How To Interview Someone: Expert Guide + Free Template
In my previous article, I wrote about giving regular feedback to hiring managers and teams about the interview process.
Alongside this, I work a lot on training team members involved with interviewing candidates to focus their interviews while simultaneously making them more engaging for candidates.
Over the years I've found that, in many cases, we can do more with less time and not make candidates feel like they’re being grilled by the Spanish Inquisition.
So, without further ado, here’s my guide to creating focused, engaging interviews.
Why Are Interviews Important?
We interview candidates to assess their qualifications, communication skills, and motivations while verifying the accuracy of their application.
On the flipside, job seekers can showcase their abilities, understand the role better, and build rapport with potential employers.
Both parties can clarify expectations, negotiate terms, and make informed decisions, reducing the risk of turnover and ensuring a good match.
Ultimately, the goal is to thoroughly investigate the necessary skills, behaviors, and motivations and create a positive candidate experience regardless of the outcome.
How To Interview Someone: 7-Step Process
Not sure I care to put a number on how many people I've been involved in interviewing over the years, and no two are ever the same (which is part of the fun).
Whatever the role or organization, here’s my process for preparing for and conducting an effective interview:
1. Set out an aim
The first step is to set out an aim for your interviews. Is the purpose to test technical competencies, behaviors, or both?
To understand this, first write down everything you need to know about someone to be able to confidently hire them into the position. This will be the basis of both the interview structure and content.
Example:
You're seeking a senior salesperson to help launch your product into a new market. They need to have potential connections with the key clients you are looking for—focus on that!
Are you also looking for this person to eventually become a team leader? Have a few questions on that as well.
Do you think your product benefits from one type of selling more than another? Make sure you understand their style.
And so on until you have all the needed things from the person to be able to hire them.
Next, prioritize which questions you need the answers to the most so you can spend the most time there and start creating the question templates (you can use mine at the bottom of this article to help with this).
Taking the time for this exercise will set out a framework of what you’re looking for in each interview that you can later be very transparent about with candidates.
Alongside this, start considering who needs to evaluate each part and how candidates are going to be assessed. I recommend that you avoid having everyone under the sun involved (the CEO meeting every candidate is actually not the brag some companies make it out to be—more on that later).
However, on the other hand, relying on the hiring manager alone can be quite problematic down the line for both the candidate and the company.
It's about the balance between the pitfalls of just one person's opinion vs. decision by committee (and therefore a protracted hiring process). My article on collaborative hiring goes into more depth on this and you'll want to see examples of a recruiting process flowchart to see how you might visualize this.
Example:
Implementation manager is a role that has both a client relationship and technical aspects. Ask an experienced account manager to assess the former and someone from Product or Engineering the latter. That way each can focus and get the most out of a candidate in their area.
2. Develop the interview structure
Once you’ve set out the aim you can think about what the structure needs to be.
I usually recommend structuring your interviews like a funnel, starting with the most must-have skills in the first stages, and moving towards the optional ones in the next stages.
Example:
- Stage one: Deep dive into their experience with specific questions prioritized by must-have experience first and moving further towards optional experience.
- Stage two: “Technical” interview, maybe involving a task, where you get to assess must-have skills and potentially get an understanding (based on the candidate’s performance during the first interview) of their nice-to-have skills.
- Stage three: Focus on the culture add and the behavioral fit.
In splitting the interview like the example above, you're not devaluing the culture by putting it last but making sure you don't progress people who don’t have the skills and therefore wasting time. This is especially important for senior hires.
Additionally, this interview flow lets you use the previous interviews to inform the depth of answers you can expect at the next stages.
For example, say you're interviewing for a senior financial controller and you have a candidate who talked about some complex financial reporting they'd done in the first stage which happens to match the second stage task.
During the task, you'd expect them to apply the expertise they mentioned and you can gauge if they truly do have the expertise they talked about.
3. Preparing questions
Odds are you’ve been through a few interviews by now, either as the interviewer or interviewee.
In all likelihood, you can recall a time when you felt like you were answering a question that seemed irrelevant or, conversely, you got an answer from a candidate that felt like a theatre play.
The key to a great interview question is engaging the candidate in a conversation.
To achieve this, ask open-ended questions (Who, When, How, Why, Where) or ask for examples. This will result in longer answers that will get a lot more value from the in-depth detail.
Example:
"Do you have experience with software testing?" (bad) vs “What is your experience with software testing?” (good)
Use these questions to understand the person's experience and decision-making. I have learned so many things from interviewing people!
The next most important thing: peeling the onion aka follow-up questions.
These mark the experts in their field and help the people with the most potential to stand out. Usually, if someone is trying to make up a story to pass off as if they have experience, they fall through on the 2nd or 3rd follow-up.
Pay attention to the person's answer to your first big, overarching question and make notes of areas you'd like to question if it's not appropriate to interject. That will make your follow-ups more appropriate to the answer, but here are some examples of more universal questions:
- Why did they make the decision that they did?
- What were other alternatives and why were they not viable?
- How did things pan out?
- What could be improved?
- How did other people in the team take the decision?
- How did they communicate with other people?
Lastly, be curious and inquisitive—not the inquisition!
Being aggressive in your questioning is a sign of a weak or insecure interviewer and it rarely gets the best out of candidates if you put on a "tough" stance.
Only exception is if that’s your company culture—at which point, please be as aggressive as needed so candidates know what they’re getting themselves into as early as possible!
Questions to avoid
There are certain types of questions that people like to ask but, historically, almost never work.
Trick questions
Examples include "How many windows are there in Canary Wharf?", or my personal favorite, "How many piano tuners are there in the Netherlands?" (a question I was genuinely asked in an interview that will forever remain with me).
These questions supposedly aim to check the person's "problem-solving skills". I had seen a piano perhaps twice in my life at that point, so had no idea how the tuning process works.
However, I have plenty of friends with guitars and they just tune their own. So my response to that question was to ask back "Do you mean people who tune their own or professionals?".
Apparently, the interviewer really disliked my answer!
These kinds of questions make people put on a show and can also be very exclusive to people culturally. All they achieve is wasting precious interview time that can be used to ask better questions.
Better alternative:
Give them a small scenario that they'll face during their time in the role and ask them to walk you through how they will solve it. This is an example that is grounded in reality and will be more relatable to the candidate.
Example for a senior salesperson:
"How would you approach a new market, dominated by a couple of very established brands, with a new challenger brand very few are aware of?".
This can spark a whole ideation session even!
Quirky questions
"What is your starter Pokémon?" or "If you were an animal what animal would you be?".
I wish I was making these up. The Pokémon question was from someone in an interview training session who, quite bravely, came out and said that they ask everyone that question.
I asked why and he said, "I will know everything I need about them from that". I am forever thankful that they admitted to this during the training so I could nip it in the bud. At this point, you may as well ask them their star sign!
I have played many video games but never Pokémon. Wonder what that says about me?
Better alternative:
There is no better alternative to these. Move on and use your time to ask other more useful questions!
Sell me X
I will forever curse The Wolf of Wall Street for putting the “sell me this pen” question into people's heads as some sort of a key to all sales.
A recent alternative I came across during an interview was when I was asked to sell the company I was interviewing for.
I am a recruiter and I’m expected to know more than what is on the website, which comes with actually working at the company. Otherwise, candidates can just read for themselves!
Better alternative:
"Sell me your current product or your current company".
That way you can test their storytelling skills or their sales style with something they should be confident on.
Too-open questions
"Tell me about yourself".
“Well I am from [insert country], I am a Pisces, I love swimming.”
Did I answer the question? - Yes. Will I get the job? Of course not.
Another example: "What problems can you solve for us" - What problems do you have?
“What are your weaknesses?” - This is a weak question!
Better alternative:
Tell them about a problem you currently have and engage with them on this. Ask them a more guided question like "Tell me about your experience with X project", picking something out of their CV.
An alternative to the weakness question is to ask about a time when they didn’t have success with something and what they learned as a result.
Why should we hire you?
Well this is what the interview is for, isn't it?
4. Create an assessment framework
The assessment framework is there to ensure the structure and questions are applied uniformly in each interview.
There are a few different ways to score answers, for example numerical values (1-5 or 1-10) or strong points/pros and weak points/cons.
My favorite is the Strong No, No, Yes and Strong Yes, because it’s a simple scale and there can be no fence-sitting.
Whichever you go for, make sure you give the scores a meaning so that interviewers know what they’re looking for.
Unless it’s a specific technical question that has a correct answer, the framework is more for interviewers to understand what a good answer looks like, not what the “correct” answer would be from a candidate.
For example, for our recent staff-level engineering hire, we looked at technical and behavioural parameters and identified 3-4 questions for each and 3-4 corresponding skills/traits towards each question.
One of the criteria for the staff engineer was to understand why they implemented certain frameworks, so we created the following to assess that criteria:
- Strong No - no understanding at all of the frameworks implemented
- No - no understanding of why the frameworks were implemented and no introspection of what else could have been considered.
- Yes - Good understanding of the frameworks implemented and the reasons behind their implementation
- Strong Yes - Very strong understanding of different frameworks and why each one may be chosen, plus able to explain what other alternative solutions were considered and why they didn’t work.
5. Conduct the interview
When it comes to candidate experience, interviewing is where you can really make it or break it.
This is where candidates spend the most time with you and, even if you haven’t had the time to create a super snazzy careers page with interactivity everywhere, creating a lovely interviewing experience can make up for it.
That’s not to say that the interview should be easy! Good candidates actually prefer interviews that challenge them and make them think about their area of expertise, so the above advice for efficient interviewing still stands.
However, what I want to draw your attention to in this section are the basics that, when you get them right probably won’t get rapturous praise, but, if you get it wrong, will get you the deserved criticism. So, always make sure to:
- Introduce yourself and what you do at the company
- If it’s the first interview, introduce the company as well
- Give the context on what you would like to cover in this interview
- Reassure the candidate, whether online or in person that if they need to take a break to grab water or go to the bathroom, they can do so. We are all human.
- Make sure you have reviewed their CV beforehand and are armed with questions relevant to them
- Make sure you are on time (even a bit earlier as the host)
- Keep track of time and make sure the candidate gets time to ask questions
- Smile and be curious about the person opposite you!
Seems basic but I still see situations where people forget any number of these things and it always shows.
Knowing how to interview someone effectively also includes managing time well with interview coordination software.
Tips for taking effective interview notes
Taking good interview notes is a skill you’ll have to develop and I’m afraid I don’t have any shortcuts.
Initially, I found it easier to have a pen and paper in front of me. I would jot down the interview questions and number them, making a note of the number when a new question came up. After that, graduated to typing up answers as I go.
Whether it is shorthand or full prose, the point is you should have enough information about what the candidate said to be able to back up your decision-making.
Most modern applicant tracking systems (ATS) have a tool of some kind to help you keep notes during interviews (it could be called an “interview kit” “scorecard” or “feedback form”).
Depending on the ATS, you may also have stars or “yes” or “no” or a numerical score that you can assign. Speak to your ATS provider or your recruitment team to configure those if they are valuable to you.
Making sure you have good notes from everyone in the hiring panel gives the best overview of how each candidate is performing during the recruitment process.
Personally, I’ve always found the Strong No, No, Yes, and Strong Yes the most valuable.
Numerical scores and stars usually take a lot of time, a strong hiring team, and a lot of data and interview feedback examples to train everyone in the interview team on what a 3 vs 4 star looks like. It can invite more subjectivity.
6. Assess the candidate and make a decision
Assess the candidate using your assessment criteria from step 4.
While getting feedback from multiple people is beneficial for decision-making and reducing bias, as you’re probably aware, garnering group consensus can be challenging.
A decision has to be made by a person or group that may not match the sentiments of some individuals involved.
The final decision needs to be respected and allowed to pass with the understanding that it cannot create friction within existing teams.
The collaborative hiring team should create a shortlist of candidates and provide feedback on each one for a hiring manager or panel to reflect on.
The decision maker in the process should then be able to provide their thoughts and a justification for whatever decision is made.
7. Provide and ask for feedback
The candidate experience doesn't stop as soon as you've hung up the Zoom call or seen the candidate out of the door.
The periods between the interview stages or just before the offer are crucial, so make sure you make the best of them.
Timely feedback
Feedback is really important, especially for candidates who didn’t progress through the stages.
It's useful for all candidates to hear what went well in their interview and not so well in an interview and, if they progressed, what the next steps will entail.
For help here check out my article on how to give interview feedback.
Ask for feedback
In between interviews is a great time to ask for feedback. I personally do not subscribe to the process where you send a survey or feedback form after every stage—those can get tedious.
However, a simple question in the email where you notify them of their feedback or their progression to the next step might be enough for them to give you an idea of what they liked and what they didn’t really understand.
Updates at pace
If you need a few days or are waiting for something in particular that will delay the candidate’s feedback (either their rejection or moving them through to the different stages), let them know!
Ideally, candidates should know within a few days of their interview about the outcome—the aim being a maximum of 72 hours post-interview where possible.
However, if there is going to be a delay, I drop the candidates a quick note to acknowledge that I have not forgotten about them, the company is not ghosting them it’s just that something is delaying us, whatever that delay may be.
Interview Checklist
Before you get going, check off the following:
- Do you have a standard starting list of questions to ask every candidate?
- Is this list divided per interview and per interviewer?
- Does each question have a specific purpose that connects back to the job description?
- Do you have a few follow-up questions in mind?
- Do you have the interview stages standardized and set up (you may also want to put them on the job posting)?
- If online, are you in a place where you won’t be disrupted by others or background noise?
- If meeting virtually, is your video interviewing platform up-to-date and ready to use?
- If in person, have you booked the room and made sure you are ready to welcome the person?
One of the best ways to ensure a great candidate experience is to be prepared, so I’ve made a downloadable template for you to help break down your thinking for each interview and prepare yourself and your interviewing panel.
Interview Template
Get your Interview template!
This form goes through questions one by one, especially questions the hiring manager is leaving to others in the interviewing panel to ask.
While this may seem long at first, soon you will do this instinctively and it is essential for everyone interviewing to be on the same page. Otherwise, you will be interviewing the same candidate for very different things and no one can be everything to everyone!
Interviewing Best Practices
A refresher of some of the best practices covered above:
- Be clear on the aim: Before doing anything, get clear on the purpose of the interview i.e. what you need to know to offer someone the job. This will inform the interview structure and questions.
- Open-ended questions: Ask open-ended questions (Who, When, How, Why, Where) or ask for examples.
- Make use of technology: Applicant tracking systems and other forms of recruiting software can help you take notes and assess candidates.
- Timely feedback: Provide timely, detailed feedback commensurate with how far the candidate has progressed through the process. Also remember to ask for feedback.
Toward Focused, Engaging Interviews
A job interview shouldn’t be a stand-off, you can get a lot more out of people by treating them like, well, people!
I go as far as sending candidates general interview tips or tips on what will be covered in each stage pre-interview. While I’m not giving the answers, it helps to lessen the pressure further.
Make sure you extend the common courtesies throughout the interview that you might extend to guests in your home and get curious about them as an individual. Of course, don’t forget to leave time at the end of the interview for them to ask questions too!
Interviewing is your reward at the end of what can be a long and exhausting candidate sourcing period, so enjoy it!
