Interviewing Applicants
Once you have sorted through the applications for the position(s) you are offering, you will probably have identified a group of candidates you would like to take further through the process, as well as a group you know you don't want to take further, and perhaps some about whom you are unsure. For each discipline, you should review the number of candidates you wish to keep in the process. Ensure that the number you have is commensurate with the number you think you need to provide you with adequate choice for the next stage. If it is not, then you might not be able to recruit the number of graduates you require. Here you have a number of choices. Look again at the process to ensure that you have not been overly harsh – should the best of the ‘probably won't be taken further’ candidates be included after all?
Perhaps the best approach (which should ensure that the quality of your applicants is not diluted) is to place an advertisement which will attract more students from the background you are seeking. This is an efficient use of immediate advertising media such as the internet.
It is advisable to write as soon as you can to any candidates that you want to reject. Not only does this ensure the students are aware of their own prospects, but it may also prevent later telephone enquiries. There is some PR value in having a recruitment process that is seen to be quick and smooth, even by those you wish to reject.
There are many techniques for interviewing. With most of these the number of interviewers can vary, the criteria being assessed may differ, and objectives will definitely vary. Whichever avenue is chosen, there are a couple of important points:
- One of the downsides of an interview is that most people working as interviewers think they're good at it, while few actually are! Interviewers who are poorly trained, or not trained at all, are unlikely to be effective in their selection of graduates. Imagine the embarrassment of the interviewer, and the cost to the organisation, associated with a candidate who clearly shouldn’t have made it through the first interview but has: lack of training doesn't pay.
- Many candidates are now quite sophisticated in their own interview techniques and are often well aware when interviewers are not doing their job properly. Expensive PR can be wasted if the candidate leaves the interview room with a low perception of the interviewer, and hence the interviewer's organisation. Again, lack of training doesn't pay.
- The interview is really meant to be a two-way process and that is what candidates expect unless you tell them otherwise. Interviewers need to be prepared to answer questions about the organisation's views on expansion in China, salary and benefits, development schemes and what time employees start in the morning.
- You and your interviewers have to be very clear about what you hope to get from the interview, how the candidates are to be assessed and so on. The completed interviewer-response form will probably be returned to you and your colleagues for a final decision, so you have to ensure that you will be sent the information you need – not what someone else thinks you need.
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