How to choose the best employee from those who come for an interview.

As any worker wants to find Good work, and any employer wants to hire qualified, responsible and motivated employees. And this is not surprising, because the staff is the "face" of the company. Businesses can thrive, or they can die because of employees.

In large firms, specially trained people - personnel officers - are usually engaged in the selection of personnel. Some firms turn to recruitment agencies. But not everyone has the opportunity to hire a personnel officer or contact such an agency. So, novice businessmen (however, like some experienced managers) prefer to select staff on their own. If you are one of them, then you first need to know how to choose the right employees.

Vacancy description

First of all, you should have a clear idea in your head about what kind of person you need. Requirements should always be specific and complete. Based on them, you will write a job description. If the requirements are formulated incorrectly, then a huge flow of people will contact you, from which it will be difficult to select the most worthy candidates.

When describing a vacancy, you should not focus only on the desired personal qualities, education and work experience. You must also indicate what duties the employee will perform in this position. This will help to avoid unpleasant misunderstandings when, already at the interview stage, the candidate suddenly announces that he was actually thinking about other duties, so the job does not suit him. By specifying specific responsibilities, you save yours and others' time and nerves.

Here is the basic information that should be included in the job description:

  • Job title;
  • Salary (it is advisable to specify a specific one, since candidates trust companies less where “negotiable salary” is indicated);
  • The address of the organization (this is quite important, since the proximity of work to home often matters to people);
  • Requirements for the candidate (education, work experience, knowledge of languages);
  • Job responsibilities;
  • Other information (for example, operating hours).

The vacancy must have something to hook job seekers of people. To do this, you can specify in the description about the possibilities career development, premiums. Just do not lie in the job description - at best, a person will understand this at an interview, and at worst - having already started working. And he will leave you very quickly, and you will have to look for an employee again.

Selecting a search method

There are several ways to find employees today. One of them is a search through acquaintances. But here you need to be careful: it’s not a fact that a friend doesn’t decide to just make friends close person, "attach" it. As a result, this person may not be qualified at all.

The most popular today is the placement of vacancies on the Internet on specialized sites. This is quite effective, since most able-bodied people look for work there. On the contrary, newspapers as an opportunity to find an employee are gradually losing their significance. Thanks to advertisements in newspapers, you can find, perhaps, people of working specialties, people of age.

Another way to find employees is to search through social networks. Nowadays, information in them spreads very quickly, and there are a lot of users in them. This means that it is possible to find the right person. This search method is very popular in the West, but it is also beginning to be used in our country.

Job fairs can also be effective as a recruiting tool. However, they have one big minus - they do not take place so often, 2-4 times a year.

If you need a student studying in a particular specialty, it makes sense to hang ads in higher education institutions.

Almost all job sites contain a resume database. Some of them charge employers to view resumes. But, by the way, you can get by with free options - there are also plenty of resumes for them. You can view them, and call the candidates you like for an interview.

Resume Analysis

Suppose you posted a job on the site, and now you have already received several dozen resumes. It's time to start analyzing them, and you need to do this very carefully so as not to waste time on unsuitable candidates in the future.

A summary can tell you a lot. Let's give examples. So, a structured and well-written resume already distinguishes a person. Nowadays, not everyone is able to write without errors and present information logically.

If the candidate indicates “any” as the desired position, or lists everything in a row, then this should repel the employer. Most likely, the person himself does not know what he wants. If a official duties are not written at all or are described in one phrase, then this should alert. It is impossible to understand what such a candidate can do. And if he did not bother to indicate this in his resume, it is hardly worth spending time on it.

Interview

The last stage of recruitment is the interview. The first step is to pay attention to the punctuality of the candidate: if he was late for an hour or two, without even warning about being late, this leads to certain thoughts. Appearance is also important. After all, as they say, they are met by clothes. Untidy appearance will talk about the candidate's disregard: he, in general, does not care if he gets this job or not. Because any adequate person will try to look good at the interview.

What questions to ask the candidate depends on the wishes of the interviewer. But be sure to ask about the reasons for leaving previous jobs. This is a common question, but almost no employer expects to hear the honest truth when answering it. This is a test check. The person who starts talking about how terrible it was there is unlikely to suit you. He is not tactful, and does not understand what it would be more appropriate to say about something neutral like a lack of prospects. To understand if the candidate has not lied about his work experience, try to ask deeper questions about this topic. You need someone who can easily describe their functionality.

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Recruitment is one of the main responsibilities of HR managers. Making the right choice can help increase productivity, profits, and employee morale.

The wrong choice usually results in a high turnover of staff or insufficient competence of employees. If you have chosen the wrong person, then you will again have to spend money on recruiting new people. This can significantly increase the costs of any organization.

In this article, we will look at some practical steps to help you interview and select the best candidates. The hiring process is not limited to interviewing all applicants and choosing the most suitable one. This is a complex case and the interview is only one of its components.

Here are ten tips to help you make better recruiting choices.

1. Be clear about what you need

You need to start with a detailed description of the vacancy for which you are looking for a person. If you don't have suitable descriptions, you must make a list of duties and requirements associated with it.

It is very important to understand what the job is. When you choose, the task is not only the personal qualities of the person who came to the interview, but the degree of his compliance with the vacancy.

Well-written descriptions will help you recruit the right people.

2. Look for the best

The right person can be found through acquaintances, the Internet, referrals from other companies, recruitment agencies and ads. Depending on the size of your company and its needs, you can choose one or another type of search.

For many the best way find new employees are recommendations. This is a guarantee that you will find someone with experience without spending a lot of money. However, ads remain the most popular way to find candidates. To avoid having to look through hundreds of resumes, write clear and specific job ads. This will not only weed out extra people but will make your job much easier.

3. Prepare for the interview

After selecting a resume, you need to match them with the job description in order to weed out unnecessary people again. Review resumes you like again. Make notes if necessary.

It's a good idea to prepare the questions you want to ask candidates ahead of time. Ask job-specific questions to test applicants for specific knowledge. Try not to talk to them about things like race, age, social status, religion, nationality, etc. You may seem impolite. Pay special attention to the personal qualities of the candidate, his experience, abilities and future plans.

Almost all candidates are familiar with typical interview questions:

  • Why did you leave your last job?
  • Why are you interested in this job?
  • What will you be doing in 5 years?
  • What are your strengths and weaknesses?
  • What did you like most about your last job?
  • What did you dislike the most?

Of course, they are very good, but you need to think about questions for which the candidate will not be ready. For example, these:

  • Tell us about your best boss. Why do you consider it the best?
  • Tell me about your worst boss. Why do you think it's the worst?
  • What can the boss do? to help you?
  • How do you approach problem solving?
  • Describe a conflict at work and how you resolved it.
  • What could your previous employer do to be more successful?
  • What skills would you like to acquire next year?

4. Create an Interview-Friendly Atmosphere

Find a quiet, private place to conduct the interview. Set aside time when you won't be distracted. If you are distracted, you may appear rude to the candidate. In addition, it will prevent you from concentrating.

In order for you to get the right impression of the candidate, there must be no interference and close contact. During the interview, the candidate may feel nervous or uncomfortable. Your task is to help him feel free. To do this, you must meet him, introduce yourself, offer tea or coffee, be polite, and generally be very hospitable.

A good interview atmosphere will help you:

  • obtain more adequate information about the candidate;
  • get more natural responses;
  • leave good impression about the organization;
  • attract more promising employees.

5. Be clear about your task

Although everything seems so clear, you need to remember the goals of the interview again. Without going into details, briefly describe the vacancy and also how you will conduct the interview. Will it be sifting? Will someone else interview the candidate? Will there be a re-interview?

Also, let the candidate know the expected length of the interview and make sure it doesn't interfere with his own plans. Immediately tell him that all entries in work book They will be checked. Also find out if you can contact his most recent employers.

6. Follow the progress of the interview

You must use the right methodology and ask reasonable questions to get the information you need to make the right decision. To do this, you need to follow the course of the interview, not be distracted by secondary questions.

Look at the list of prepared questions if necessary. Don't make the common interviewer mistake of not talking too much. Listen more. Try to have the candidate speak in the main.

Find out as much as possible about the candidate's competence (experience, education, abilities), his attitude to work (enthusiasm, preferences, goals), social values ​​(personal qualities, character). Be prepared for breaks. Short pauses can provide additional information about the candidate. Pauses that are too long can be strange.

7. Listen and take notes

Your goal is to collect information about the candidate that is related to the job. To do this, you must listen very carefully to what he says. If you give your full attention to the interlocutor, he will feel more confident in communicating with you.

Write down some important points. You can use these notes when you take a closer look at candidates after the interview. You can also write down questions that come up during the interview.

Tell the other person in advance that you are going to take notes. Write quickly and concisely so as not to distract the candidate.

8. Answer questions

Allow the candidate to ask questions about the job or company. Smart questions can give you a better understanding of how he thinks. Be prepared to answer difficult questions, for example:

  • How is excellence rewarded?
  • What is the company's value system and etiquette?
  • What career opportunities are there in the company?
  • How stable is the company's position in the market?

9. Provide necessary information at the end of the interview

A detailed description of the vacancy is best left at the end of the interview. Then it is better to talk about the culture of the company, about the interaction of employees and the requirements for them. Saying this early will help the candidate find the right answers to your questions.

Tell the truth about the company and vacancy. If there are any negative points talk about them. Potential employees should have a good idea of ​​what they are dealing with and what they can expect from their future job.

Discuss the salary, schedule, and company benefits. Tell us about the next step in the recruitment process. Finish by thanking the candidate for their attention to the company.

Take some time after the interview to gather your thoughts and evaluate the candidate. To do this, you may need to refer to the notes you took during the interview.

Try not to be prejudiced against the candidate. Focus on the essential requirements for the job. Based on the candidate's past experience, assess how well they are suited for the current job. Be prepared to justify your assessment.

Here are the three most important questions to remember in order to find the right employee:

  1. Will the candidate do the job?
  2. Does he want to work?
  3. How flexible will the candidate be when he starts working?

And the last. Recruiting the best people can be a critical factor in keeping a company running efficiently. Remember that employees are the guarantee of a company's success. This is a treasure that must be diligently searched for and protected in every possible way.

He is engaged in the selection of personnel, but often such a position is not available in the company, and either or him takes over his duties.

If the choice of employees turns out to be wrong, this will affect the fact that there will be a large flow of staff, or the staff will not be entirely competent. Incorrect selection can significantly increase the costs of your organization.

We will try to help you in this difficult matter. Below you will see ten simple recommendations that will help you make the right choice.

1. Set a precise goal.

First of all, you need to describe the open vacancy in detail. If you do not have this information, contact a recruitment agency consultant for help. Also, you must understand what kind of work you are looking for a person. It is worth paying attention not only to personal qualities, but also to how the candidate fits the vacancy.

good and detailed description help you find the right staff.

2. Don't take just anyone - you need the best.

You can find people through acquaintances and friends, through the Internet, through other companies or recruitment agencies. The best way, which does not require large expenses, is a recommendation. However, declarations are the most popular method, so if you choose this method, make sure that the declarations are complete and understandable. This will save energy and money.

3. Prepare for the interview.

When you select a resume, compare it with the requirements of the vacancy in order to re-screen unsuitable candidates. Evaluate the resumes that you liked the most a few times, make notes. Prepare the questions you plan to ask the candidate. Do not forget about work-related questions to understand whether a person has the necessary knowledge.

Don't talk about race, age, social status, religious beliefs or nationality is impolite. But be sure to pay attention to such issues as the experience, abilities of the candidate and his plans for the future.

In addition to standard questions such as:

  • Why did you leave your last job?
  • Why are you interested in this job?
  • What will you be doing in 5 years?
  • What are your strengths and weaknesses?
  • What did you like most about your last job?
  • What did you dislike the most?

Of course, these questions are needed in an interview, but think about unexpected questions:

  • How do you approach problem solving?
  • What skills would you like to acquire next year?
  • What can your boss do to help you?
  • Tell us about your best boss. Why do you consider it the best?
  • Tell me about your worst boss. Why do you think it's the worst?
  • What could your previous employer do to be more successful?
  • Describe a conflict at work and how you resolved it.

4. Don't forget the atmosphere of the interview.

During the interview, you should be completely free and not be distracted by anything. Otherwise, it will seem impolite to the candidate. Find neutral territory for you and the applicant to prevent tension. The candidate must feel free.

When you meet, introduce yourself, be polite, offer a cup of coffee or tea, and just be hospitable.

All this will help to find out complete and adequate, and most importantly, natural information about the candidate, to leave a good impression about yourself and the organization.

5. Put everything in order.

Once again, tell about the vacancy, inform the candidate about whether there will be a second interview or whether someone else will talk to him. It is also worth clarifying whether the interview will interfere with the plans of the person himself, and how long it will take.

Provide absolutely all the information you need.

6. Keep the interview under control.

Do not get distracted, put the necessary, complete questions - you can always look at previously prepared questions. Try to make sure that the candidate speaks for you, and, most importantly, more than you.

Try to find out everything about a person - from competence (experience, education, abilities), attitude to work (enthusiasm, preferences, goals) and ending with social values(personal qualities, character). You have to be prepared for breaks. Short pauses will help to learn new information, and long ones can be strange.

7. Don't forget to take notes.

Listen carefully to the words of the candidate, as your main goal is to collect the maximum amount of information. Do everything to make the interlocutor feel comfortable and cozy, so he will be more confident in communication.

Write down the most important moments. These records should be used later - when you select the best of your favorites. Also, it is worth warning the candidate that you will be taking notes, and they should be written quickly and briefly so as not to distract the interlocutor.

8. You also need to answer the questions.

Prepare answers to questions about the company and the job itself. Also, it is worth being prepared for difficult questions from the candidate:

  • How stable is the company's position in the market?
  • What is the company's value system and etiquette?
  • How is excellence rewarded?
  • What career opportunities are there in the company?

9. Describe the position in detail at the end of the interview.

At the end of the interview, write a detailed description of the position itself, the culture of the company, the interaction of employees and the requirements for them. If you give all this information beforehand, the candidate will be able to find the right answers to all the questions.

It is worth telling the truth both about the job and about the company. Don't hide the negatives.

Provide information about salary, schedules, and benefits provided by the company. Tell the candidate what the next steps in the hiring process will be.

You need to end the interview with gratitude for the attention to the company.

10. Rate the candidate.

Stay after the interview to reflect and make a decision about whether that person will become your new employee. This is where the notes taken during the interview will help.

Don't be prejudiced against a candidate. Consider whether the candidate has the right skills for the job, whether they have the right experience justify your assessment.

Answer these questions honestly for yourself:

  • Will the candidate do the job?
  • Does he want to work?
  • How flexible will the candidate be when he starts working?

Remember that the employees you hire will be the decisive factors and guarantee of the success of the company.

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12 comments

Sergey Mikhalev 06/18/2013, 07:38
Anodi Animachi 06/21/2013, 23:48

Recently was at an interview in "too good opinion about myself" of the company and watched with pleasure how the HR manager was perplexed and grimaced in surprise when I answered the question: Why did you leave your previous job?
I answered honestly: Because I was very bored there!
Yes, and this happens ... why be so surprised? :)))))

Alexey Kroulev 02.08.2013, 10:58

And you didn't think about that. that each person has his own interpretation of the word "boring"? Are you sure she understood you correctly? Or do you think that everyone should understand what you said that way. what do you think is right?

Anna, DiPi Trans, OOO 04/02/2014, 09:33

Unprofessional. Reminds me of a student essay. And with mistakes!

Julia Nosko 08.12.2015, 18:55

And what about the recommendations if the applicant left "with a fight" from the previous place? The head personally promised problems with employment. Who in such cases to write in the recommendation?? Zama? She was like the first one. Giving their contact number means signing a sentence for yourself. And most employees are afraid to say anything because they think they can be fired. Yes, it happens that the devil will pull into such an office, from which you leave and think that you were covered in shit. And he left, and thank God. So now, do not work anywhere at all?

Sergey Cherkashin 12/23/2015, 10:36

For example, I refer to former partners, counterparties of my transactions. A whole list. From some written recommendations. Most were simply reluctant to bother with them.
It is quite logical that the opinion of these people about my competencies is less biased and more independent than the opinion of some feudal despot. I also had to leave "with a fight."
Sometimes it helped. But there is also a minus: in fact, I give contacts of potential key customers.

Rakhminov Roman, Alex Com Ltd, PKF, LLC 06.02.2018, 15:28

The questions raised in the information provided are often used in our work and even more than that. Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for job candidates to cheat and not show up for interviews. It’s very disappointing when you invite for an internship after an interview and, in agreement with the candidate, they don’t show up at all and don’t even report the reason for the refusal. Basically, they are interested in wages, which are high, do not correspond to the market in Kyiv, for certain positions, and even work in the area where the applicant lives, and then they do not come for an interview. Some firms lure you with high salaries, which, of course, are not given out, and therefore you often see the same job seekers on the websites of recruitment agencies.

Anna Nester 06/01/2018, 11:30

That is why the internship can be taken on the basis of official training and paid. If a person agrees to sign a contract and then to train before you, turn, you’ll be sure to be vigilant. Tse you bezkoshtovna joy!

Tatyana Maurina 06.02.2018, 23:55

Unfortunately, Last year I note the more frequent cases of failed interviews or failure to enter the internship. So I can not understand People - why is that?

Ivanov Andrey, Megapolis-Dnepr 10.02.2018, 14:39

I want to put in my two cents too(..)
When I was young, I went to interviews a lot, and I noticed one problem, the problem is called "HR-manager", that is, psychologists girls quite vaguely understand what this or that candidate should have, who pumped up template applicant profiles, with a set of stupid questions .... and judging by the style and mentality of the questions are questionnaires for the USA, but for us it’s sad trouble, I feel sorry for those enterprises that recruited packs of stupid employees in this way)))) probably they sincerely don’t understand what’s the matter ?, what are we doing wrong? why are we in a dead end?
Because, for example, if you imagine an enterprise as large or not large, a mechanism where each employee is a cog, piston, bearing or gear with clearly defined tasks and responsibilities for the common good...
And so we send an absolutely stupid girl in technology with zero knowledge on this topic TO SELECT SPARE PARTS for our mechanism, and she does not even know HOW this gear LOOKS, where it stands in the mechanism, what characteristics it should have ... And this girl with a basket rolls through a huge warehouse of spare parts - there are countless of them ... they look at her questioningly from their shelves .... like -
"take me - no, you have The box is not bright enough)))" ... and you CANNOT use the help "well, they will think that I am not competent", in the warehouse only SHE chooses anyone else .... and what do you think after she will leave the warehouse with a basket full of the wrong spare parts - will our long-suffering engine mechanism work? .... probably not ....

Iruna Tunuk 09.04.2018, 19:00

Andrew, right. How can a young girl grow up in people? For whom one needs professional and living knowledge, and not only reading sensible books and stupidly copying them. Books also need to be read, and the choice is important. I situations, and people are different. І up to the skin, it is necessary to use your own skin, positively improve the person. I candidates want to bachiti people in front of them, not a robot.

Iruna Tunuk 09.04.2018, 18:51

Tobto through the familiar and friends of the best? Are they professional, are they friends? Well, 2 point, richly finish trimming. Choose the skins. Ale, in order to choose the best one. It does not mean that it takes 2 months to apply for a job vacancy a day, and take hundreds of resumes. And with them, you will still need to practice. The shortest one is the one that meets your needs and criteria, for example, for 8 points, you can. But for whom it is necessary to know whom you want to take on a job. Describe the candidate in paragraphs. And then it turns out that you give a vacancy, take off a resume, with which you don’t know how to work, because it’s rich. The professional of the one who can choose the right candidate, is impressed and quick. And dehto shukaє candidate for months, but in the new one there are a lot of resumes and a lot of good candidates. Well, you can't turn. Everyone jokes about the best. You don't know what you want.

We agree that it is competent and timely to select (change) personnel who not only have the necessary experience in working on a resume, but also sufficient level competencies is also a guarantee successful business and a pledge to update it. It is not at all necessary to lure specialists from competitors, it is enough to hire a professional in your field who has recently declared himself in the labor market so that your team feels the influx of new blood, the breath of fresh ideas in terms of building a business and working relationships.

Not only your business is developing, the market as a whole is changing. The labor market is especially dynamic. Candidates for open vacancies react sharply, and sometimes painfully, to companies in which nothing changes, as they work according to familiar but outdated schemes.

"Fresh blood" in the company is always great, whether we are talking about recent graduates of specialized universities or already seasoned professionals. But the blood types must match, otherwise your team may include an employee who, in accordance with the trends of the time, claims not quite an adequate salary or bonuses that are not commensurate with his position, which, for sure, have already been introduced by your competitors, but have not yet been accepted by you.

You need an adequate specialist, but a specialist in your field.

How to assess this correctly during an interview with a candidate for a vacancy? Here we bypass the problem of finding specialists, which is very relevant today, and a separate article will be devoted to it. There are no universal ideal candidates, there are candidates more suitable for specific vacancy in a certain company.

Candidate Profile

First of all, it is necessary to form a candidate profile (a candidate profile is a set of personal data, an idea of ​​the work experience and competencies of a future employee, in other words, an idea of ​​his personality traits and specific skills) based on your business needs. It does not matter whether you yourself will search or a recruiting company hired by you will undertake the search for personnel, it is important to clearly understand what kind of employee and for what salary you are looking for.

Do you want to see in the workplace bright star or a stable middle peasant, a functionary, a workhorse. It depends, for example, whether your business has just begun to develop and whether it requires employees with the skills to “push through” an original business idea, or whether your company is already established and needs constant and systematic work to maintain it, then you need an organized, accustomed to system approach staff.

Depending on this, you are looking for two completely different types of employees, with different personal data, work experience and a different set of competencies. It goes without saying that they will have different salary requirements. It would be nice to conduct a little marketing research to understand how much the employee you need costs in the labor market, so that at the interview you can offer figures at least in the market area.

In any case, even regardless of the salary you offer, your company receives either an influx of fresh blood or the blood of a group that does not suit it. Even a very good "expensive" employee with skills and work experience that are perfectly suitable for the company may not take root within the framework of your corporate culture, do not merge with the rigid or democratic vertical of power adopted in the company. Therefore, the future immediate supervisor should take part in compiling the profile of the candidate.

Intuitive wishes for a candidate are not suitable for an accurate selection; even before the start of the search, an image should be formed in which the new employee will more or less fit.

In our times it is difficult to find unshakable values, but there is some general idea of ​​​​the desired human content of a hired employee in any company. Corporate culture it is a living thing, if it has a place to be - it affects the way of thinking of all employees, and even more so - top management. It is highly desirable to specify these general wishes regarding the value system that a new employee would profess, whether for himself or for a recruiting company, this is no longer so important. The hired employee should be simply loyal or always frank with you and even demanding, whether he will be a team or independent player, he must be executive and disciplined or creative and not ordinary, you must immediately determine this for yourself. It is necessary for a fully compiled profile of a candidate, in addition to the requirements for his experience and work skills, to develop requirements for his personal qualities, his potential to grow into a team with a democratic or authoritarian tradition of management.

We can deal with a productive, but fragmented team, consisting of individuals, or, on the contrary, with a socially dependent group of people who are accustomed to communicating closely within themselves, respectively, and the requirements for the personal and communication skills of the future employee should be prescribed as detailed as possible.

Although the current trend is that most companies want to see ready-made candidates and are unwilling to train them, it is easier to train an employee in sales techniques than to instill in him the necessary leadership qualities or confident skills of a humble performer (optional).

The profile of the candidate is individual for each company and should be maximally such, despite the fact that the position being opened has many things in common with similar positions opened in other companies.

Recruitment agency in St. Petersburg LLC "Ares", like many other recruiting companies, it has compiled a special appendix to the Agreement "vacancy description", where all the possible nuances of the candidate's profile are taken into account and spelled out. The rest can be discussed with our consultant by phone.

Interview over a cup of coffee

You have a description of the candidate's profile, there is the candidate himself. How to build an interview with him? Let us briefly touch upon this, bearing in mind the approach to interviewing applicants for vacant positions of an AC in St. Petersburg OOO "Ares".

Having recently visited a customer who needed a new head of the personnel department (the previous one went on maternity leave), we realized that a very important point is the transparency of the process of interviews with candidates we conduct.

The owner of a fairly large business ( modern production, 200 staff members) it was critical to understand how we evaluate staff in our interviews.

The current head of the personnel department presented 15 candidates for an open position in the company, and none satisfied the head, which is not surprising. It is quite difficult to evaluate the personnel (everyone now knows how to write beautiful resumes and is prepared for interviews by a large number of previous interviews in other companies), and even more so - the head of the personnel department, who, in turn, will have to search for and evaluate this personnel. This specialist is better prepared for an interview than others, it is more difficult to evaluate him objectively.

We decided to talk a little here about how we conduct interviews with applicants.

Starting the interview, we try to win over the candidate, maybe even make friends with him, as far as possible within the strict limits of limited time and in an office setting. The candidate must be as open as possible. A tense and incredulous candidate for an interview that takes place in an environment of total dictatorship of the interviewer is unacceptable from any point of view.

Although it is in the interrogation mode that interviews are held in most spacecraft and companies. But the response of the other side is important to us, otherwise we will get predictable reactions worked out in a huge number of previously passed interviews. Some applicants in job descriptions have up to three interviews a day. And we need to get the candidate interested in working in the proposed company, so we have a candidate's dictatorship in our agency, which is what we are seeing now in the real labor market.

So, the applicant is either interested in the company or we are not interested in the candidate. You should not lure a candidate to a position that in the end will be, as they say, not his, he will leave the company anyway. Then we will have problems as a contractor with certain obligations under the contract for the warranty replacement of a specialist selected by us. Therefore, we conduct interviews as negotiations of interested parties, in the format of a business meeting, over a cup of coffee.

We are more of an interested party, because the candidate has not yet worked in the company and knows about it only from our words. It's good when a company has an image that is attractive to candidates on the market.

We always remember one thing: there are no bad or good candidates, there are suitable or not very suitable for a particular company, in accordance with the requirements stated in the vacancy. We correlate the results of the interview with the profile of the candidate, the description of which was kindly provided to us by the client company.

Here are some justified claims of the applicant for the interview (based on the results of their own survey of the recruitment agency in St. Petersburg LLC "Ares"):

  • HRs should know the position clearly and not say anything they are not sure about from the position.
  • Questions about the details of the applicant's personal life are inappropriate.
  • The sentence “tell us about yourself” puts the candidate in a tense situation, and it seems that his resume is not familiar with.
  • The atmosphere of the interview was not created (there are strangers, employees, in which it is also impossible to ask a question about the salary).

So the candidate sells himself. He comes to negotiations. We believe that conducting so-called stress interviews repels the company and its job offer. We have enough stress both in life and at work, why do we need unpaid stress?

All that is needed is easy to figure out without a lot of tricks, just letting the applicant speak for himself. It is important to smoothly move on to the story about the company, to reveal the specifics of the business, the position proposed for consideration, to talk about the reasons for its appearance, the tasks that will be assigned to the new employee.

Based on the fact that the candidate has already received an idea about the company, we can then offer him cases (cases), developed for the position and the company itself, situational tasks.

At the stage of the story about the company, we can track the candidate’s reactions to possible difficulties or, on the contrary, pleasant nuances that he will meet in the company, such as a harsh leader or difficult, long sales, medical insurance, food and travel payments (as far as it can be significant for a sales manager who regulates his own earnings?) and the like.

However, questions related to the candidate's biography are an obligatory part of the interview. But at the moment, candidates are very well prepared for such questions, they have home-made answers to any standard questions. It is best to dilute the interview with such questions, but not to build it on them, given the simple fact that the candidate's resume is in front of you.

At each stage of the interview, the applicant, without any effort on the part of the employer or recruiter, shows himself.

At the final stage of the interview, the applicant himself asks questions and you agree with him on the further algorithm of actions.

Fewer and fewer candidates ask questions about their future professional activity or at least about the team and management that you will have to face in your work, more often we are talking about wages and about compensation, in our time it is almost normal. Some candidates even begin the interview by talking about the salary level planned for the position. It is debatable whether this should be considered a categorical blunder on the part of the candidate. The salary offered is now often used to judge the company itself. Now let's talk about questions that should not be asked by the applicant.

What questions should not be asked by the applicant?

Let's talk first about ineffective questions and how to make them more effective.

Many recruiters and HR managers still ask job seekers to talk about professional experience and about the received specialized education. Such questions from a person holding the answers in his hands or on the table - to put it mildly, discourage the applicant. Of course, it makes sense to ask about the gaps, if any, in the resume, to fill in the gaps. And after that, with a pure soul, you can ask how the experience indicated in the resume contributed to professional growth what difficulties the candidate had to face while working on a particular project.

Until now, among HR managers and recruiters, inspirational questions designed to identify the personal characteristics of a candidate are popular. They ask about everything in a row, up to addiction to certain pets or about where and how extreme the candidate prefers to spend his vacation. Wouldn't it be better to ask directly whether the interviewee is ready to adapt to the boss - if necessary - or, on the contrary, does he prefer to stick to his own line? You can ask about it differently, using the information received from the applicant about previous skirmishes with the leadership, ask what the candidate's reaction was in the event of a clearly unfair or wrong decision by the authorities.

Sometimes interviewers resort to the Google interview strategy, apparently to amuse their ego and see how the candidate reacts to an unexpected question like: tell me, why do you think sewer manhole covers are made round?

No need to annoy the candidate. In Russia, we are already subject to a lot of stress. Ask how the candidate is coping with the situation (if, for example, he is applying for the position of head of human resources large-scale production) when it occurs a large number of open vacancies in production, but there are no candidates for these vacancies? How does he explain the situation to his director, if he demands that a certain number of such vacancies be closed within a week and threatens to be fired? Thus, you will immediately immerse the candidate in a specific work stressful situation, for which he theoretically should be ready or he has already passed it. And you will immediately understand how professional the person in front of you is, moreover, you will get the opportunity to compare the answers of several candidates.

What questions should not be asked or should they be reformulated.

Tell us about yourself?

What exactly should tell you about yourself, a person who came to a specific vacancy, who came not only to sell himself, but also to buy - your job offer? This question speaks only of your unpreparedness for the meeting with the candidate. A person who comes to an interview in a company expects more focused questions and the same exact answers to his questions that he will ask you at the end of the interview.

What was the reason you left your previous job?

First, this good question, required. But it is already very poorly digested by applicants. Increasingly in recent times the reason for leaving after work is the late payment of salaries or the incomplete fulfillment by the company's management of its obligations. How is it correct, without speaking negatively about the management at the last place of work or about the policy of your last company, to answer this important question for you? We recommend that you still ask it, but towards the end of the interview, when you have already won over the candidate. You can reformulate and ask what did not work out for the applicant at the last job.

It is not worth at the very beginning, while the necessary level of trust has not yet been reached, to ask about the personal motivators of the applicant or about his salary level at the last job. First, the candidate must be seriously interested in your offer and understand that you are seriously interested in it. Then he will try to answer any of your questions.

Not all applicants succeed in asking too personal questions (about marital status whether he rents an apartment or not, whether he plans to have children, etc.). But there is absolutely no discrimination based on gender or any other grounds in these matters. These are normal questions, and I would like to know the answers to them. Why not try to figure out when the candidate is a woman, how motivated she is, whether she is alone, or maybe she has a husband CEO in a solid company and she is just bored of sitting at home. Perhaps the applicant sitting in front of you is going to go on maternity leave in the near future, she will not directly answer questions about her personal plans, but if there is a suspicion of this kind, then why not politely ask and look at the reaction, what will she be wording of the answer. You have every right to ask politely what kind of earnings the candidate is really interested in if he rents housing (by the way, where and for how much, it is possible that he will pay half the salary for housing, and travel to work through the whole city).

First, we establish contact, warn about possible too personal questions, allow us not to answer them, and then we ask very correctly - we ask. This is not always true, mainly when there are some ambiguities on the resume (large gaps in the resume or the applicant has recently moved from another city). We are obligated to ask personal questions, since the applicant himself raises such fears that he is claiming an inadequate salary for him or that the applicant is clearly planning to get a job and go on maternity leave. We are responsible to the company-customer for the candidate provided by us.

In addition to the foregoing, it should not be forgotten that this moment The practice of candidates not appearing for interviews is widespread. Whether this is due to the entry into the labor market of a somewhat irresponsible generation of the 90s or the consequences of the complex socio-economic upheavals experienced by our country is unclear. One thing is clear: it is easier to lose a candidate now than to find one. And after a candidate for a vacancy is found, you need to find out reliable information about him.

recruiting company in St. Petersburg LLC Ares. website link required

Interviewing skills will be useful to everyone who has not yet managed to find an experienced HR specialist and employees in the team himself. To begin with, an interview comes from the word "conversation", so it is important not only to listen, but also to ask questions that will help you extract the right information from the conversation.

To select an employee for an interview, you must first draw his professional portrait for a specific position, and, starting from this model, draw up a list of necessary characteristics, and, accordingly, questions.

The level of the vacancy, of course, dictates the structure of the interview, and it’s not always possible to get away from traditional standard questions, but it’s worth a try so as not to fall under the spell of a prepared applicant, since there are now many articles on the Internet on the topic: “How to successfully pass a job interview.”

After all, hiring the wrong employee threatens to lose money and time, and the right specialist can significantly accelerate the development of the company and increase profits.

How to choose the best employee from those who come for an interview:

  1. Atmosphere! The use of provocative and stressful methods will help to obtain information about the applicant's stress resistance and his ability to adapt to new conditions. Just do not forget to inform the person at the end of the "test" that it was a test. "Sales" regularly face failures and it is important for them to be able to work with it. Foreign companies, choosing specialists in this profession, use a cunning trick. After the first interview, they invite the applicant to their place and say that his candidacy was rejected. About 75% calmly agree, and therefore fail the test. However, those who are unable to accept rejection are the best in the business.
  2. What have you been doing? How did you do it? What results did you achieve? Ask the interlocutor to tell about the daily routine at the previous place of work. So you can understand what he really did there. And by asking a few narrow-profile questions, you will determine how competent a person is in the industry you need.
  3. After talking about difficult decision, which the applicant has had to take in the last six months, it is easy to assess his reasoning ability, problem-solving skills and willingness to take reasonable risks.
  4. What does he want? We identify expectations in relation to the new employer. Otherwise, it may turn out that the employee you like after some time will consider that you are not suitable for him. Already at the interview stage, it is necessary to understand the motivation of the applicant, the values ​​that he shares, and what he aspires to. It is important to match the desired and the possible. We pay special attention to expectations: in finance and professional activity.
  5. Only truth! Talk about the advantages of your company, because certain privileges for employees will set you apart from other employers. But you shouldn't talk about something that doesn't really exist. Giving guarantees, you need to fulfill them. Otherwise, going to work and faced with realities, the employee will doubt the veracity of your words. Nobody wants to work for a liar!

A truly interested candidate will make inquiries about a potential job in advance. Knowledge of the history of the company and its structural organization will help him determine a possible role in it and career prospects. Do not waste time and also collect information about the future interlocutor. Choosing a candidate for leadership position, you need to find out what kind of relationship he had with colleagues at his last job. This will help you understand if he can fit into your company and adapt to new conditions.