Are You Having Cocktails or Leading an Interview?

The manager of a small business was discussing his interviewing style.  He tries to put candidates at ease by asking them where they’re from, for example, or what their family life is like. After the chitchat, he launches into a fairly extensive description of his company as well as the job. 

About fifteen minutes in, he asks questions. 

One of his favorites is to present a business scenario, then ask what the candidate would do. Follow-up questions are usually along the lines of "Where do you see yourself in five years?" Another favorite is asking how much time the candidate took off during the previous year, to help determine work ethic. 

What’s his hiring and retention success rate?

At least a third of his hires couldn’t do the job, didn’t want to do the job, or had some other issue that kept them from succeeding.

Good employees were just hard to find.

Don't want to see this happen at your company or see yourself conducting interviews the same way? Here are some tips to up the odds: 

Get back to basics

Putting candidates at ease is good, as is being curious. However, there’s a difference between an interview and a cocktail party conversation. These questions used to engage the candidate essentially have nothing to do with the job. Asking where a candidate is from could lead to a discrimination claim based on national origin, citizenship, even race, or color. Family life questions might signal a bias based on marital status or sexual orientation. Stick to the basics: a few comments about the weather or recent sports highlights can allow the candidate to settle in.

Don't Put Yourself at Risk 

Don’t ask about time off. You may find yourself hearing about someone’s medical issues. If you don’t hire the person, he could construe it as discrimination based on disability, whether real or perceived. And how would you verify what you’re told?

Focus on Listening

Use the 80/20 rule: spend 80 percent of the interview listening. Don’t spend time upfront describing your company—which ideally the candidate has researched—or the open job. The latter allows a savvy candidate to tailor answers to your questions, giving you what you want to hear, rather than what you need to know. It’s the same with “What would you do?” scenarios. You’ll find out what the person would do, rather than what she can do.

Make a Must-Have List

Determine beforehand the essential behaviors that lead to success in the job. Ask the candidate to select an incident in his life that demonstrates those behaviors. Example: “This job entails negotiating with difficult clients. Tell me about a time you did that successfully.” Then wait for the person to tell you exactly what he did and how.  The single best follow up question is, “And then what?” Other effective ones include, “Tell me what you were thinking" and “If I were a fly on the wall, what would I hear?” Don’t be afraid to interrupt and keep the candidate on track.

The key is to dig deep to get past skills and knowledge, to behaviors, character and drive. These will tell you if a candidate can and will do the job, and will help you determine fit.