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How to conduct a thorough, probing interview and make the right decision.

I was having a conversation with someone yesterday who has a job interview next week. He was doing a lot of the talking and was, in my opinion, scarily verbose. I was thinking to myself, what a challenging interview his would be to conduct and am hoping that his interviewer is well trained and experienced in controlling and keeping interviews to time. Otherwise this interview is going to be a record breaker.
I feel like reaching out to this unsuspecting interviewer and warning them what to expect in their 10am next Tuesday. I'd like to let them know in advance to get their stopwatch out and be ready to heavily interrupt, refocus and control this interviewee.
Controlling a candidate right from the start is crucial. If they blow you away by talking too much, you need to intervene, get them back on track, and ask them to come to the point. It's your duty as an interviewer to let a candidate know when to stop talking otherwise they won't have the chance to answer all your questions and give you the evidence you need to make a decision.
When interviewing, it's really important to give the same amount of interview time to each person, so that you're fair and consistent and allow each candidate the same chance to sell themselves. If you allow an interview to overrun by more than a few minutes, you're giving that individual an unfair advantage and most likely, keeping another waiting. For your own sanity, back to back interviews that are running late is a situation to avoid at all costs.
Half an hour is a good length of time for a first interview. The purpose is to filter out unsuitable candidates and narrow down your pipeline to a manageable number of candidates who you then invite to further assessments. You don't want to fill your day with hour long first interviews, as you'll never get any other work done. Five, thirty minute interviews in a day is one thing but five, hour long interviews is quite another.
If your first interviews are taking up too much of your precious time, you might be interested in my online workshop where I share techniques on how to control an interview and ensure you run to schedule.
How to Conduct a Probing Interview and Make the Right Decision on 18thNovember 10-12 will give you the knowledge, tools and practice to:
1. Structure a professional interview.
2. Ask the right questions and probe answers thoroughly.
3. Gain key evidence to decide if the candidate has the skills and qualities for the role.
4. Assess and score all candidates fairly and objectively.
5. Have the competence and confidence to make the right decision.
Attend this workshop and you will:

  • Discover why previous interviews didn't go so well
  • Learn a systematic method of asking questions and probing further
  • Use a proven scoring system to assess candidates consistently
  • Conduct a practice interview and gain constructive feedback in a safe environment

The cost is just £45 which is great value to learn how to avoid record breaking interviews. Please book your place here.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/114943218260
I hope you can join me.

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