SRA Update Topics

September, 1998

Use This Checklist for a Successful Interview

EVERY COMPANY CONDUCTS THEM, and every candidate endures them. We’re speaking about interviews, of course. They are the most critical part of the hiring process, and the future of both the organization and the job candidate can rest on the outcome. Yet, for all their importance, far too many interviews are cobbled together – instead of thoughtfully planned and carefully executed.

Over the past four decades, the search consultants of Sanford Rose Associates have debriefed companies and candidates on thousands upon thousands of "face-to-face" job interviews, from the almost flawless to the hopelessly flawed. During that time, some critical elements of successful interviews have emerged.

While the following checklist will not guarantee a perfect interviewing process, it may help your organization avoid a fiasco. And if we have omitted what you believe to be a crucial detail, please take the time to tell us about it.

Before the Visit

Confirm the interview date and schedule with all concerned.
Clarify the role of each individual who will participate in the interviewing process. (Ideally, they should be top performers who can help "sell" the company to the candidate.)
Have at least two back-up interviewers, in case of last-minute illness or travel.
Provide detailed information about each interviewer to your search consultant.
Designate a "Shepherd" (usually from the HR function) responsible for guiding the candidate throughout the visit and keeping everyone on time.
Confirm travel and accommodation plans with the search consultant.
Make sure the candidate has received company literature well in advance.
Likewise, distribute information about the candidate well in advance.
If the candidate will arrive the night before, decide whether he/she will be met at the airport, taken to dinner, etc.
If the candidate won’t be met, arrange for a fruit basket and/or welcome letter at the hotel. (Create a good first impression.)
Make similar plans concerning breakfast the next day, travel to your site, etc.

During the Visit

Be sure the receptionist expects the candidate.
Have the Shepherd available to greet the candidate upon arrival.
Schedule time apart from the interviewing process for the candidate to discuss benefits information with HR, complete an expense-account form and handle any other administrative matters.
Make luncheon plans. (Issues: private dining room or company cafeteria, social break or working lunch, friendly faces or interview panelists?)
Practice the Golden Rule and treat the candidate throughout the day as an honored guest.

The Interview Itself

Interviews are opportunities for companies to gain information and insight about candidates – and vice versa. That opportunity can be wasted by focusing on detail readily available from the resume itself (e.g., "What is your current position," "What were your major accomplishments," etc.), as opposed to learning what makes the candidate tick (e.g., "Tell me how you typically manage conflict").

Interviews need not be stressful, but they should create opportunities to observe job-related performance attributes. Thus, the candidate for a public relations job might be asked to write a press release about the company’s most recent earnings report, while the candidate for a general-management position with frequent Board exposure might undergo questioning by a small group of people in a conference room to test his/her persuasiveness.

And why does the candidate trudge from interview to interview throughout the day? Defenders cite the need for consensus decision-making. Detractors make subversive comments about "safety in numbers" and "no one gets all the blame." If your organization believes in interview panels, assemble one that makes sense for the open position – e.g., the hiring manager, the hiring manager’s boss, a human resources professional and two or three people from other departments who interact frequently with the position.

To gain control of the interview process:

Determine the information you want about the candidate and don’t yet have.
Assign responsibility to specific interviewers for obtaining it.
Review prohibited questions under EEO and ADA guidelines.
Structure one or two situations/assignments that allow the candidate to be observed "in action."
Ensure that the candidate has ample opportunity to ask questions, and evaluate his/her inquisitiveness and insight.
Remind all interviewers that the impressions they create will form the candidate’s impression of the company itself (warm vs. aloof, decisive vs. indecisive, dynamic vs. static, etc.).
Encourage everyone to be a "salesman" by explaining something they like about their job, the company, the community or opportunities for future growth.
Avoid exclusionary questions, such as "Why should we consider you for this position?"

Meeting Ms. or Mr. Big

Candidates for certain positions require the top person’s blessing. In these situations:

Schedule the meeting, if at all possible, for late in the day.
Just before the interview, brief the Chief on general impressions thus far – along with any key questions to ask or selling points to make.
Cancel the interview if the candidate is bombing out.

Before Departure

Keep in mind that the candidate probably has a plane to catch, which will take off at a particular time unless the company jet is standing by.
Thank the candidate for taking the time to visit you and assure him/her that they will hear from the company (or its search firm) in the very near future.
Avoid impromptu evaluations (e.g., "You’d be a real asset to our organization") and on-the-spot job offers.
Have transportation standing by.

After the Visit

Obtain everyone’s evaluations, meet (if possible) with the interview panel as a group and reach a decision. (A negative decision should remove the candidate from further consideration. A positive decision, in some cases, may await one more round of interviews or the evaluation of two or three other finalists.)
Obtain any post-interview feedback from your search consultant, along with any issues that need to be addressed (e.g., compensation, perks, title, responsibilities, etc.).
Be sensitive to particular needs, such as relocation assistance, spousal re-employment, etc.
Working closely with HR and the search consultant, construct an offer that is likely to "stick."
Extend the offer orally through the search consultant, even though the company will confirm it in writing. (This allows minor adjustments to be made before the offer is cast in concrete.)
Include any employment contract with the written offer.
Congratulate the candidate upon acceptance and thank the panel for a job well done.

If you work in a large, multi-unit organization, others – including the corporate Human Resources and MIS Departments – might appreciate copies of this issue. These can be ordered from your Sanford Rose Associates search consultant.

footer3.gif (2765 bytes)