Basic Interviewing Skills

What to ask

Tell me about a time when you...

Describe a project when you had to...

What steps do you follow when...

When have you had to...?

What did you do?

How did the situation end up?

What not to ask

Making sure you select the right candidate

Unconscious bias refers to a bias that we are unaware of, and which happens outside of our control. It is a bias that happens automatically and is triggered by our brain making quick judgments and assessments of people and situations, influenced by our background, cultural environment and personal experiences.

E V E R Y O N E .

(Don't sweat it. It's a kind of reflex!)

In this module, you are going to learn how to conduct effective interviews.

Key points in interviewing

Some examples of behavioural-based interview questions :

Stick to Behavioural-based Interviewing.

This means asking about how the candidate behaved in the past.

Be careful not to imply hypothetical situations! No 'How would you handle...' but rather 'Tell me about a situation in which you have handled...'

Past behaviour is the most reliable predictor of future behaviour.

The goal of behavioural-based question are STAR answers:

S

ituation

T

ask

Be careful to let the candidate speak! Your speaking time should only make up about 30% of the interview.

You want to understand how the candidate behaved in a situation where there was a task - What actions did the candidate take? What were the results?

A

ction

Here is an example for a very good answer:

This is a behavioural-based question. You want to listen for the STAR in the candidates answer!

S

Example of an answer that needs further elaboration:

T

Last year, I teamed up with some colleagues to raise funds for X charity by running the Auckland Marathon. We were about five people and at first, everybody was really excited about the idea. But over time, people started skipping training and I got the feeling that we lost motivation for no better reason than short-term distractions. So, I came up with the idea to do a bake sale to raise even more money and awareness for our team. The team loved the idea and it was a huge success. That really got us back on track with our commitment to training and eventually we raised a decent amount of money and went over the finish line together!

A

Now let's see what this usually looks like in a typical interview situation...

"I'm a great team player and always get on with other people. I never had any issues with my team."

R

Remember that some candidates will be extremely nervous! Here is how you can ask a follow up question to help this candidate to give a good answer:

"Great! Can you maybe elaborate on a specific situation in which your team did well? How did you contribute to that?"

R

esults

Take these closing questions seriously! You will be glad not to have to chase people up on their paper work. The phone screen interview would have already eliminated any candidates with unrealistic pay expectations.

Unconscious Bias

What is unconscious bias?

Who is biased?

Be aware that you will inevitably feel drawn to people, who are most like you.

Reflecting on your various unconscious biases will help you select the best candidate.

Primacy and reCency bias

This can be problematic for your teams' performance, because diverse teams produce better results than all-male, or all-creative-types, or all-sporty teams!

It's probably her.

You will remember events more clearly that happened early on, or at the end of a repetitive process (such as the interviewing process).

That is why candidates, who came in for the first or last interview, are more likely to be hired.

Take notes!

This will make it easier to judge all candidates based on equal amounts of remembered information.

Research shows that simply being aware of unconscious bias decreases the risk of making biased decisions significantly!

Keep it legal!

Confirmation bias

Point out unconscious bias when you notice it! This creates an organisational culture in which people feel comfortable talking about biases, which in turn is quintessential to mitigating them.

You will always look for confirmation of any hypotheses that you might hold about a candidate. For example, if your first impression of a candidate was bad, you will perceive them in a more negative light for the rest of the interview.

There are many, many ways in which we can be biased. If you want to learn more about unconscious bias, ask HR for additional training!

DiscriminAtion Laws

Good luck choosing the right person for your team!

Confidentiality

The same discrimination laws apply to interviewing as to reference checking.

Do not ask about:

Sexuality

Religion

Disability

Employment status

Family status

Age

Skin colour

National origin

Race

Sex

Ethnic origin

Marital status

Ethical belief

Political position

Be discrete.

Any information gleaned from interviews is confidential.

It’s not good practice to discuss what you’ve learned with other employees at your organisation (only discuss with the people who are recruiting, and only what matters to the role).

Interviewing the Way