How to Conduct More Effective Hiring Interviews

Sreekanth Ganeshi
2 min readJun 6, 2023

Here are research-based best practices.

· Use Structured Interviews. Asking all applicants the same series of questions allows for direct comparisons of responses. It also helps keep the interview focused and prevents it from wandering off course. A good rule-of-thumb is to think of the interview as a test — be consistent (you wouldn’t give different test questions to different students and then compare grades).

· Interview Questions Should be Job-Related. Use a detailed job description to develop job-related questions. Situational interview questions, that ask applicants how they would behave in a certain situation, are usually better than more open-ended questions — the key to all interview questions is to know what an outstanding, good, fair, and poor answer is.

· Provide Rating or Scoring of Applicant Responses. Create some sort of scoring system beforehand. This helps in comparing applicants later. It also helps you substantiate your decisions to your supervisor and Human Resources.

· Recognize and Avoid Biases. This is not easy. We are prone to all kinds of biases, and these are a particular problem in interviews, where appearance and manner can bias our evaluation of a candidate. For example, one bias is making “snap judgments” — deciding on a candidate’s suitability in the first few moments of the interview. By using structured interviews and an objective scoring system, you can avoid snap judgments. Training to avoid biases can help.

· Consider Panel Interviews. Rather than relying on one person’s judgment, a panel of interviewers allows you to compare scoring of responses across interviewers — increasing the reliability of final decisions.

· Limit Follow-Up Questions. Don’t let the interview get side tracked. Follow-up questions should be used primarily for clarity, and they should be job-related. It is important to be efficient in interviewing.

For Development: Put time and energy into the interview structure and process beforehand. Don’t “wing it.” Again, thinking of it as a test helps — a good “test” allows you to determine who the “A” candidates are.

--

--

Sreekanth Ganeshi
Sreekanth Ganeshi

Written by Sreekanth Ganeshi

I am a leadership expert and author of 11+ books, dedicated to empowering and inspiring future leaders through mentorship. Books Link: https://rxe.me/C4B7RJ

No responses yet