If you’re new to being the hiring manager in a recruitment process, you’ll quickly realize that there is a steep learning curve. From sifting through applications and trying to decide on a shortlist to the interviewing techniques you need to use, there is a lot to learn. If you nail it, however, you could have a fantastic candidate accept your job offer and become a productive part of your team. So, it’s worth putting effort into the hiring process. Here are our six key interviewing techniques for hiring managers.

6 ideas to help you develop some excellent interviewing techniques

Getting really good at conducting interviews will help you to hire better and better people to add to your team. Work on your interviewing techniques and after each interview, consider what you could improve on for next time. Over time, you will see considerable changes in not only the way you interview but how much useful information you can obtain from candidates.

Review the Candidate’s CV

By the time you get to the interview stage with job applicants, it will be weeks since you read their CV, along with dozens of others. So, it’s a good idea to reread their CV the day before their interview, or preferably right before. That way, you can look again at their credentials. This will help in two ways; first, showing respect for the candidate that you know who they are when they walk in. Second, you will likely have some questions based on their experience so that you can hear more about their past roles and responsibilities in more detail. So, reviewing the CV before the candidate arrives can turn the interview into a more productive experience.

Start with Small Talk

At the start of the interview, it’s a great idea to make conversation with the interviewee. This is one of the best interviewing techniques you can use as it can help to put the person at ease for when you start firing interview questions at them. Many people enter the room feeling extremely nervous about how the interview will go. This can result in them struggling to overcome their nerves to answer interview questions. That’s why it’s so useful to help them to relax with some small talk – so that you can get better answers out of them later. However, you will need to be careful around the topics you choose, as many areas are off-limits for hiring managers. For example, asking how many kids they have and bringing up religion or politics.

Talk About the Company

So, you’ve made small talk. Now, hold off on launching right into the interview questions. Begin by setting up the formal part of the interview with a description of your company and some of its history. This will set the tone for the interview and give the candidate more information. Remember that at the end of the day, as much as they should impress you, you should impress them as well. You are selling the idea of working at your company to the interviewees because when you find the right candidate, you will want them to jump at the opportunity to work for you.

Make Notes

During the interview, it’s tempting to think that you will remember the candidate’s answers to questions and what you thought about them. However, as you go through the interview process, you will find that each candidate blurs into the next and you aren’t sure who answered what. That’s why it’s such a good idea to make notes during the interview. Summarize the key points of their response and any questions that arose for you while they spoke.

Look for Body Language

Many interviewers don’t specifically look for body language in the candidates’ answers and instead focus solely on what they are saying. However, a candidate’s body language can express so much more than just their words do. For example, when people are lying, they often fidget or play with their hair or touch their face. If the person leans forward when they are speaking, then they may be excited or passionate about what they are saying. On the other hand, someone who leans back the entire time may be a little arrogant. There is so much that you can detect just from how they move their body during the interview, so be sure to pay attention and not miss the signs. This is one of the best interviewing techniques that you can use because you will discover so much more about the person.

Guide the Conversation

If the respondent goes off-topic, feel free to steer them back on course. It’s not necessarily a negative thing, as understandably, the interviewee will likely be nervous. So, if someone starts telling a story that’s unrelated to your question, it’s polite to wait for them to finish. But then ask them if they have any specific examples that relate to the question you asked and repeat the question.

Also, if a candidate’s response causes you to think of a follow-up question, by all means, go for it. Asking the person to expand upon what they said or provide clarification can help you gain further insight into their experiences. Just because a question wasn’t on your list of interview questions doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask it.

When it comes to interviewing, you can’t overprepare. So, put some effort into reviewing interviewee’s CVs and double-check the time and date more than once. Working on your interviewing techniques can help you to hire even better candidates as you improve. So, keep working on it, and you will have a wonderfully productive team of staff in no time. Try out using some of the above interviewing techniques and see if these help you to make better hiring decisions in the future.