Hiring Step 11: Interview Candidates

Principle:

We must get a sense of the candidates’ personality and test the skills and experience listed on each candidate’s CV.

How to Do This:

After you’ve tested and come up with your three to four final candidates, you will start interviewing them.   In an emergency situation you can to do the interviews on the same day as the test.

    1. Use the criteria you set up at the beginning of the process to prepare a list of interview questions. (We’ve attached some Interview Question Examples you can pick from).  Review the list of Interview Cautions to consider when preparing the questions.  You will ask each candidate the same questions. Each interview should be as similar to the others as possible to avoid bias.  
      1. Start with “knock out” questions.  If applicants do not answer these questions well (if they are inconsistent or insincere, seem to not be a fit with CRS, or seem to be inflexible about demanding far too high a salary), try to end the interview gracefully but quickly.  Don’t waste more time.  Questions can include:
        1. Why are you interested in this position?
        2. What do you know about CRS, and why are you interested in working for CRS?
        3. What are your salary requirements?   
      2. The rest of the questions should be aimed at assessing the qualities you prioritized, the candidate’s interpersonal skills, and his or her technical experience.
    2. Put the questions into a Interview Form Template and give a copy of the form to each interviewer.  An Interview Form Example can be found here.  
    3. Schedule the interviews for when all the hiring committee members can be there. Try to have everyone in the same room at the same time rather than having one committee member interview a candidate and then another committee member. In addition to saving valuable time, having everyone hear the same answers at the same time helps keep the process transparent.  Interview Dos and Don’ts can be found here.
    4. Before you begin the interviews, decide:
      1. Who will lead the interview (welcome the candidate, do introductions), and
      2. Who will ask which questions. (Each interviewer should ask some of the questions.)
    5. At the end of each interview, each committee member should use the Candidate Evaluation Sheet to evaluate the candidate.

Attachments:

    1. Interview Question Examples
    2. Interview Form Template
    3. Interview Form Example
    4. Interview Dos and Don’ts
    5. Interview Cautions
    6. Candidate Evaluation Sheet

Next Step:

Step 12:  Evaluate the candidates and make a decision.