SpeedTIP: Create a relaxed environment to put an applicant at ease during their job interview.
Remember your first (and maybe last) blind date? Were you tense, nervous and scared?😢 OUCH! Never a good start to a long term relationship!😲 And yet isn’t this exactly how your job applicant (and you too) feel before a job interview? Therefore you should…
‘Stage manage’ a job interview because 1) you want to get to know the ‘real person’, 2) sell the applicant on your company as a career choice and 3) get the relationship off to a good start.💖 (Even if you don’t hire your candidate hopefully they’ll still refer customers to your business.)
RESOURCE: Hiring is brutal today! You’ll get 100’s of new recruiting/ hiring ideas and systems in my 3-hour, online SFS: Hiring the Very Best! LIVE seminar. To learn more and/or easily register online click HERE.
HINT: Do NOT schedule an in-depth interview with every “Are you hiring?” caller! (Even though you should ALWAYS “be hiring”!) Instead, ‘high grade’ your job applicants with the first five steps of my Six-Step Hiring Funnel BEFORE moving them to Step #6: A Formal interview. (Click HERE to watch my interview on How to Hire Great Employees Using the ‘Six-Step Hiring Funnel’.)
‘Setting the stage’ begins even before your ‘Career Candidate’ walks into your office. NOTE: If you work out of your home just meet for coffee. But now you’re one-on-one with your best applicant…
Help your Career Candidate to relax and feel valued.💖
1. Offer your Career Candidate a beverage. If they ask for a double scotch it may not be a good sign!🙄
2. Remove emotional and physical barriers. Don’t sit behind your (imposing) desk! If possible, sit side by side in comfortable armchairs. Or at the very least move your office chair out from behind your desk.
3. SMILE and reassure your candidate. You can say: “I always get nervous with job interviews no matter which side of the desk I’m sitting on! And let me tell you, your resume (or application) is very impressive, and people speak highly of you. (Smiling) After all, that’s why you’re here…”
4. Ask permission to jot down some notes. “Your thoughts are very important to me but my memory isn’t what it used to be…” (Your focused note taking will be very flattering to your Candidate!)
5. Develop a list of prepared questions. HINT: Start with simple, fact-based questions, then move to open-ended questions and end up with tougher “How would you handle this…” scenarios.
MORE HELP? You’ll receive forty Sample Interview questions (you don’t have to ask them all!) in my SFS: Hiring the Very Best! LIVE seminar.
My very best hiring tip? RAISE YOUR PRICES!💲💲💲 “Ummmm, Steve? What does me charging more have to do with hiring the Very Best employees?” EVERYTHING! So let’s talk about “How to raise your prices without fear” soon!
May you find (and keep) the Very Best People on your business team! (I’m here to help!)
Steve