With time being a luxury for most businesses,ย seeing every candidate when interviewing is not always an option.ย Here are five top tips to consider when interviewing remotely.
Seeing every candidate when interviewing for a role is often unachievable and not a good use of time, which is precious in any business. Therefore, telephone or video interviews can be a quicker, and less complex way to fill a job role, particularly when interviewing for roles with a large applicant pool. With this in mind, Aaron Wallisย Marketing Recruitment has collated five tips for employers to get the most out ofย a telephone or video interview:
1) Have an objective
To make your telephone or video interviews as efficient as possible, plan ahead and think about exactly what you need to hear from a candidate for them to advance to the next stage of the process. Refer back to your person and job specifications and decide which are the most important factors of a candidateโs suitability or capability. This will help guide the questions youโll ask during the interview.
2) Plan your questions
The best telephone or video interviews are conversational and free-flowing, giving both the employer and the candidate the flexibility to explore if it is a good fit. Despite this, having a planned structure will eliminate any lapses in the discussion, as well as ultimately allowing you as an employer to get what you need out of the interview. The average telephone interview is around 30 minutes, so it can be useful to have around 5-10 questions planned ahead.
3) Whoโs calling who?
Make sure youโve properly communicated the agreed time and contact details for the interview. Thereโs not much worse than both parties waiting for one to call the other, which could set a negative tone for the interview. As the employer, it can be a good idea to lead the exchange by agreeing that youโll call the candidate first.
4) Prepare your environment
Where you conduct a telephone interview can make a big difference. If possible, try to book out a room where you wonโt be disturbed – and let your colleagues know that youโre busy whilst the interview takes place. Removing any noise disturbances will ensure that the interview runs smoothly and there are no awkward blips in communication.
Equally, if carrying out a video interview, try to create a neutral environment where the candidate wonโt be distracted by anything happening in the background of their screen.
5) Put the candidate at ease
Telephone or Skype interviews can feel awkward at times, it’s a lot harder to pick up on body language cues which can make candidates feel under even more pressure and bring out their nerves. Give the candidate the opportunity to shine by starting with some small-talk and โease-inโ questions which will allow the interview to flow a lot more smoothly. If possible, leave the trickier questions to the later stages of the interview, where the candidate will have had a better chance to settle into the situation.
