Should you give your interview candidates a list of the questions you plan to ask them in advance of their interview?
One of the most lively debates we have in our interviewer training workshops is how much to tell candidates about what to expect in their interview when inviting them. Â A common view is:
➡️ “They have the job description- that’s enough – let them figure it out. No spoon-feeding in our organisation”. Others think:
➡️ “Let’s tell them the 4-5 areas that will be examined in the interview – it’ll be useful for helping them to prepare”
Not surprisingly no-one has yet suggested going ALL-OUT, ie
➡️ “Let’s tell them the questions they will be asked” Probably wise given that ChatGPT would be a likely first port of call for most candidates in that case!
So what’s the best approach? Let’s establish a few facts about your interview process:
âś… You want to get the best person for the job âś… You would like to get good answers rather than long awkward pauses where they are trying to figure out what to say ❌ You don’t want them to sing off prepared answers like as if they have memorised them âś… You want them to know that you value the time they will spend preparing for this interview âś… If they don’t get the job you want them to feel they were treated fairly and with respect and still have a positive opinion of your company.
🔳 Don’t make your interview process a black-box mystery. 👻
Instead, when inviting candidates tell them the areas that will be examined at the interview. We’re not talking about giving the game away with the questions but try thisÂ
“In your interview we will be asking questions to evaluate your: Work Experience Collaboration Skills Technical Skills Knowledge of our organisation and industry Career Aims”
Add a link to a guide on using STAR to structure their answers.
🤔 And while you may be thinking that this is BLINDINGLY obvious to candidates, we know from working with 1000’s of candidates preparing for interviews that this is not.
Help them out a little…and improve your process and candidate experience at the same time.
Contact us to discuss how we can help you design your interview process to hire great people.
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