HR Professionals: 3 Interview Tips You Can’t Live Without

When planning your next interview, keep in mind these three tips that can make all the difference in assessing a prospective job candidate.

1. People look different in person than on paper. Let’s face it: anyone can be made to look good in a resume. In fact, some job seekers falsify resume information or references. But when you meet a candidate face-to-face, you can get an entirely different impression, especially during the course of an interview. After studying a resume carefully, look for questionable areas or gaps and prepare questions about these for the interview.
2. Evaluate the whole person. In addition to reviewing the resume and asking pertinent questions, study the person sitting across from you in terms of attitude, behavior, and speaking patterns. For example, does the candidate seem to express an attitude of entitlement? Does he seem bored? Does she appear overconfident? With respect to behavior, is the candidate slouching, leaning to one side, displaying nervous habits, or laughing too much or too little? Does the interviewee speak in complete sentences and use correct grammar? Is there much use of slang?
3. Do an Internet search on the candidate before interviewing. Use a search engine to check the person’s name and possible job affiliations. Consider viewing social networking accounts for an idea of how the candidate represents himself or herself on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. Click on their friends and associates, and learn about their favorite pastimes. While this personal information should not necessarily be used to make a job decision, it can help to fill in blanks about the applicant’s personality and character, and if public information, may be broached in general questions about hobbies or personal interests.
Use these interview tips to find the best candidates for your job openings. Remember, forewarned is forearmed!
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