Interview tips
How to Rethink Your Interview Process
Glassdoor Team
Glassdoor Team | Author & Career Expert at Glassdoor | Aug 2, 2016
Today, Glassdoor revealed the winners of the Candidates’ Choice Awards, honoring the Best Places to Interview in 2016. This honor recognizes the employers with the best interview experience, according to those who know best -- the job candidates. It is unique, not only because it is based solely on candidate feedback, but its methodology is also based on our own economic research as it takes interview duration and difficulty into consideration.
Curious about your own company’s eligibility? Check out Best Places to Interview, why didn’t my company make it? Curious about how to revamp your own interview process? Read on!
To hire better candidates in a candidate-driven market, upgrade your interview process—the cornerstone of every company’s recruiting and hiring.
From a tactical standpoint, that may mean prepping your interviewers better, remembering to scan for culture fit and knowing what you can and can’t ask legally. From a strategic point of view, that may also mean imparting your employer brand and values at every turn, asking a few oddball questions here and there, and well, making things a bit more difficult for candidates.
Doing better interviews
To help hiring managers and recruiters bring structure, relevancy and accuracy to their interview process, we decided to assemble the best advice, worksheets and templates we could find into a single resource, our new eBook, How to Conduct Better Interviews.
It leads off with something so simple as to be a recruiting no-brainer: An interviewer prep list. From key details about your company and job position to career growth opportunities within your organization, it should be filled out and taken to heart by every interviewer so that they know whom they’re interviewing and why and what really matters for the role and company.
Culture counts
Company culture is one of the five most important factors job seekers consider before accepting a new job. Conversely, scanning for culture fit is also critical for employers.
Why is this so important? As you might guess, a bad cultural fit can lead to a negative or toxic department or team environment and spread to the rest of the organization. Not surprisingly, 60 percent of hiring managers and HR professionals say bad hires don’t get along with other employees.
Asking questions about a candidate’s work habits, ideal role or how they problem solve can elicit clues as to how well they’ll work within your culture. For example, consider asking a question like, “Tell me about a time you were thrown into a new environment and how you handled that?”
Even something as simple as taking a candidate for a walk or out to lunch or coffee can help reveal character traits.
So does employer brand
Your company culture is inextricably linked to your employer brand. Happy, satisfied employees write better job reviews about their company on social media and review sites like Glassdoor. By extension, this can help impress and refer other attract other like-minded candidates as they research your company and its openings.
On the other hand, candidates who suffer poor interview experiences are likely to leave bad reviews, tarnishing your reputation to other candidates. Often to blame are unprepared interviewers, interviewers who show up late or interviewers who contradict each other on company values, expectations and culture.
Remember, the majority of job seekers read at least six reviews before forming an opinion of a company, so minimizing bad interview experiences ought to be a priority for everyone who has a hand in the interview process.
Re-think the questions you’re asking
One strategy for creating a more effective candidate interview is to ask targeted questions that uncover candidates’ values, creativity and grace under pressure.
Off-the-cuff or oddball questions, rather than coming off as a tired Silicon Valley gimmick, can actually help draw out how candidates deal with unexpected situations and illustrate their problem solving abilities and values.
One favorite we noted during our research was this asked at Dropbox: “If you’re the CEO, what are the first three things you check about the business when you wake up?”
And another from Boston Consulting Group: “If you were a brand, what would be your motto?”
Meanwhile, making the interview process more difficult (without turning off candidates), believe it or not, is statistically linked to higher employee satisfaction. Keep in mind that “difficult” should equate to rigorous, not deflating or confusing. Test or written assignments, panel interviews and candidate presentations are all fair game here.
They payoff? Candidates who go through a rigorous (but not too rigorous) interview process can perceive that the company places a high value on finding employees who are a good match for both the position and the company culture.
Let candidates down respectfully
How you treat candidates when they aren’t the right fit also matters.
Prompt and personal rejection notifications (consider building ready-to-send templates) can help unsuccessful candidates maintain a positive impression of your company and its brand. It’s not even a stretch to suggest they write about their experiences by penning an interview on Glassdoor—many will actually appreciate the chance and take you up on it.
Of course, the job interview is not the only interaction you should be concerned about. When employees voluntarily leave your company, during exit interviews, ask targeted questions about why they chose to look for a new job and if they will recommend the company to their peers. Then you can decide how much of this feedback is actionable and act accordingly.
A better interview process
In summary, savvy recruiters know that having a formal, structured interview experience that evaluates each candidate on the same criteria, puts every interviewer on the same page, maintains open candidate communication throughout the process and takes the time to share what the company stands for is a recipe for talent acquisition success. For tips on upgrading your interview process, download and share our eBook How to Conduct Better Interviews.
Glassdoor Team
Our team of savvy experts are here to help you, whether you’re navigating your career or working to make your company culture shine. Glassdoor has the unique insights and guidance you need to experience your best worklife. Stick around to learn how to prepare for an interview, negotiate your salary, develop DEI programs, engage your employees, understand the state of the job market, and more. Check out our community to share and learn from professionals just like you too.
