Interviewer Training : a Starter Guide
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Interviews are the first significant interaction between your company and potential employees.
Are your hiring managers prepared to make the most of it?
Interviewer training is a way to ensure that.
In this article, we'll explore how to prepare your managers, provides feedback, and the top tools to enhance interviewing skills.
Interviews are a necessary step for every manager to hire the right team, yet many are naturally ill-adapted to conduct them. These comes from several reasons :
As you can see, it's better to prepare and train your hiring managers before they conduct their first interview. Here’s how you can equip them with the tools and knowledge they need.
Start by giving your hiring managers detailed checklists. These should include key areas such as understanding the company’s strategy, mission, and structure. They should also be able to discuss job descriptions, perks, and benefits comprehensively. Make sure your managers have coordinated with their team and reviewed candidates’ resumes thoroughly before the interview.
Structured interviews are essential for consistency and fairness. Train your hiring managers on how to use structured interviews effectively. This includes preparing behavioral questions and using rating scales to assess candidates objectively.
Bias awareness training is crucial. Many hiring managers might not realize their unconscious biases influence their decisions. Encourage them to take tools like the Implicit Association Test and provide educational resources to help them identify and mitigate these biases.
Conducting mock interviews and role-playing scenarios can be highly beneficial. These exercises allow hiring managers to practice their skills in a controlled environment and receive immediate feedback. This practical experience helps build confidence and competence in conducting real interviews.
The first interviews will never be perfect. But that's how you learn to do better. You have to reinforce best practices among your hiring managers by making them learn from their experience. Here’s how you can give them effective feedback :
Creating a structured feedback loop is an interesting practice. After each interview, gather data on the interviewer's performance. This can include metrics such as talk-to-listen ratios, types of questions asked, and candidate engagement levels. This helps identify specific areas where the interviewer excelled and where improvement is needed.
When giving feedback on their past interviews, be specific. Highlight particular instances from the interview to illustrate your points. For example, if an interviewer interrupted the candidate frequently, mention this with exact timestamps or instances. Specific feedback is more actionable than general comments, allowing hiring managers to understand precisely what needs to change.
Balance your feedback by acknowledging the interviewer’s strengths while pointing out areas for improvement. This approach ensures that feedback is constructive and motivates the interviewer to build on their strengths while addressing weaknesses. For instance, commend them for asking insightful questions while suggesting they improve their listening skills to allow candidates more time to respond.
Implement a system of peer reviews where hiring managers can observe and give feedback to each other. Peer reviews can provide different perspectives and insights, promoting a collaborative approach to improvement. It also allows interviewers to learn from each other’s experiences and best practices.
Interviewing is hard, but fortunaly many tools are emerging on the market to assist. Here are some examples to train yourself or your managers :
1. Interview Guidelines :
Interview guidelines are lists of standardized questions tailored to the job roles and key points that you can rely on during interviews. Such guidelines help ensure consistency and thoroughness, reminding interviewers of covering key aspects of the candidate’s qualifications and fit for the role.
Examples of platforms :
2. Video Interview Platforms :
You want to streamline your interview digitally and record them easily ? Video interview platforms like VidCruiter and HireVue offer features such as interview recording, which allows for detailed review and feedback. They also provide automated scheduling and standardized question sets, which help maintain consistency and reduce bias.
3. Mock Interviews and Role-Playing :
Mock interviews and role-playing platforms can provide practical experience. They allow hiring managers to practice their skills in a controlled environment and receive immediate feedback. There are tools like :
5. Online Training Modules :
Online training modules and courses are also definitely valuable resources. Platforms like LinkedIn Learning and Coursera offer courses on interview techniques, unconscious bias, and effective communication. These modules provide hiring managers with flexible learning opportunities, allowing them to develop their skills at their own pace.
6. Feedback Tools
You might also use software that allows for structured feedback on interviews, highlighting both strengths and areas for improvement. There are not many of them, but you can use these two tools :
7. Legal Compliance Resources :
Not be forgotten, compliance platforms ensure your hiring managers are equipped with resources on legal compliance. This includes updated lists of appropriate and inappropriate questions and guidelines on avoiding discrimination. Tools like :
Do you want to improve the interviewing process through detailed analysis and actionable insights ? Noota is an interview assistant for recruiters that enhance your process :
You want to ensure that your hiring managers are not only asking the right questions but also engaging with candidates in a meaningful and unbiased manner ? Try Noota for free.
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