Bear in mind it often helps to have more than one person interviewing. Between you, you’re more likely to cover the relevant bases.
2. Fail to create a wish list
You might not have written a wish list since you were a child and were asking Santa for that shiny new bike. However, when you’re recruiting, it’s time to revisit this procedure. You need to know exactly what you’re looking for from prospective workers. This could include certain qualifications, experience, interests and personal qualities.
Of course, you may not find an individual who ticks all of these boxes, but it helps to have a clear ideal in mind when assessing candidates.
3. End up in court
Being dragged to court as a result of your interview process may sound a bit extreme. After all, you’re simply trying to get a new member of staff on board! However, the fact is there are strict laws in place governing the way in which employers can approach these sessions and there are certain questions that are best avoided.
As a general rule, stay away from any lines of enquiry that could be seen as discriminatory. For example, don’t ask questions about nationality, place of birth, ethnicity or religion. Also off the table are queries about marital status, children, lifestyle choices and sexuality. Meanwhile, enquiring about illness, disability, height or weight is another no no, along with questions about age.
4. Rely solely on the interview
Even though you’ve gone to the effort of setting up interviews, don’t rely solely on these meetings when assessing candidates. You may also benefit from getting prospective employees to complete tests, give presentations, solve problems or fill out interview assessment forms, such as those offered by Simply Docs.These other tasks can offer insights that it’s simply impossible to glean from interviews alone.
5. Fail to sell your company
It’s easy to forget that interviews are a two-way process. There is always a risk that, after you’ve chosen a candidate, this individual surprises you by deciding not to take the job. To minimise the risk of this happening, make sure you have a ‘sales pitch’ ready to persuade interviewees of the merits of working for you. This is especially important for roles that are difficult to fill and where employees are in high demand.