Building an incredible team can be a challenge for even the best of organizations. It’s one thing to identify a need on your team and define the position requirements. It’s something very different to take those requirements and find the right candidate for your needs. The place where these requirements meet and define success is the interview. But how do you make sure your interviews are doing what they need to for your team? Try following our 5 tips for better interviews to start.

1. Be Prepared

Being prepared for your interview is very important. It’s not just a matter of having the information you need, it’s also an indication of the respect you have for the person being interviewed. Let’s face it, first impressions are irreplaceable, so take the time to make a good first one for you and your team.

2. Create Comfort

Interviews are incredibly stressful and we often don’t learn what we need to when our candidates are feeling that stress. It’s important to create comfort in the interview environment. Make sure they have something to drink and that they don’t feel like they’re being interrogated by a panel of managers. The basic rule of thumb here is to make sure you’d be comfortable in the interview environment.

3. Be Consistent

It’s important that your questions are consistent during the interview process. Comparing two qualified candidates can be difficult enough, but it becomes much more complicated if you’re not being consistent with the questions you’re asking. While this seems like something very simple, it’s often the simple things that do the most damage when done wrong.

4. Listen

As long as we’re talking about simple things, let’s address something vital. You need to listen to the person you’re interviewing. Not just passive listening, but actively listening and engaging in the details of the things they are telling you. Many of your potential candidates’ greatest skills and assets will become available with just a little engagement, so make sure you’re listening actively and making notes. You’d hate to miss something game-changing.

5. Team Up With a Professional

Recruitment and staffing are vital parts of building an incredible team and running a successful business. Finding the right team member can be stressful and you may not feel confident in your ability to execute the finer points of interviewing and selection. This isn’t that uncommon and it’s a great reason to contact a professional staffing or recruitment company to actively help. It’s just too important to leave to chance.

How Charles Foster Can Help YOU

If you are an employer looking to fill positions in your company, an employee looking to switch jobs, or someone looking for a brand-new role, please feel free to reach out to us. Our highly skilled team has placed thousands of qualified candidates with excellent jobs over the last 50 years. From finding the right one to being the right one – Charles Foster is here to help.