How to Conduct a JOB Interview With Confidence! (Structure, Steps and Sample Questions)

Summary

This video offers practical advice for new leaders on conducting job interviews, emphasizing the three-stage structure: candidate questioning, job and company selling, and candidate's Q&A. It suggests preparing questions based on job requirements and sharing them beforehand to reduce candidate stress. The video also covers the importance of transparency about salary and concludes with tips on informing candidates about next steps, aiming to demystify the interview process for new managers.

Takeaways

• 😀 Interviews should be structured into three stages: asking questions, selling the job and company, and allowing the candidate to ask questions.
• 😀 The first stage involves asking candidates questions to determine if they are a good fit for the job and company.
• 😀 The second stage is about selling the job and company to the candidate, emphasizing that the interview is a two-way process.
• 😀 The third stage allows the candidate to ask questions to ensure they have a full understanding of the job and company.
• 😀 It's crucial to ask good questions to maximize the limited interview time, typically lasting one to two hours.
• 😀 Preparing questions based on the job advertisement can help focus on the required competencies and future potential of the candidate.
• 😀 Sharing some interview questions with candidates beforehand can reduce their stress and help them perform better.
• 😀 Salary range should be discussed openly to provide a transparent interview process and help candidates make informed decisions.
• 😀 Encourage candidates to ask questions by prompting them, ensuring they leave the interview well-informed.
• 😀 Clearly outline the next steps at the end of the interview, including when and how candidates will receive feedback and who to contact with further questions.

Q & A

What are the three stages of a job interview as described in the script?

The three stages of a job interview are: 1) Asking the candidate questions to determine their fit for the job, 2) Selling the job and the company to the candidate, and 3) Allowing the candidate to ask questions about the job and the company.

Why is it important to ask good questions during the first stage of the interview?

Good questions are crucial to understand the candidate's qualifications, experience, and personality to determine if they are a good fit for the job and the company within the limited time frame of the interview.

What is the recommended duration for the first stage of the interview where the candidate is asked questions?

The recommended duration for asking questions to the candidate is 20 to 30 minutes within the one-hour interview time frame.

Why is it necessary to sell the job and the company to the candidate during the interview?

Selling the job and the company is necessary because job interviews are a two-way process, and candidates have many choices in the current market. It's important to convince them of the benefits and incentives of working for your company.

What should be included when selling the company to the candidate during the second stage of the interview?

When selling the company, you should explain the job's day-to-day duties, responsibilities, team structure, company values, goals, location, number of employees, and most importantly, the salary range for the position.

Why is it recommended to inform the candidate that they can ask questions throughout the interview?

Informing the candidate that they can ask questions helps them feel more engaged and informed, reducing their stress levels and allowing them to present their true selves rather than being overwhelmed by the interview process.

What is the purpose of sharing potential interview questions with the candidate beforehand?

Sharing potential questions in advance helps to reduce the candidate's stress and allows them to prepare better, resulting in a more authentic representation of their abilities and personality during the interview.

What are some factors to consider when crafting interview questions for a job candidate?

Factors to consider include the job requirements, the competencies mentioned in the job advertisement, the candidate's potential for growth in the role, and the long-term needs of the company.

How many sample interview questions are provided in the script, and what is the purpose of these questions?

The script provides 15 sample interview questions designed to help interviewers craft a relevant and insightful interview, covering topics such as the candidate's background, skills, experiences, and career goals.

What is the recommended approach for discussing salary during the interview process?

It is recommended to provide a salary range rather than an exact figure, allowing the candidate to understand the potential earnings and compare them with other job offers. This approach promotes transparency and fairness.

What should an interviewer do at the end of the interview to ensure a smooth conclusion?

At the end of the interview, the interviewer should inform the candidate of the next steps, including when they can expect to hear back, who will contact them, and how they can reach out with additional questions. The interviewer should also thank the candidate for their time.

Outlines

00:00

📝 Interview Structure and Strategy

This paragraph introduces the topic of conducting job interviews, particularly for new leaders. It emphasizes the importance of interview structure, typically consisting of three stages: questioning the candidate, selling the job and company, and allowing the candidate to ask questions. The video aims to provide practical advice on these stages, highlighting the need for effective questioning within a limited time frame to assess the candidate's fit for the job. It also stresses the importance of transparency and providing the candidate with ample information to make an informed decision about the job opportunity.

05:01

🤔 Crafting Questions and Preparing for the Interview

The second paragraph delves into the specifics of what questions to ask during an interview. It suggests considering the job requirements and the candidate's potential for future growth within the company. The speaker provides a list of 15 sample questions that cover a range of topics, from the candidate's background and motivations to their skills and career aspirations. The paragraph also discusses the benefits of sharing these questions with the interviewee beforehand to reduce stress and allow for a more authentic interaction. Additionally, it touches on the importance of evaluating the candidate's fit not just for the current role, but also for potential future roles within the organization.

10:02

💼 Selling the Job and Company to the Candidate

This paragraph focuses on the second stage of the interview process: selling the job and the company to the candidate. It underlines the necessity of presenting the position and company in an appealing light, given the competitive job market. The speaker advises discussing the job responsibilities, team structure, company values, and goals. A significant point of discussion is the transparency regarding salary expectations, advocating for the disclosure of a salary range to ensure a fair and honest interview process. The paragraph concludes with the importance of allowing candidates to ask questions and providing clear communication about the next steps in the hiring process.

Keywords

💡Job Interview

A job interview is a formal meeting between a potential employer and a job candidate, where the employer assesses the candidate's suitability for a position. In the video's context, it is the primary focus, as the speaker provides guidance on how to conduct one effectively. The script discusses the structure of an interview, the types of questions to ask, and the importance of giving candidates an opportunity to ask questions as well.

💡Interview Structure

Interview structure refers to the organization and sequence of events during an interview. The video outlines a three-stage structure: the initial questioning phase, the job and company selling phase, and the candidate's question phase. This structure is essential for ensuring that all necessary aspects of the interview are covered and that both parties have a comprehensive understanding of each other's expectations and needs.

💡Candidate Fit

Candidate fit pertains to how well a job applicant matches the requirements, culture, and expectations of the company and the specific role. The video emphasizes the importance of determining a candidate's fit through targeted questions and observations, as it is crucial for the success of both the individual and the organization.

💡Interview Questions

Interview questions are the inquiries posed by the interviewer to the candidate to glean information about their background, skills, and suitability for the job. The script provides a list of 15 sample questions that can be used to assess a candidate's experience, skills, and alignment with the company's values and goals.

💡Two-Way Process

The term 'two-way process' in the context of the video refers to the mutual assessment that occurs during a job interview. It's not just the employer evaluating the candidate, but also the candidate evaluating the job and the company. The speaker advises selling the job and company to the candidate, highlighting the importance of transparency and appeal in the hiring process.

💡Job Candidate

A job candidate is an individual who is applying and interviewing for a job position. The video script frequently refers to the job candidate, discussing how to assess their fit for the role, how to present the job and company to them, and how to provide them with information to make an informed decision about whether to accept a potential offer.

💡Future Potential

Future potential in the video refers to the long-term capabilities and growth prospects of a job candidate within a company. The speaker suggests considering not only the immediate needs of the job but also how the candidate might develop and contribute to the company in the future, emphasizing the importance of hiring for both current and future roles.

💡Salary Range

Salary range denotes the minimum and maximum amount of money a company is willing to pay for a specific job position. The video argues for transparency regarding the salary range during the interview process, as it is a critical piece of information for candidates when considering job offers and deciding whether to proceed with an application.

💡Stress and Nerves

Stress and nerves are common emotions experienced by job candidates during interviews, which can sometimes affect their performance. The script suggests sharing interview questions in advance to alleviate some of this stress, allowing candidates to present their true selves rather than a version distorted by nervousness.

💡Next Steps

Next steps refer to the actions that will be taken following the interview, such as when and how the candidate will be informed of the decision. The video emphasizes the importance of clearly communicating these next steps to the candidate, ensuring they know what to expect and when, which contributes to a positive candidate experience.

Highlights

The video provides practical advice on conducting a job interview for new leaders.

The interview should ideally have three stages: questioning the candidate, selling the job/company, and allowing the candidate to ask questions.

Interviews typically last one to two hours with the candidate meeting multiple people.

The first stage should focus on asking the right questions to assess the candidate's fit for the job within a limited time frame.

The second stage is crucial for selling the job and the company to the candidate, emphasizing the two-way nature of the interview process.

Candidates in the current market have many choices, so it's important to highlight what makes your company and job offer stand out.

The third stage allows the candidate to ask questions, ensuring they leave the interview well-informed about the job and company.

The video suggests sharing interview questions with the candidate beforehand to reduce stress and allow better preparation.

15 sample interview questions are provided to assist in candidate evaluation, covering topics from personal introductions to future career goals.

The importance of aligning interview questions with the job advertisement and considering long-term needs is emphasized.

The video recommends preparing questions that assess the candidate's skills, experience, and fit for future potential roles.

During the 'selling' stage, it's important to be transparent about the job responsibilities, team structure, and company values.

Salary transparency is advocated, with the suggestion to provide a salary range during the interview.

The final part of the interview should be dedicated to the candidate's questions, with prompts provided to help them remember any inquiries.

Informing the candidate about the next steps and the expected timeline for a response is crucial for a positive interview experience.

The video concludes with guidance on how to give negative feedback effectively, which is a valuable skill for emerging leaders.

A leadership evaluation toolkit is offered as a free resource for self-assessment and visibility as a leader.

Transcripts

so you have an interview to conduct with

a new hire you're a new leader you've

never conducted an interview before and

you probably have a lot of questions

about how to conduct a job interview how

can you tell if someone's a good fit how

do you know what questions to ask well

in this video i have got you covered

with some practical advice on how to

conduct a job interview so let's get

straight into it the first thing i want

to talk about is the interview structure

so what stages or structure should the

interview follow and ideally there are

three stages to every job interview

generally when you conduct an interview

the interview will last one to two hours

and the candidate will meet with two to

three people now the first stage of the

interview is where you ask the candidate

questions you need to know if they are

going to be a good fit and you do this

by asking them the right questions and

by asking them good questions during the

interview it helps you understand more

about who this person is will they be a

good fit for the job will there be a

good person to hire for the company and

you only have a short amount of time to

do this so generally interviews go for

one hour so you only have 20 to 30

minutes within that one hour time frame

to ask the candidate questions and this

means you really need to ask them good

questions so you don't waste your time

and you don't waste their time either

the second part to a job interview is

where you sell the job and the company

to the candidate and for this you need

to remember that a job interview is a

two-way process it's not only you asking

the candidate questions to see if

they're going to be a good fit

you need to be able to sell the job and

sell the company to the candidate as

well in the current market job

candidates have a lot of choice they

could be interviewing with many

different companies and every one of

those companies are offering different

benefits or different incentives so

sometimes you really have to fight for

the good candidate to fight for the

candidate that you want now the third

part of the interview should be where

the candidate asks you questions now i

do recommend that you tell the candidate

at the beginning of the interview they

can stop you at any time throughout the

interview and ask you questions about

something they would like to know more

about

but if they have additional questions

and it's very likely they'll have

additional questions especially after

you have explained what the job is about

what the company is about it is a good

idea for you to have the last part of

the interview allocated for them to ask

you additional questions you want them

to walk away from the interview being

well informed having a full picture and

a full idea of what the job is about

whether they would like it or not what

the company is about whether they would

fit into the company you want them to

have as much information as possible so

they can make the best decision

if and when you offer them a position so

those are the three stages that

interviews generally follow next we're

going to talk about what questions you

should ask during the interview but

before we get into that if you like what

you've learned so far in this video

there are two things you can do to help

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leader and i would be honored to share

my future content with you now let's

move on to questions you should ask

during the interview most people who are

new to job interviews or conducting job

interviews have no idea what questions

they should or they need to ask during

the interview the last thing you want to

do is not ask the right questions and

end up with a new hire who just isn't a

good fit for your team in a moment i'll

share with you 15 sample questions that

you can use for your next job interview

but first i want you to think about what

is required in the job what does this

successful candidate need to do what

qualities or strengths do they need to

convey

in that job what experience do you want

them to have when they step into that

new role these are the things that you

need to think about when preparing for

your job interview but the good news for

you is most of this work has already

been done when you crafted the job

advertisement whether it was you whether

it was the hr department there has been

thought put into what is required for

the person you are about to hire so i

recommend you get out that job

advertisement look at what competencies

are talked about or mention in that job

ad and include them in the questions

that you create for the job interview

and i recommend that you think not only

about what you currently need not only

about what you need right now for the

job but what could you potentially need

next year in two years time or even five

years time you need to think about this

in the long term or more the medium term

as well so you can make sure that you

hire the right person for the job now

but also the right person for the job in

two years time or five years time

because the jobs evolve and people

should be able to evolve with the job as

well ideally you want to hire somebody

who has future potential in that role or

in the company so here are some sample

questions that you can ask the job

candidate now i have these written down

because there is no way i am going to

remember them so if you are stuck for

questions to ask and you need

inspiration these are 15 questions that

you can use question one tell me about

yourself question two what do you know

about our company and why do you want to

work here question three what do you

know about the job you're applying for

question four what skills and strengths

can you bring to this position question

five what is the most interesting

project you've worked on in your career

or past position and why number six have

you ever been at a position where you

had to perform a challenging task or do

something that was new to you how did

you handle it what did you learn from

that experience and the topic of this

question should be linked to the

required competencies for that job

number seven can you tell me about your

current job number eight what are the

best and worst things about your current

job number nine why are you leaving your

current job number ten how would your

boss describe you number eleven how

would your co-workers describe you

number 12 can you tell me about any

skills or competencies that you don't

have yet but you would like to develop

number 13 can you tell me about

something that's not on your resume or

your linkedin profile 14. what are your

future career goals 15 do you have any

questions for me so as i mentioned you

can pick and choose from these questions

choose the ones that are most relevant

to you if you can think of other

questions that you want to include

because of the competencies that are

required for the job you are

interviewing for well then replace some

of the questions i've mentioned with

those questions instead now i also

recommend you to share the questions

with the interviewee beforehand a lot of

companies don't do this they want to

keep the question secret they don't want

to share them with the job candidate

who's coming for the interview they want

it to be a surprise for them to see how

they react but my thoughts about this is

it's a bit unfair for the job candidate

they're coming to the job interview

they're going to be stressed they're

going to be really nervous when people

are stressed you don't get a good

picture of who they really are they have

a mask on because they want to do such a

fantastic job and win that job interview

so they're going to show you a version

of themselves that they want you to see

or that they think you want to see and

this is how nerves and stress can

sometimes mask a person's true potential

or true personality you need to see the

version of them without stress you need

to see the version of them in a normal

stress-free relaxed environment

of course they're going to be somewhat

nervous and stressed it's a job

interview at the end of the day there's

probably a lot riding on them winning

this interview but as much as you can

you want to see the version of them that

is the true

them and sharing the questions with the

candidate in advance

helps to bring their stress levels down

because they know what to expect and

they can prepare better for the job

interview if they know what questions

you're going to ask them now you don't

have to share all of the questions you

don't have to share the 15 questions

that you're going to ask them but even

by sharing five questions that you could

ask them or that you will ask them it

will help to relax them it will help

them to walk into that job interview a

lot more relaxed a lot less stressed and

it will help them to show the true

version of who they are i want to put a

quick break in this video to see if you

have downloaded the leadership

evaluation toolkit this is a free

download from my website a 35 question

self-assessment to see where you stand

as a leader it is very much focused on

visibility to see how visible you are as

a leader i'll put the link on the screen

at the bottom here and it's also in the

description below if you want to click

on it and go straight to that resource

if you have decided that the person you

are interviewing is a good fit for the

job if they have answered the questions

really well

then you can move on to selling the job

and selling the company to them so this

is the second stage in the interview

structure you have to remember that the

person sitting in front of you the

person interviewing for this job may

have other interviews lined up after

yours they may be looking at other

companies and other jobs you may not be

their first choice so you part of your

job during the interview is to sell the

job to them and to sell the company to

them as well you need to convince them

why they should work for you and the

benefits of working with you start by

explaining in your own words what does

the job entail what will their

day-to-day duties be what are their

responsibilities who do they report to

what does the team or department do how

many people are in the team how do they

fit into the team or the structure then

you can move on to the company and start

selling the company to them so talk

about what the company does of course

they should already know this but

hearing from you helps to give a bit

more clarity to what the company does

what are the values of the company this

is really important so that person can

see if they will fit into the company

what are the goals for the department or

the company where is the company located

how many employees does the company have

this is basic information that the

interviewee probably already knows about

but it's nice for them to hear it

directly from you and the most important

thing you need to talk about and tell

the candidate is how much does the

position pay let's talk about that in

more detail it's a bit of a

controversial topic many companies do

not share salary range openly during the

interview process i guess they feel that

they have better bargaining power if

they don't reveal or share this

information during the first interview

but my opinion on this is it's not fair

to the candidate you need to give them

an honest and a transparent interview

process they have spent hours preparing

for this interview they may have even

spent days or weeks preparing for this

interview or at least stressing about it

anyway you need to tell them how much

they could be earning this is probably

the most important question they want

answered during the interview if they

walk out of the interview not knowing

the salary range or how much you could

be paying them and they walk into

another interview that tells them

immediately directly they're going to be

earning 80 000 a year and they get that

job offer it's an easy decision of which

job they're going to take you don't have

to give the exact salary to the job

candidate and i recommend that you don't

because it's very likely after you

conduct the interview you will need to

consult with the hr department or other

managers or leaders of the company as to

how much you want to pay this person so

i recommend you give a salary range

between fifty thousand sixty thousand or

sixty thousand eighty thousand or one

hundred and twenty to one fifty thousand

whatever the salary range is going to be

the person interviewing for the job

needs to know how much they could be

paid they need to know whether it's

going to be worth their time to continue

the interview process with you the final

part of the interview is where you open

the interview up for the candidate to

ask you questions as i mentioned this is

something you should tell them they're

able to do all throughout the interview

process but if they have additional

questions and it's very likely they'll

have additional questions at the end you

need to allocate some time for them to

ask you those questions now

well-prepared candidates will ask you

questions they will have questions

prepared that they want to ask you but

sometimes people clam up sometimes

people get nervous or maybe you have

already answered the questions that

person has prepared in advance for you

so you may need to prompt them to ask

you questions by saying things like what

did you think about the company how do

you feel about the job is there any

information we've discussed that you

would like me to elaborate on this

prompt can help them to relax a bit and

to trigger their mind into thinking

about what questions they could possibly

ask you it basically makes their job a

little easier during the interview

because remember at the end of the day

you want to get to know the real person

you don't want to know the person who is

hiding behind stress and nerves you want

to help them relax so you know

the real person you could potentially be

working with and at the very end of the

interview you need to inform the

candidate of the next steps when should

they expect to hear an answer from you

who will contact them with an answer who

can they contact if they have any

additional questions you should then

review their contact details their email

address and their postal address and

walk them to the elevator thank them for

the time and say goodbye i know it can

be really daunting to conduct a job

interview as a new manager or as a new

leader but i truly hope that this video

has given you some really good guidance

and direction on what to do what to ask

and how to just go about it in general

another topic that many emerging leaders

want to know about is how to give

negative feedback this can be a really

stressful situation especially if you've

never given negative feedback before or

even if you've given it before you might

just be really stressed or nervous about

it so in this video i share an easy

simple three-step structure to follow to

help you give negative feedback when you

need to thank you so much for watching

if you like this video hit the like

button subscribe to my channel and i'll

see you in the next video