6 Steps for a Successful Interview Process

Interviewing is the most crucial part of the hiring process—and unfortunately, the area where companies can lose confidence very quickly. Simply put: Interviewing job candidates can be very stressful if you don't feel confident in your process. 

To give you a boost, here are five steps to an easily replicable, time-tested interview process: 

1. Share the deal breakers. 

Don’t waste time on candidates who object to a certain detail of the job or company. Be honest and upfront about any less-than-ideal elements of the position. This could include working weekends or in a questionable neighborhood or being far from public transportation, to name a few.  

Similarly, what are your deal breakers? Do you require that your new hire have a college degree, a driver’s license or a specific certification? Disclose these details in the first few emails so that a candidate doesn’t go further down the interview process.  

2. Conduct a phone interview. 

The phone interview is my favorite way to start the interviewing process, even if the candidate is local. This stage can provide insight into their demeanor and how they come across on the phone—particularly important if they’ll be working in a sales or public-facing role. Again, this can help you eliminate inappropriate candidates before they get further into the hiring process. 

A phone interview can also be a time saver. You can end a phone interview after 5 to 10 minutes, something that would be impossible with an in-person interview without the candidate getting offended.  

During the phone interview, focus on what I call “functional” interview questions. These questions help determine if an applicant has experience with the job’s functions or responsibilities. These include: 

We’ll get deeper into functional questions in a future column. 

3. Conduct a face-to-face interview. 

When you meet your candidate in person, you’ll get a better idea of their personality and how they present themselves. If you’re hiring remotely,  have a tight schedule or aren't ready to fly your candidate in for an interview, a video interview can be a comparable substitute.  

For this interview, behavioral questions are best. They will help you get a good idea of how your candidate would deal with challenges, communicate and fit in with your team. Some examples include: 

4. Use selection tools. 

Once you’ve narrowed down your final candidates, it’s time to use pre-employment assessments. This could be a personality profile like the DiSC or an intelligence test like the Wonderlic. There are lots of tools that can help you understand your candidate better. 

Additionally, consider giving candidates a pre-hire project—a task that tests a candidate’s skill in real-time, with real colleagues and challenges. It might be a quick design mock-up, a sales floor simulation or anything specific to your industry or the open position. These are an underutilized, yet highly valuable, selection tool—and they’re free! 

5. Discuss important forms and tests. 

As you move your best candidates through the interview process, make sure you talk about compensation. Also make sure that your candidates know about any other forms they might be asked to sign: noncompetes, nondisclosure agreements, drug tests, for example.  

6. Extend the offer. 

This is (usually) the fun part! When all your documents are ready and you’ve prepared a compensation and benefits package you know they’ll fall all over themselves to sign, make the offer.  

If you’re not confident with your hiring process, start by breaking it down into these five steps to keep it manageable. 

Rikka Brandon is a nationally recognized building industry recruiting and hiring expert and best-selling author. She helps building industry business owners and leaders solve their recruiting and retention challenges with strategy, best practices and access to experts. Whether or not you're looking for in-house training and coaching for your team or an expert to provide consulting, you can learn more at www.BuildingGurus.com/Informa.