Interviewing

The Interview: The Most Important Step in a Successful Staffing Strategy

It is the culmination of the search process for both candidate and employer alike. And it can make or break your ability to fill a vacant position, depending upon your perception of the candidate during the interview and their perception of you and your organization.

A certain amount of discomfort in meeting and speaking with strangers is part of our social fabric. So goes the technical job interview, which can range from a pleasant conversation where the parties involved “click,” to what resembles the worst blind date you’ve ever had. Most IT candidates and employers experience some combination of both in their search for the right job or the best-suited candidate.

One good way to optimize your organization’s hiring process in this competitive climate is to ensure that you have in place, and follow, a solid interviewing process. To hone this process and make it as productive as possible for your organization and the candidates you interview, we’ve taken our “best of” interviewing information and provided it here as a resource.

First Steps

The best way to ensure productive interviewing is to get the right candidates in your door at the outset. Consider an IT staffing partner to assist in finding, evaluating, and screening candidates ahead of time. It isn’t just because MATRIX Resources is an IT Staffing company that we suggest this.

Conducting the Interview

Rule one for conducting an interview in today’s tight job market is to “keep it positive.” From your greeting and introductions to your thank-you and follow up, it’s important that you establish a positive environment that demonstrates your organization’s strengths as a good place to work.

Assessment

The easiest approach for evaluating interview candidates is to set up a rating system that is applied fairly and equally to all candidates. Qualitative ratings of Fair, Poor, or Excellent can be used to describe how candidates' answers stack up against one another.

Follow Up After the Interview

No use mincing words. It’s essential that you follow up completely and quickly after the interview. It projects your organization as fast-moving and decisive and demonstrates that you are serious about filling the position.

It's a Match!

When putting together the offer, it’s important to have done your homework in advance, otherwise you are at a distinct disadvantage that may cost you either the candidate or thousands of dollars in unnecessary compensation.