There’s a tremendous amount online about interviewing techniques on the part of the interviewee, but the preparedness and skills of the hiring manager are just as vital to effective recruitment. A passive hiring manger simply cannot be relied upon to garner top talent. Instead, it is important to understand techniques and methods that help a skilled hiring manager identify the potential in every candidate.

 
1. Be Prepared

It’s the first step of any effective interview – come prepared.  A successful interviewer reviews the materials submitted by a candidate and glances over their social profiles on sites like LinkedIn or Twitter. Humanize the candidate.

 
2. Listen, Listen, Listen

However unremarkable it appears, listening is key to an effective interview.  Give the candidate “breathing room” while he or she is answering questions.  Allow for pauses between responses. This alleviates social pressure and encourages candidates to expand upon or add additional, indicative points to their answers.

 
3. Be Direct

There is no sense for an effective hiring manager to beat around the bush.  Your preparedness dictates the specific type of questions to be asked and weeds out the unnecessary, filler-type chat.  Don’t have a silver bullet question that decides the candidate’s fate; but have direct questions that filter out the top talent.

 
4. Challenge

A good hiring manger identifies candidates who can rise to the challenge of a given position, so why not challenge candidates in the hiring room?  Present scenarios, speak about current tasks, see how an applicant responds to these practicalities first, before seeing it in real life.

 
5. Body Language

A successful hiring manager studies body language as well as verbal responsee and uses the two to discern a more nuanced view of the potential hire.

 
6. Seeing Is Believing

 
The interview room is not a vacuum. Candidates are going to say a lot to you, but after research and attentive listening, there is still more.  Ask potential employees to give concrete examples of tasks and achievements that exemplify the values they have stated and answers they have given.

Now – these tips are no foolproof procedure for hiring the perfect candidate. Nonetheless, every interview is an exercise in advertising and asserting your organization’s values. Always put your best image forward, regardless of the interview’s outcome. How you present your company could attract—or discourage— colleagues and contacts of this one interviewee for years to come.

The hiring process can be a long and difficult process for many employers. Partnering with an experienced staffing agency can help relieve the stress of hiring, and find you a talented candidate.

 
If you are looking for employment agencies in PA, contact the experts at Magellan Search & Staffing today.