DIG DEEPER DURING INTERVIEWS
Published on 8 Sep 2005 at 12:20 pm.
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DEEP DEEPER DURING INTERVIEWS
The new recruiters in my office have been asking me, why I seem to pull things out of candidates that they miss. In the past two weeks I’ve been critiquing my own interviews and as a result, want to share the following advice.
When you interview a candidate ask them your initial question. After you listen to their answer ask them questions that will give additional information.
1. The reason they feel that way
2. An additional answer to the same question
3. A specific example
Most candidates know how to answer an initial interview question. When you dig deeper, you will often discover their knowledge and/or expertise is more “surface” than “deep”. The more you learn to clarify their answers, they better you can orchestrate an appropriate match.
After this answer, you then pre-close to make sure you understood what they said. For example: If someone tells you “I’m looking for advancement”. Once you clarify their definition of “advancement” you then pre-close this candidate. “So, what you’re asking me to do is find you a job you can grow in to vs. grow out of, is that correct?” Now you are both on the same page.
When you ask more specific questions, you are also preparing them for a future interview with your clients. Make sure you also ask for their accomplishments, “what sets them apart from the person who had their job before them?” This is a great technique to “sell” the candidate to your clients and book send outs!
