Interviews. Nobody prepares you for them and there's so many ways an interview can be conducted. Your first hire will be the toughest. As a new manager, no one prepares you for the interview process. You’re expected to find candidates, review dozens (or hundreds) of resume’s, pick the top ones, and finally - interview and hire. How you go about getting from one end to the next, is up to the manager. There are very few programs that offer training on how to interview a candidate, yet there are so many questions raised by new managers.

What are you looking for in a candidate?
Do you know the personality type you’re looking for?
How do you know what to look for on a resume?
How many interview steps should there be?
What do you ask during an interview?
How do I assess their answers?
How do I choose my final candidate?

If you’ve never interviewed anyone before, this will be one of your most difficult tasks. Not to put the fear of God in you, but your leadership and managerial skills are also being assessed to determine whether you have an eye for top talent. You want this hire not only to meet all the criteria required for the role, but you also want to make sure they come in at the salary budget and that they’ll be with the company for the next few years.

No Pressure!

Let me provide you with some insight into how interviews are conducted across various organizations and share some tips that may help you prepare for your next hire. I’ll break down the interview process into 4 segments: 1) the Job Description and Job Posting; 2) Resume Evaluation; 3) the Interview Process; and 4) Selecting a Candidate.

Job Description & Job Posting

Before you can move forward with hiring for an open role, you need to prepare the job description. Check to see if one already exists before reinventing the wheel. If one does not exist, check-in with your neighboring managers to get a sample of what they’ve put together for their roles. Leverage other templates to build your own job description. Having a solid foundation is key, so you can leverage this template for other roles, by simply switching out the qualifications and roles & responsibilities section.

Once you’ve drafted your job description, work with your talent acquisition (TA) team to get the job posted. Leverage a combination of job posting platforms and recruiters (if this is a feature your company leverages). Spread the word to your internal staff as well, as they may have referrals for the role.

Resume Evaluation

Hiring managers today, spend less then 1 minute reviewing resumes. Yes, you read that correctly. Insane. Someone’s career opportunity is being assessed in less than 60 seconds. Key areas to look for: 1) How long have they worked at each company; 2) Are the companies similar to the one they’re applying to; 3) Is their work experience relevant. Done!

If your candidate has been at every company for 5-6 months and they bounce around a lot, they may bounce in 5-6 months after you hire them. If your candidate does not have relevant work experience, what skills do they have that would be applicable to this role? If none, move on.

It’s harsh, but you need to ensure the candidates you’re going to meet with, meet the criteria. Applicants today are applying to everything, just to see what they can get. While we want to give everyone a fair chance, you shouldn’t take away the opportunity from those who are applying with the relevant work experience and skills.

The Interview Process

There are various ways you can conduct the hiring process. You can have people screen the candidate before you, or you could have people screen the candidate after you. Meet with your HR partner and/or TA team to understand whether there's a company interview process or policy. If not, you can structure your interviews to your preference. Some words of advice, keep your interview process short. If the candidate goes through four to ten interviews, they can lose interest.

They could also receive an offer from somewhere else, and you've lost the candidate. Doing longer interview processes also delays the onboarding of the new candidate, which means your team is also waiting. Ideally, TA does the initial interview screening. This is followed by a phone interview by yourself or someone else you trust and knows the role you are hiring for. Lastly, you would conduct an in-person interview. You may elect to do the in-person interview solo, or as a panel, the option is yours.

Remember, the interview is an opportunity to get a sense of who the individual is sitting across from you. Take the time to strike a conversation with them and get familiar with their personality. It’s ok to go off script. You want the interview to be as natural and free flowing as possible.

Here is a sample of a three step interview process:

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 1

- Screening with talent acquisition or recruiter.

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 2

- Phone screen with team member (this could be removed to make it a 2 step process)

Your questions are based on the technical aspect of the role. The candidate will share case examples of their achievements.

Does this person sound like they would be a good culture fit?

This interview will mainly focus on their skills and identifying whether they can do the role you’re hiring for, or if they’ve used certain software systems, or can navigate various problems.

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 3

- In person (if possible) with hiring manager and any other LT that may be required.

I've done over 200 interviews and here are some common themes I see:

- People are different on the phone than in person.

- People are also different when in front of the team vs the hiring manager.

- People are also different when in front of the hiring managers boss.

The in-person interview is an opportunity to get to know the candidate further.

During the final interview, some hiring managers may ask the candidate to present on a specific topic to see the candidates skills first hand. This could be on their 30/60/90 day plan, a market assessment to see their understanding of the companies product, or, it could be on a business case. Some managers have candidates do an in person assessment of their skills by having complete tasks on a loaner computer to ensure they have the technical background required in the role.

Regardless of how you conduct the final in person interview, there are some key questions that may help you identify whether your candidate would be a good fit. Why is fit important? This person is not just coming in to do a role. They’re joining a new team. They will be spending hours a day working with you and the rest of the team members. You want to ensure that they have a positive can-do attitude and that they would get along with the team. In many cases, positive behaviors and coachability of the candidate becomes more important than the skills they possess. It’s what drives high engagement amongst the team.

Sample manager interview questions you may consider asking:

1️⃣ What are you looking to gain in this role, that you are not getting in your current position?

2️⃣ What is your definition of growth?

3️⃣ What type of relationship do you look forward to having with your line manager?

4️⃣ Describe your ideal work environment and team culture.

5️⃣ How do you like to receive feedback?

Selecting a candidate:
A common mistake I see hiring managers make, is seeing the candidate as a threat. Denying the candidate the role in fear they are better than them and will take any future opportunities from them.

I've been in countless interviews with aspiring managers, new managers, and emerging leaders evaluating candidates for the first time and the common theme I see is fear.

The candidate presents themselves very well. They demonstrate all the skills for the role; they highlight areas where they've succeeded or exceeded expectations and in many circumstances highlight how they can improve the existing process and make it better for everyone. Upon reflection, the hiring manager sees this as a threat and ultimately feels the individual will be too aggressive or a show off.

Promoting yourself during an interview is uncomfortable. Not many people truly enjoy talking about how good they are in front of strangers for an hour. It feels awkward to most people. But, think of it as the candidate selling their brand. In an interview, the candidate is the product you are looking for. They need to sell themselves by highlighting their talents.

As the hiring manager, it's better to hire someone who has more skills than you and that can do the role more efficiently than you. This is how you create Is a high performing team. By creating a high performing team, performance is up, the company is happy, and growth opportunities are presented. This also means, more opportunity for you in the long run. More opportunity for you, also means more opportunity for your team. As your team succeeds, you will grow, and so will your team members.

High performing teams drive success, which drives growth, which drives opportunity and ultimately drives individual growth at all levels.

If you’re threatened by the talent you're interviewing, you will never grow. Hire team members who can replace you.

In summary: when you’re looking to hire, prepare a job description for the role by leveraging existing templates. Make sure the candidates selected for the interviews have relevant experience. Keep your interview process short and select a candidate who’s coachable and has a can-do attitude, who also has the ability to be a top performer in the team.

THE MANAGER TOOLKIT