Buckingham Recruitment

Interview Agenda	Conducting an Interview – Do’s	Conducting an Interview – Don’ts
Second Interviews	Making an Offer

Interview Agenda

	Establish a rapport - explain how the interview will be conducted - 3 minutes
	Obtain details on education history, interests/hobbies/sports Extracurricular activities - 7 minutes
	Obtain details on employment history/current job - 15 minutes
	Ask structured behavioral questions which test core competencies - 10 minutes
	Determine career plans - 7 minutes
	Provide information regarding the job and organisation - 8 minutes
	Applicant’s questions - 8 minutes
	Closing the interview - 2 minutes

Conducting an Interview – Do’s

	Do seek applicant information on all the important criteria (competencies) needed for successful job performance
	Do ask behavioral experience-related questions to elicit what a candidate ACTUALLY DID. Ask for specific examples
	Do ask structured competency-based questions to ALL candidates
	Do ask follow-up, probing questions to pin down ACTUAL behavior and the outcome
	Do spend more time analysing recent experiences than earlier experiences
	Do obtain clarification if the candidate uses technical or trade jargon that you don’t understand
	Do phrase questions positively rather than negatively
	Do spend more time analysing situations most likely to show the behavior sought
	Do greet the candidate yourself (don’t get your secretary to do it)
	Do take notes
	Do sell your company - the candidate may have other positions on offer
	Do discuss salary expectations and confirm that you are comparing like with like in terms of salary packaging
	Do determine the candidate’s motivation and assess the "match" with your company’s style and culture
	Do rate candidates on each competency immediately after the interview
	Do give prompt and detailed feedback to your recruitment consultant. A professional consultant will make the difference between your offer being accepted and turned down

Conducting an Interview – Don’ts

	Don’t ask questions with complex sentence constructions
	Don’t ask direct or closed questions when a YES/NO answer is not intended
	Don’t ask questions already answered in a resume or application form
	Don’t express value judgements in questions or observations
	Don’t misinterpret data
	Don’t be affected by biases and stereotypes
	Don’t apply the halo effect
	Don’t make decisions too quickly
	Don’t be overly influenced by negative data
	Don’t ask leading questions
	Don’t ask theoretical questions
	Don’t assume the candidate wants to work for your company
	Don’t keep the candidate waiting (especially not in an open reception area, where they don’t know who might walk in!)
	Don’t talk too much - good candidates expect to have to sell themselves. Spend about 25% of the time on the job and the company - let the candidates have the balance
	Don’t introduce multiple job opportunities into one interview - it may confuse the candidate or put them off. If you think the candidate might be suitable for another position, bring this up at a later stage
	Don’t make a job offer during the first interview - making an offer is a delicate, often diplomatic procedure best handled further down the track (even better by a third party eg. a Recruitment Consultant)

A short list of candidates for a particular position should include two to four individuals and will be based on your initial interviewing and reference checking. An effective tool to assist in short listing is an initial interview summary sheet. The summary sheet lists the candidate’s skills, qualifications etc. against a list of key requirements as set out in the person specification. The summary sheet should be on one page allowing for easy comparison.

Second Interviews

Second interviews for shortlisted candidates are usually a good idea before a decision to hire is made.

	A "second opinion" from another senior person in your company may confirm your thoughts or expose weaknesses you may have missed
	The second interview allows you to explore aspects of a candidate's background that require clarification.
	The second interview gives the candidate another chance to assess his/her interest in the role and to ask questions

Making an Offer

It is usually the case that the consultant will make a verbal offer to the candidate to ensure that there are no problems or misunderstandings on behalf of either party. If the candidate accepts the offer then a formal letter or offer will be drawn up and signed by both parties. Once this has been completed we will then advise the candidate on the best way to resign from their current employer and the foolishness of accepting a counter offer. Once a start date has been confirmed we will then follow up after one and three months to ensure that both parties are happy.