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Legal Industry Insight

Hiring the Best Talent:

Tips on Maximizing Your Interview Process

The art of hiring the best professionals for your organization begins with the interview process. Remember, not only is it important for the candidate to make a great first impression with you, it is equally important for the employer to make a great first impact on the candidate. When competing for the best talent in the marketplace, you must put your best foot forward from the moment the candidate walks through your door.

First and foremost, there should be a standard, organized interview plan for all professional candidates who interview with your firm. Impress the candidate by being “interview-ready.” Greet the candidate at the door, have an organized and prepared interview schedule/plan, and be able to provide the candidate with both a firm brochure and benefits summary. Think about it - employers are impressed by candidates who come prepared to an interview with several copies of their resume, a list of professional references, transcripts, and writing samples (where appropriate). Why shouldn't you be equally prepared? Remember, first impressions are important for all parties involved.

The Actual Interview

Standardize your interview practices and be consistent in your interview questioning. Train both your recruiters and your hiring managers on effective interviewing techniques. Your objective is to have a consistent line of questioning for each applicant. Consistency in the process will enable you to make a more informed determination as to which candidate is most qualified for the position.

Educate your recruitment professionals and managers on avoiding improper interview questions and making binding contract statements.

Let us assume the obvious – that your interviewers know not to ask questions which can be construed as discriminatory based on protected classes – gender, race, color, national origin, religion, age, and disability.

However, there are other lines of questioning which might seem innocuous at first, but could be alleged to show illegal bias. Here are some examples:

• Are you planning to have a family? When?
• Do you have any children? How old are they?
• Where did you grow up?
• What is your native language?
• What year did you graduate high school?
• To what clubs or social organizations do you belong?
• If you've been in the military, were you honorably discharged?
• Which religious holidays will you be taking off from work?
• What will your family think of the long commute/travel schedule?

On occasion, we have had candidates return from interviews with our clients describing a line of inappropriate questioning to which they had been exposed during their interview process. Improper interview questions send a bad message to candidates. Understanding that most interviewers are simply inquisitive and do not mean to be insensitive or inappropriate, nonetheless, as employers you want to avoid these interviewing pitfalls. Generally, interviewers try to get to know candidates “as people” once they have determined that a candidate is technically qualified for the open position. However, getting too relaxed during the interview could prove problematic. Caution your hiring managers not to tread in these potentially dangerous waters.

Educate your recruitment professionals and managers on how to ask the most effective questions of interviewees.

Encourage your hiring managers to ask thought-provoking and open-ended questions geared toward discovering what the candidate already has done. Demonstrating past experiences, rather than postulating about “what they would do if” will enable the interviewers to better screen candidates. Thoughtful questioning will be impressive to the candidates as well.

Remind the interviewers to review the candidate’s resume prior to the meeting so that they are able to make pointed inquiries into the candidate’s experience and draw correlations as to how that background could relate to the open position. At the same time, you must make the hiring managers aware that the interview is as much of a fact-finding mission for the candidate as it is for the employer. That said, the interviewer should be a champion of the firm and be prepared to offer highlights of the position, department, and firm as a whole and should be open to answering several candid questions from the interviewee as well.

Depending upon your organization’s particular interview process, it is highly recommended to include a “peer” interviewer in the interview schedule. Candidates need to meet with supervisors, hiring managers and others in positions of authority and who have decision-making power. However, it is equally important for them to meet with folks they will work with on a daily basis as potential co-workers. Train the peer interviewers on appropriate lines of questioning as well.

Here are some sample interview questions:

• What did you like least about your position with XYZ firm?
  
  
• What did you like best about your position with XYZ firm?
  
  
• Can you give me some examples of experiences that describe your relationship with your supervisor/manager?
  
  
• Describe a situation in which you have taken on a new level of responsibility or a new role – what did you do and how did you perform in this new role?
  
  
• Describe the greatest challenges you have encountered in your position. How have you overcome them?
  
  
• Share with me a success story from your most recent or past positions.
  
  
• What are your long-term career objectives? What have you done in the past 6-12 months to move toward those goals?
  
  
• Are you more successful working on individual projects or in a team framework and why?
  
  
• What is the level of client interaction that you have in your current position?
  
  
• How do you stand out among your professional peers?
  
  
• If I were to ask one of your co-workers to describe you, what would they say?
  
  
• Share with me a situation that portrays how you handle conflict.
  
  
• What types of decisions are the most difficult for you to make? Can you provide an example?

Asking for more than one example of past experiences will help the interviewer identify themes and patterns of behavior.

This non-exhaustive sampling of interview questions has one important common component: they cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” Candidates must articulate a thoughtful and candid response – much more helpful to you as you evaluate potential new hires.

At the conclusion of the interview process, be sure to bring closure to the meeting. Provide impressions to the candidate, a timeframe within which a decision will be made and offer a business card for future follow-up questions from the candidate.

Finally, timeliness in your decision-making process will enable you to hire the best talent. Top performers are interested in joining organized, decisive employers that offer clear career paths for their employees. It is important to send this message from the beginning of your interview process. Having a successful and organized interview plan -- from inception through acceptance of an offer -- is key to attracting the best talent.