How to conduct an interview: A step-by-step guidelines?

 How to conduct an interview: A step-by-step guidelines?



If you have seen an interviewer during his action, maybe you have some impressions that tell you it is really easier than it. Don’t take the false or mistaken assumptions that leave you unprepared. It can be very difficult to ask easy questions in an easy way.

So that you can get answers from the candidates that you are looking for. If you want to make sure that you are ready, this will tell you how to conduct an interview.

How to prepare for an interview?

A great interview for a job is actually half of it is before the interview. To prepare you here there are 7 things that make your interview good.

1.       Define role requirements and write a clear job description:

This point seems obvious. But the deep things should not be overlooked. Hopefully, you did this before the job description. If somehow you did this without writing a great job description, then now it is the time to answer the question such as:

·         What gaps currently exist on your team?

·         What are your deal breakers?

·         What qualities are you looking for in the candidate?

·         What hard or soft skills do other top performers in your organizations possess?

The more you can explain the role and qualities that you are looking for in a candidate, the easier will be that what things would be asked in the interview.

Prepare some specific questions in advance

During an interview, it is very easy to catch up in the conversation. If you prepare the interview questions before entering the interviewer room, you can make sure that you have covered the bases that you need.

Many companies have some sets of questions that they ask from every candidate and then ask specific questions for each role. By asking the same base question to each candidate make it is easier for an interviewer to choose the best one.

To make sure you the elicit answer that helps in your decision making, you can ask a mix of question types. These questions may be of many types. Use a variety of close-ended questions, open-ended questions, hypothetical questions, and also behavioral questions.

For example: by asking some behavioral questions such as ‘tell me the time you spent with the challenging manager’. Such types of questions tell about the candidates and how choose the candidate to answer the question. These questions tell that how the candidate conflict with the opposition.

And it is good to be prepared that leave room for the natural questions that come in a natural way. If there is a particular, then you can ask the candidates whether it may be positive or negative. Don’t be afraid to ask these questions.

Screen the candidates with necessary assessments:



The best way of a great job interview is that great candidates are sitting in front of you. But it is very difficult to recognize the best candidate from their resume. If you don’t take a more efficient approach, you will spend a lot of time reviewing the resume.

Particularly, you have a great rush of job applications due to which it is very difficult to pay attention it deserves. An eye-tracking study shows that recruiters spend only 7 seconds on average skimming a resume. But it is not the best strategy to identify the best candidate.

Even if you have time to read the resume from front and back, a resume does not tell a complete story. People can establish their skills or they can tell a lie on their resumes. Pre-employ assessments can help to solve the problem which gives you a more efficient alternative to resume evaluation.

A pre-employment assessment is a collection of tests that is given to the candidate as part of the application. You can test candidates on:

  • ·         Software skills
  • ·         Role-specific skill
  • ·         Situational judgment
  • ·         Programming skill
  • ·         Languages
  • ·         Cognitive ability
  • ·         Personality and culture fit

Conduct a video interview or screen record before the in-person interview:

It will be a wise step to conduct a screening phone call in advance to check the unqualified candidates that it can pass to the pre-screening phase. You can ask the candidates some questions like deal-breaker questions about the role and verify facts on their resume to assess whether they are true or false.

Schedule much time for the interview:

It depends on the role. You will have to decide by phone call or video call during the interview. You will also have to decide that how much time is required for the interview. Junior's roles require about 30 minutes while the senior’s role may take an hour.

It is better that there should be more than one person interviewing the candidates. For this purpose, you can invite co-workers.

You have to create a long gap before and after each interview. You want to give your full attention to the interview and you also would not like to take the risk of being late. Remember that you are trying to impress the candidate also.

Live transparent to the candidate:

It is a very stressful job for this type of interview. It means that interviewing for a job is a tough time. Make sure that your candidate comes with relaxation and feel comfortable so that you can easily know the reality of them.

Remove the stress of candidates as much as possible by telling them detail about the interview. The candidates that will be present in the interview, fill their mind as much as you can on the company dress and tell them the basic outline for the job interview process.

Study up on the candidates before the interview:

It is the last and most important step to prepare for an interview. Spend at least half an hour reviewing the candidates in advance.

You have only one window to know the candidates. You don’t have much time to spend to know about the resume of the candidates. So it will be wise to take the information from the candidates in advance. Get about their job history. Check their LinkedIn profile and also get to know about the information that they have provided in the resume.

If there are gaps and points that confuse you in their resume, you can add questions in your list to ask.

How to conduct an interview?

Now you are fully prepared for an interview. You are ready to conduct a most effective interview. Here we show how to conduct an interview?

All distractions should be removed:

By giving the candidates your full attention, you want to be completely focused on the interview. Before the interview, you should turn off your cell phones, emails, or any other chat notifications.

Introduce yourself and co-workers properly:

Whether the interview is from a video call or any other source, you should start the interview by introducing yourself to each other. Also, explain the company and your role.

You should also tell the candidates bout the process of the interview. If you show that you have a plan, it will be positive expressions on the candidates and it will keep the interview relaxed.

Ask pre-written questions:

To start with the general question, give the opportunity to the candidates to explain themselves. And discuss how they will pay value to the role. You may need to fast the interview to ask all questions. If any candidates are lingering, then you can simply say move on.

Take notes:



If you have a large number of candidates, then you have to take notes. If you are taking notes, then prefer handwritten notes to laptops. So that the candidates should know your full attention.

Leave some time for candidates to ask questions:

If the candidates are really interested in the role, he or they must question it. Give at least -10-15 minutes to ask their questions.

What to do after the interview?

  • ·         Take an additional note:
  • ·         Debrief with your fellow interviewer:
  • ·         Also review the candidates before the pre-employment assessments
  • ·         In last make an offer

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