Managing the interview process

Make sure your interview process helps you secure the best professionals for the role.

Many hiring managers understand the importance of their company’s interview process and put a lot of thought into how it should work. But that doesn’t always mean it’s as good as it should be.

If you’re recruiting for a role where there’s a skill shortage, having a well managed and smooth interview process could help you secure the best professional. In our survey, we spoke to 600 job seekers and 500 hiring managers and have based our recommendations on their feedback and our own experience.

It’s a two way process

It’s important to understand that an interview is as much an opportunity for a job seeker to gather information about your organisation as it is for you to find out more about them. Over nine out of ten of the the professionals we surveyed (93%) said that they used the interview to assess the potential employer, with around three quarters (72%) saying that the interview process was very important in shaping their opinion of the company.

Employees are often – rightly - regarded as brand ambassadors for their company, and the same attitude should extend to the interviewer. The interview is often someone’s first impression of an employer, and will affect how they interact with your company in the future. That’s why it’s important to manage the interview process as carefully as you would any marketing campaign.

Give timely feedback

Interview feedback should be an important part of the interview process - both for successful and unsuccessful job seekers. 

Interview feedback is essential, almost all of the professionals we spoke to (98%) said they would appreciate feedback after an interview, even if they weren't successful in getting the job. However, eight out of ten job seekers (80%) told us that they didn’t always get feedback after an interview and just under a third of employers (30%) told us they didn’t give feedback to all the job seekers they’d interviewed. 

Implement interview guidelines 

If the interview process isn’t up to scratch, not only can it put professionals off but it may mean you don’t recruit the right person for the job. Almost eight out of ten (79%) of job seekers said they would turn down a job offer if they had a bad interview experience. Not only that, but 91% would tell their friends and associates about their bad experience. 

In today's digital world, more and more interviews are being held remotely via video calls (such as Skype or FaceTime), to help speed up recruitment processes. However, if you are contemplating using this method, there are a number of things to consider to help conduct successful job interviews via live video and to ensure a positive interview process overall.

Among the professionals we spoke to:

• Almost 42% said they had been asked questions they felt were ‘inappropriate or irrelevant to the job description’. 
• 49% said they had ‘experienced rudeness or disrespect from an interviewer.

Perhaps this shouldn’t be surprising as 25% of the hiring managers we interviewed said there were no guidelines or training in place for employees conducting interviews. We recommend that organisations should make sure all staff involved in the interview process are aware of the guidelines, and that the guidelines are designed for consistency, to make sure that the right questions are asked and to ensure that your company’s values are reflected throughout. 

Ensure the recruitment process is not delayed 

There is no one size fits all approach to how long an interview process should take; it often depends on the role (the more senior the position, the longer the process can take), the job description (specialised roles can take longer to recruit) and the pool of job seekers. 

However, the most in demand professionals seeking new employment can have more than one job offer to consider, so make sure your interview process does not suffer from delays. If you suspect your interview process may be too long, it could be time for an audit.