Similar to large organizations, many small business owners are also seeking talent. In today’s tight labor market, one of the key ways business owners can succeed in finding qualified candidates is through preparation. The interviewing process allows you to prepare for your future employees and portrays your company as “the place to work.”

Tips to Follow When Interviewing

Effective interview tips for employers can focus on a wide range of factors. These tips below will help you land your next ideal addition to your staff.

Utilize the STAR interviewing technique

Asking “yes” and “no” questions often provide little value. A better questioning technique is asking open-ended questions. However, to learn how your candidate acts within circumstances is to employ the Situation, Task, Action, Result (STAR) interviewing technique. To take advantage of this method, you go through each of the four areas learning additional details about a situation. For example:

1. Start by asking the candidate to describe a situation in which they demonstrated a specific behavior or key competency that you require. (S – Situation)
2. Then, ask the interviewee to detail the specific task(s) to be achieved within the identified situation. (T – Task)
3. Next, ask the applicant to convey their precise actions regarding the stated tasks. (A – Action)
4. Finally, ask the candidate to define the results or outcomes triggered by their actions within the broader context. (R – Result)

While the questions can be adapted to your situation, and you may not need both tasks and actions, you can see how employing this method of interviewing helps the candidate provide relevant information to aid in the hiring decision. The STAR method is an effective way to engage in questions that offer a more in-depth view of the abilities and experiences of the applicant.

Ask the Same Questions

Asking the same questions during each job interview allows you to gather information uniformly and makes evaluating potential candidates for a position much more manageable. In addition, it allows for a more accurate comparison of the answers received during the interviewing process.  

Interview for Emotional Intelligence

Today, more organizations seek candidates with high emotional intelligence and the ability to perceive, use, understand, manage, and handle emotions. In addition, emotional intelligence is essential to working well with fellow employees and interacting with customers, suppliers, and others.

Examples of questions related to emotional intelligence are:

• How do you deal with stress and pressure?
• How do you handle a situation where everything seems to have gone wrong?
• How comfortable are you asking for help?

Answers to these questions can tell you much about a person and their potential fit with your company’s culture.

Keep Detailed Notes

It can be challenging to remember who provided a specific answer when interviewing multiple applicants. While interviewing, you process information through various senses, and specific information can be hard to recall accurately. Evaluating each interview should not be based on memory alone. Take notes during the interview, brief notes to identify key facts to jog your memory later.