You’ve probably read the stories about companies adding unusual interview tactics or questions like these to see how candidates handle real world challenges or requests coming out of left field. While we don’t think that you should hand a candidate car keys and ask them to drive you around the parking lot so you can judge their ability to drive a five-speed, you might want to consider adding the following things to make your interview process feel a little more rigorous. A 2017 study done by Glassdoor found that there is a positive correlation between a tougher interview process and getting better hires. Read the whole study here.
What is essential to the role? IQ/ EQ or problem solving?
Whether you’re hiring for this role for the first time, or it’s one that you hire for quite frequently, understanding what core set of soft skills a candidate needs in this role to be successful is what you’ll want to dig in to before you start interviewing for the position. Once you know the qualities your ideal candidate should have, you can start crafting behavioral interview questions that measure a candidates’ aptitude in typical or atypical situations they’ll encounter in the role.
The closer you can get to understanding how a candidate would handle a situation that the role encounters often or not-so-often, the better you’ll be able to assess whether the candidate is the right person for the role. Ask behavioral interview questions to get to the heart of what a candidate’s natural inclination would be in a scenario before they know a lot about the role. Behavioral questions are those that start by asking, “Tell me about a time when,” or “Take me through a difficult situation in your career that isn’t on your resume.” This will help you understand the “real candidate,” and help you weed out candidates that can use their common sense or deductive reasoning to tell you what you want to hear, not how the candidate would actually handle the situation.
Skills test?
You might be thinking that everyone knows Excel, or because Outlook is the email system that many businesses use that your candidates are proficient, if not experts in it. However, if your candidate truly needs to be more than minimally proficient at one or more systems or types of software, you should consider a basic skills test as part of your interview process. Training a new hire and getting through an introductory period are all part of onboarding, but if learning a new system or software isn’t going to be covered in training, it’s best to be specific with candidates on how much expertise they’ll need. A basic skills test can help you understand how much training you’ll need to do with systems and software and allow you to assess if a candidate’s skill level will allow them to hit the ground running, or if their other qualities are so impressive that their lack of systems knowledge is less of a deal breaker for you.
Assignment to bring back to second interview
We aren’t saying that you should ask your candidates to do a book report or decoupage a peanut butter or jelly container, rather, give them homework that is germane to their position. You could tell the candidate that in their second interview, the candidate will be interviewing you, the interviewer. This might not sound like a lot of fun for you, but it will give you insight into what the candidate values based on the questions he or she chooses to ask you. Need more ideas for a potential take home assignment? Get assignment examples and an understanding of what reasonable “homework” is here.
You don’t want to make your interview process so miserable or complicated that candidates hope they don’t make it past the first round. However, are there things you should be saying or asking or testing to make better hires? Maybe try one of our suggestions during your next interview process, and let us know if these strategies helped you find a better fit for your team and your company!