One of the most important roles you will have as a manager is to hire new staff.  You will need to firstly think about the role requirements, the person requirements and lastly, the fit into the team.  It's a lot to think about.  Here's some thought starters to get you onto the right track:

Your tasks as an interviewer:

1. You understand the business need. You ensure that the job description accurately reflects the work to be done and what a successful employee does in this role.

2.  You help the candidate get prepared.  (date, time, location, who they will be meeting with)

3.  You prepare by researching the candidate. It’s OK to use various sources of information to learn more about the person before they arrive for an interview.

4.  You make the candidate relaxed and have a conversation – an interview is not an examination.

5.  You talk only 20% – 30% of the time.

6.  You describe the next steps, at the end of the interview.

7.  You provide closure for every candidate. This is done by following up and providing an answer about whether they have the role or where they could improve their style of communication during a formal interview.

Checklists can be helpful, along with an interview guide and scoring matrix. 

TOP TIP:  be prepared for the unexpected - if the candidate asks a question you are not prepared for, or if something unexpected happens e.g. fire drill. 

For more help on the hiring process, how to use an interview guide, look under e-Books there is a resource called Interviewing Skills for Managers.

Carol Speirs