How to Conduct Potential Employee Interviews

While interviewing candidates, there are several questions you may and cannot ask. Here’s a primer and the paperwork you’ll need to hire legally.

What you’ll discover:

Do’s and Don’ts of Interviewing Questions
You are not permitted to ask any questions.
Prepared to hire: What to do after you’ve chosen your workers
Set your new employee off to a good start.

You’ve most likely located the suitable individuals based on their employment applications by this point. You’ve reviewed their job experience, education, history, and other personal information, and you’ve assembled your pool of interviews.

What happens next?

The interview process provides an excellent chance to get to know applicants on a more personal level. Further information about their former employers, job experience, and interest in their industry will reveal more about them and whether or not they’ll be a good match for the available post. Utilize their job applications as a reference to create pertinent queries.

The Dos and Don’ts of Interviewing

During interviewing, there are a few things to bear in mind, including what questions you should and should not ask. Your time, as well as that of your applicant, is precious. Following these tips can help you make the most of your visit.

You may pose questions.

Several gurus will tell you to stick to your professional expertise. Asking workers to elaborate on topics on their CV is a good place to start. Michael Hyatt, author of Platform: Be Noticed in a Loud World, suggests numerous deep, but suitable, interview questions, such as:

What are your biggest strengths (or weaknesses)?
What words would you use to define your learning style?
Can you describe a recent challenging customer service situation that you assisted in resolving?
What are your professional objectives?
What is your overall problem-solving strategy?

The ideal applicant, according to Hyatt, is “modest, honest, eager, and brilliant.” ‘Excellent interview questions may highlight a candidate’s personality, work experience, and organizational fit,’ argues Josh Tolan, CEO of Spark Hiring. Among the questions he recommends are:

Inform me about your professional accomplishments.
Where do you envision yourself in five years? How would this role assist you in getting there?
How would you provide value to our organization?

You are not permitted to ask any questions.

Nevertheless, although there are several questions you may ask to have a better understanding of the applicant and their skills, there are some topics you cannot discuss during an interview.

It is also advised to avoid some taboo subjects, such as:

Age-The most important aspect of age is ensuring that the candidate is of legal working age for your firm. If you ask someone their age, you may open the door to legal discrimination if they are not employed.
While employers ultimately discover more personal data about workers, the interview is not the time or place to find out. Asking a woman whether she intends to have children, for example, may be considered discriminatory since mothers need maternity leave. This subject encompasses sexual orientation and romantic relationships.
Religious or political affiliations-An employer is not interested in religious or political ties. If you need to know what days an employee is available to work because they have religious holidays, just inquire, ‘What days are you available to work?’
Nationality/race-As with many applications, a candidate’s accent or look does not always indicate that he or she was born outside of the United States. Inquiring about someone’s nationality or native tongue may be easily misconstrued as disrespectful.
Although health or abilities may be required for a certain work role, it is advisable to avoid asking direct inquiries (e.g., “Do you have any disabilities?”) to prevent prejudice.
Appearance (height, weight, build, etc.)-Like assuming someone’s skills based on how they seem, assuming someone’s abilities based on how they look risks a discrimination lawsuit. These subjects may potentially be humiliating for your candidate.

Avoiding bias not only stops you from insulting your prospective employee, but it also protects you from the government, which has stringent restrictions on sensitive or offensive content.

Similarly, HR World advises against asking questions about a military member’s service in order to avoid discrimination based on their call to duty; asking if the candidate lives nearby in order to avoid discrimination based on location (for example, if they live out of state); or inquiring about an applicant’s criminal record.

When you’re ready to hire, here’s what you should do next.

After your interviews are over, it’s time to choose who will receive the position. Many managers and executives may phone the candidate to orally extend the job offer, but follow-ups are still done using a written employment offer letter that includes a paper copy of the applicant’s acceptance.

Nonetheless, job offer letters should be prepared tentatively until all legal paperwork, nondisclosure agreements (if applicable), and other essential materials are signed.

Set your new employee off to a good start.

Establishing your footing or degree of comfort in a new role may be difficult, and we’ve all been there. It is critical that, as an employer, you provide as many chances to understand your staff’s and new workers’ skills and capabilities as possible in order to establish a fun yet productive working environment from which everyone can profit.