Are You Really Ready to Conduct Job Interviews?

As a business professional, chances are you may have to participate in a job interview on behalf of your employer sometime during your career. This is especially true when you reach a managerial or supervisory position and need to question job seekers who want to work for you. Here are some reasons why employers might not have the best interviewers in place and ways you can tell if you are ready to quiz potential hires.

Why So Many Iffy Interviewers?

Liz Ryan, founder and CEO of Human Workplace, believes bad interviewers result from several factors. Employers might not value the job interview process enough to train people how to conduct proper interviews. Other people, especially ones who motivate themselves with fear, may feel as if this face-to-face time is a power trip to have control over candidates. Employers may view human resources staffers as screeners rather than actual interviewers who know what to do.

When you're a supervisor, you already understand the job and what a hire has to do to fit into a particular role. If you have an open position in your department and you have a supervisory role over candidates, it just makes sense that you should have a say during the job interview. You should request with HR that you get to know the candidate during his time in front of you, but you should also prepare for the interview ahead of time. Make sure you have the right training and mindset before the candidate walks through the door to face your questions. Don't be afraid to investigate formal classes or training opportunities on the best ways to interview job seekers.

Are You Prepared to Interview?

You should have the right attitude before setting foot in the interview room. You do not need to interview candidates if you believe your sole job is to weed out lesser candidates by looking for flaws. You might not have the right attitude if you do not feel like you need to sell your company to an interviewee or if you think a candidate's sole purpose is to make interviewers happy.

You should be wary if you aren't a people person and don't like having conversations. Interviews should be fun exercises in narrative storytelling between the two parties so everyone gets to know one another. It's not your job to examine a candidate's mindset; during a job interview, focus on determining who is the best fit for the position.

How Do You Know You're Ready?

You know you're ready for a job interview after you have observed several of these events beforehand. This gets you used to the actual process by seeing what goes on in the room. You must know what the candidate encounters on a daily basis in a particular role, such as customer interactions, regular responsibilities and overall challenges. A good interviewer also knows how to judge character and talent as well as being able to listen to someone's narrative. Lastly, you must be aware of the law regarding legal and illegal questions.

A job interview is a great way to get to know an employee before he becomes part of your team. Make sure you feel comfortable with the person, and realize that part of your job is to make your employee's day by hiring him.

Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net