Making a Job Interview Stress-Free—An Interviewer’s Guide

After convincing management to hire more people and your job advertisement ushered in a good mix of applicants, it is time to interview candidates to fill the IT staffing vacancy. But how can you conduct an effective job interview?

Here are a few tips to help you prepare for your role as the interviewer to guarantee you acquire only the best applicants fit for the job position.

Know What the Kind of Candidate You Need

When you are writing a job advertisement, it is ideal to have a picture of what kind of person you need for the post. If not, you have to make it clear before you meet any candidate.

It will help to consider what skills they should have to accomplish the tasks the position requires. You also need to look into what role they would be playing and take note of the attributes that the job needs. Lastly, you have to identify the traits should the candidate be required to work seamlessly with your existing team.

Imagine if you are looking for an IT support member for the night shift. You would be searching for a candidate who is adept at addressing IT issues, has the patience to deal with people who are not as knowledgeable in IT, and can communicate and work well with others.

Prepare Your Interview Questions

After painting the picture of your ideal candidate and writing the skills and traits on paper, it is time to put together your interview questions. Preparing your interview questions beforehand allows you to maximize your time with each applicant during the interview.

Here are some questions that you might want to ask your interviewee:

  • Why do you want to work for the company?
  • Why are you leaving your current job? Why did you leave your last job?
  • What can you bring to this position?
  • Can you tell me about a time when you had a disagreement with a coworker?
  • If you were faced with a problem at work that you could not solve, what would you do?
  • What do you think is your most outstanding achievement and why?
  • Where do you see yourself ten years from now?
  • What do you think are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

Create an Interview Panel

Deciding which applicant best suits the IT staffing vacancy is a daunting task. But if you have multiple people present, you can have the necessary checks and balances to hire the right person for the job.

Aim to have three people in the panel: you, the superior’s boss, and a person from Human Resources. In that case, it would be you, your boss, and someone senior from HR or the recruiter. This mix of people will ensure that you cover all your bases and make the decision-making process more manageable.

If you cannot arrange for a panel interview, you may consider interviewing applicants separately based on the panelists’ availability. It may take a bit longer, but it still has the same checks and balances as panel interviews.

Conclusion

Looking for the right candidate to fill an IT staffing vacancy can be an exciting but stressful time for the applicants and the interviewer. But if you have a clear picture of who you need for the position, prepare your questions, and invite people to assess the candidate with you, you can expect that everything will go well.

Technical Paradigm is an IT staffing firm in Chicago, IL, that connects companies all over the US with the best IT talent in the field. Whether you need an IT support member for your corporation or an IT director for your startup, we can find them for you. Team up with us today!

Your Success is Our Success

Building a company primed for growth means staffing it with skilled and reliable team members. Time is crucial in the highly competitive IT talent market, which is why it’s a good idea to leave the task of searching, testing, vetting, and interviewing candidates to us. In doing so, you’ll get to focus on what genuinely matters—running your business to the best of your ability.
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