How to Create an Interview Process

Outline what a successful interview process looks like for your business and assess whether your recruitment department has the resources to achieve this. This will help measure your success in the long term and identify important areas of your interview process that may require additional attention.

Will you conduct easy-going interviews that feel like a conversation? Or will you conduct strict interviews that require a large panel?

While the type of interview you choose may depend on the position you're advertising and your recruitment budget, it's important that you determine the tone and feeling you want to create throughout the process. Your decision should be kept in mind when choosing your interview panel and interview questions.

Because every position is different, candidates won't all possess the same qualities. However, this does not mean you can't establish a bare minimum when it comes to a candidate's educational background, personality, and competencies.

Ultimately, you want to create the ideal candidate persona for each position, with clear details on the type of qualifications, personality, and expertise you want to attract.

Once you've defined your goals, you should be able to create a generic outline of your interview process. Will you require skills tests or practical assignments? Will you conduct telephone interviews or video interviews in the first round?

Weed out all the uncertainty and clearly outline the interview process that will work best for your business's goals. It's recommended that you jot down the details of your ideal interview process before setting it into motion.

To guarantee a smooth interview process, make sure your interviewers are well-prepared for the task. Before conducting official interviews, assess your interviewers' ability to identify a good fit for the company and hold a professional but comfortable conversation, and ensure that they understand the requirements and responsibilities of each position.

Interviews go both ways, which means the interviewee should walk away feeling like they were genuinely listened to and provided with all the information they need to make an informed decision.

We recommend learning more about each candidate. You can do this by going beyond their name and job title, and instead, reviewing the skills, experience, and qualifications listed on their resume.

Avoid asking standard interview questions that scratch the surface, especially if you've decided to only conduct one round of interviews. One round of interviews leaves you with limited time to gauge the extent of candidates' expertise and experience in a similar role. Therefore, you need to be thorough with your questions and tailor them to complement each position.

For instance, if you're looking to fill a managerial position, consider asking leadership interview questions to draw out candidates' managerial qualities and styles. For positions that require plenty of customer service and a large workload, you'll want to consider situational interview questions and/or stress interview questions.

While candidates may seem ideal on paper and during interviews, including an assessment can help you better identify candidates with the natural ability to fit into a role.

Consider pre-employment testing to help assess candidates' language proficiency, emotional intelligence, skills, personality, and job-related knowledge. Tailor each assessment based on the role you're trying to fill, and make sure you notify candidates that an assessment is part of your hiring process.

Systematically communicate with candidates and inform them of the next step in your hiring process. Avoid giving an exact timeline as to when you'll reach out with the final feedback because you may encounter delays or need additional time to make a decision.

However, you still want to ensure candidates are kept informed along the way. This can be done with regular updates every one to two weeks, depending on the scale of your hiring process.

Once all the interviews and assessments have been conducted, bring the interview panel together and discuss each candidate. It's a great sign when certain candidates stand out and leave a lasting impression.

But while some interviewers see a spark, others on the panel may not. By encouraging open communication, you could help identify traits other interviewers may have missed.

The interview process does not need to be a complicated and long process but it should be challenging. By becoming complacent and easing the challenges, you may find yourself overlooking top talent and employing candidates who are unable to meet the job's standards.

Look for opportunities to switch it up and introduce new techniques, questions, and/or assessments. This will help to highlight the candidates with great adaptability and ambition.