Interview Preparation for Pharmaceutical Sales Jobs | Human Resource Management (HRM) and Recruitment Solutions

It’s also important to understand any customs or interviewing practices in any particular country, which can vary greatly, as well as any language requirements involved in the interviewing process, which might require the involvement of an interpreter or intermediary.

If an employer and candidate are not physically located in the same location, it might be a good idea for employers to consider leveraging a technology like video interviewing or VOIP conferencing to reduce the associated travel expenses involved in multinational hiring.

With today’s technological capabilities, these options are far more cost effective and efficient for a majority of candidates, allowing companies to reserve interview-related travel for senior level candidates or those being considered only for the most-business critical roles. Alternatively, companies can save costs by having a key stakeholder travel on site and subsequently strategically scheduling important interviews to coincide with this senior leader’s stay.

While commonplace in most hiring and onboarding processes, global recruiting requires a cautious approach to pre-employment screening. Every country has a different set of rules and requirements with respect to medical or drug tests.

Before attempting to implement any such screening initiative, global employers must research the local labor laws and legal experts to understand which measures are permitted as well as any associated issues such as timing (e.g. whether or not a formal offer must be extended before initiating), what documentation or consent from the prospective worker is required, or what notifications the employer is obliged to provide during the screening process.

Similarly, background check laws vary widely in global markets, particularly when it comes to requiring candidates to disclose previous criminal convictions, which is illegal in many countries around the world.

Employers must remain fully cognizant of these restrictions as well as any related regulations governing background checks before initiating a request for this information.

Once an employee is onboarded, if relocation is required, than an employer’s onboarding process should include assigning an internal colleague or manager as a “buddy” or mentor to help them navigate safely into their new role and new life in a new country, in some cases. This will not only help ensure that global recruiting ends with a candidate being smoothly assimilated into your company culture, but a better understanding of the culture of the customers, clients and connections they’ll need to make in their new market.

Interview Candidates Abroad

One-way video interviewing or a live video interviewing

Video is gradually becoming a valuable tool for international recruiting. Rather than having to fork out thousands of dollars in order to travel overseas and conduct interviews, video allows us to conduct interviews from our home office while still being able to have that face-to-face interaction with a candidate. It also greatly speeds up the process to eliminate traveling across many different timezones.

In addition, video interviewing allows us to speed up the candidate selection process by eliminating pre-screen phone calls with candidates in the early stages. Rather than calling internationally at all times of the day or night, due to time zone differences, We can implement the one-way video interview with candidates we believe are a fit based on resume or cv. With the one-way video interview we simply send the candidate your pre-screen questions and the candidate responds via video. Once the candidate has submitted their recordings, you can review at your earliest convenience and decide if the candidate will move forward.

Accurate recruiting with one-way video interview or a live video interviews

Not only has video interviewing greatly increased the speed of international recruiting, but it has also given us greater accuracy when it comes to ensuring that we have found the best fit for our client.

Video interviewing allows us to be introduced to a candidate’s skills and personality early on in the interview process. This creates a situation where we are able to make sure we have found a candidate who not only has the required skills but is also going to be a good cultural fit for our client.

For some time, international recruiting has been missing this piece, unless we have had the opportunity to travel and meet with candidates face to face. Video interviewing, whether it’s a one-way video interview or a live video interview, helps us to quickly and accurately select the best talent for our clients.

Expanding internationally is an exciting step for our business and having the best talent in the right position is of key importance when it comes to the international success of our business.

Have you stopped to consider how we interview candidates abroad? We consider several options and make our plan accordingly.

One-way video interviews can help you to make initial decisions. When phone calls overseas are outrageously priced, consider having candidates complete a one-way video interview during the initial interview stage.

Getting the key questions out in the open early on, which will make or break a candidate for the job, is essential. One-way video interviewing lets you see the candidate responding to your questions on video and you can re-play this video as much as you would like. Talk about convenience!

In the initial interview stage, it can be difficult to understand if you have the right talent when you are unable to visually see the candidates. Let’s face it, traveling overseas is quite expensive and it does not really make sense for you to travel early in the interview process to interview candidates that you are unsure of. This is when live video interviewing can save you a lot of time and expense.

Live video interviewing your candidates will allow you to actually see the candidate’s excitement and interest in the job. Even better, it will also allow you to see the candidate’s reaction to certain interview questions. This can tell you a lot about the candidate.

The last and least cost effective piece of this interview process is to physically travel to the candidates or make arrangements for candidates to come to your office. This is something you would not want to do in the early stages of interviewing. It is more valuable to wait before scheduling travel until you are down to final candidate selections.

If you are traveling to interview your candidates, or if you are traveling candidates to you, the key for successful interviews is organization and planning. In order to make the most of the travel time and cost, you need to have a clear interview schedule and make sure the candidates know when and where to be for the interview.

Difference in Language

Since you are seeking an international job, it is likely that your potential employer will want to make sure that you are fluent in the company’s native language. This can have a huge affect on the success of your interview. Before the interview process begins, you may want to make sure that your fluency level is adequate for the position. The interview may be given in the company’s native language, and it will be an excellent test of your fluency. It is a good idea to practice potential interview questions in the appropriate language so that you feel more comfortable.

Video Interviewing

What are Video Interviews?

Video interviews are a way for employers to assess job candidates on their qualifications, soft skills, and more during the hiring process.

Video interviews are usually implemented as a preliminary interview meaning that the final hiring decision isn't made until later in the process.It is mainly used to improve the initial screening of candidates.It is not meant to replace CV or face-to-face interviews.They are used at many stages of the hiring process. For example, in the early stages, the hiring manager might pose a set of questions and ask job seekers to record their responses in a video. This enables the employer to screen candidates quickly and select which ones will proceed to the next stage.

The main purpose of a video interview is to get an overall sense of whether you might be a good cultural fit and your base level capabilities.

Video interviews follow the same format as a regular interview, but are held over Skype (or a similar application). These are known as live video interviews. More rarely, you might be asked to upload a video of yourself answering interview questions. You can think of that as the equivalent of doing a paper exam.

As candidates are invited by email to do the one-way interview, recruiters can engage more candidates at the same time and skip phone call scheduling issues. It also helps to develop a more collaborative hiring process by involving other team members in the selection process to make fairer and more effective decisions. Another good reason to include pre-recorded video interviews in the recruitment process is the quality of hire. Avoiding bad hires is a priority for recruiters given all the negative effects it can have on the company, both financially and culturally.

Pre-recorded video interviews allow you see who the person behind CV is and evaluate important aspects like motivation, personality and skills. With one-way video interviews recruiters can screen more candidates and they can do it better and in less time.

Microsoft Skype and Apple FaceTime. This is the least expensive approach and is generally easy to set up. The drawback is that the technology can do little more than establish a connection and record, store and categorize the videos.

The other main option for the interviewer is to use specialized video interviewing software from vendors, such as HireVue, Montage, Spark Hire or Sonru. These platforms have data capture and analytics capabilities that the consumer video software lacks and have more controls for scheduling video interviews and sharing the videos among hiring managers and HR.

The most sophisticated platforms have artificial intelligence (AI) that enables them to analyze facial expressions, vocal intonation and nonverbal communication for signs of a candidate's fit with the organization's needs and culture. The AI in video interview platforms also helps predict applicants' job performance.

There are two main types of video interviews: one-way and live video interviews.

What is a One-Way Video Interview?

A one-way video interview is an asynchronous video interview in which job candidates record video responses to interview questions on their own time.

One-way video interviews are also referred to as pre-recorded video interviews or on-demand video interviews because they don’t require the interviewer to be present when the candidate answers the questions. .

One-way video interviews give companies a consistent interview experience which puts all candidates on a level playing field.

When setting up a one-way video interview, the interviewer has the ability to customize specific parameters such as:

Once job candidates submit their one-way video interview, the recruiters and hiring managers at the company can watch the interview at their earliest convenience. Need to collaborate on a hire? Video interviewing makes it easy, by allowing you to share one-way video interviews with all hiring stakeholders. With video interviewing, the hiring process can work around your schedule – not the other way around.

Video interviewing on its own doesn’t really predict performance

Video interviewing doesn’t really help candidates showcase their talent. It’s too one-dimensional. There are so many other ways candidates can prove their skills. For example, they can do actual tasks. Candidates for technical roles like software developers of designers wouldn’t consider video to be overly relevant because their work can be demonstrated without verbal communication.

Watching endless videos of candidates speaking won’t really tell you how capable they are. Just like traditional interviews won’t. Video interviewing is an online recreation of traditional job interviews. It’s more efficient, but not necessarily more effective. If you want to see how candidates perform, ask them to do real work. Put them in the scenarios they’ll face on the job.

We use both types of interviews—video for screening candidates early on and in-person for the final round and the big decision. Keep in mind that in-person interviews are better determining which candidate is the best fit for the job.

How One-Way Video Interviews Work

The end result:you’ll make better decisions about which candidates make your shortlist in a fraction of the time.

What is a Live Video Interview?

A live interview is a real-time interview in which an interviewer connects with a candidate face-to-face via webcam. These interviews work just like their three-dimensional counterparts – minus travel costs and all the time it takes to schedule a traditional face-to-face.

Miss the interview but still want to weigh in? Live video interviews are recorded so they can be played back at any time. It’s video interview collaboration made easy and convenient.

Typically, organizations use live video interviews as the step just before or as a replacement to the in-person interview for non-local candidates.

A dedicated live video interviewing solution differs from video chat (e.g. Skype, Facetime, Google Hangouts) and video conferencing (e.g. Zoom. GoToMeeting, WebEx) in a variety of ways. For instance, live video interviews are:

In addition, you’ll have access to a dedicated account manager and a 24x7 technical support team for you and your candidates. Spark Hire even offers live video interview concierge services in which we’ll connect with you or one of your candidates for a test interview.

How Live Video Interviews Work

Live video interviews provide a custom, private, virtual room to conduct an in-depth interview. This type of interview allows organizations to connect with their candidates face-to-face before paying to bring them into the office.

When to Use Video Interviews

Depending on the nature of your business, video interview can fit in different parts of your recruiting process.

Employers frequently use one-way video interviews as a better way to screen candidates earlier in the hiring process (as a replacement or complimentary piece to a phone interview) and live video interviews to connect with non-local candidates.

Common hiring challenges that lead employers to look into video interviews include, but are not limited to:

Staffing and recruiting firms mainly leverage video interviews to a) screen candidates more efficiently and effectively before sending them to clients and/or b) improve how a candidate shortlist is presented to clients.

Common reasons that staffing and recruiting firms start looking into video interviews include, but are not limited to:

What are the benefits of video interviews?

Organizations of all sizes and from all industries are successfully using video interviews to reap benefits specific to their recruiting processes.

Below are the main benefits for both employers and staffing and recruiting firms.

Benefits of Video Interviews for Employers

Video interviews are not meant to be a replacement to the in-person interview. Their purpose is to help you make better decisions about which candidates you invest time and effort into during the hiring process.

As an employer, the exact benefits for your organization will vary depending on your industry, the types of jobs you’re recruiting for, and more.

Ultimately, the two metrics that employers mainly see improvements in are quality of hire and speed to hire.

Save valuable time and money.

Screening job candidates can take a huge chunk of your time and hiring budget. Video interviews make the process much less of a chore by enabling you to connect with candidates face-to-face – without having to fly them in. When it comes to screening candidates, save time and avoid scheduling headaches with one-way video interviews.

Considering 60% of hiring decisions were made within the first 15 minutes of an interview, according to a recent study by researchers from Old Dominion, Florida State, and Clemson, why bother with lengthy phone interviews? With one-way video interviews, candidates can record their answers to your questions on their own time, and you can view them on yours. It’s a win-win addition to your hiring process.

Gain better insight early on.

Anyone can sound good in a phone interview. Video interviews, however, allow you to pick up on visual cues that can impact your decision. See much more of the candidate earlier in the hiring process, from their facial expressions and body language to their personality and professionalism. Never be surprised in an in-person interview again!

Collaborate with hiring managers.

When it comes time to screen candidates or bring them in for an in-person interview, not everyone needed can always be present. And interview notes and recollections aren’t an accurate representation of a job candidate. With video interviews, interview recordings can be shared with colleagues. On top of that, colleagues can comment and rate candidates so the whole team can come to a better hiring decision. After all, multiple heads are better than one.

What Employers Say About Video Interviews

In today’s race to find and place top talent, staffing and recruiting firms need to embrace the latest trends and technologies to finish first. Video interviews provide staffing and recruiting firms with a distinct competitive advantage and improvements in KPIs including, but not limited to:

Improve how you market candidates (and yourself).

Sending a video interview recording to supplement a candidate’s resume not only makes the candidate more appealing to clients, but it also makes you and your firm more appealing. Instead of having to blindly trust you, clients can see candidates for themselves, before investing valuable time and money to meet with candidates in person.

Coach candidates along the way.

Help candidates put their best foot forward by coaching them throughout the interview process. Review their answers in a one-way video interview, point out what they can improve on, and have them re-record, if necessary. Practice makes perfect, after all. And by being able to coach candidates along the way, clients can trust they’ll be seeing the best a candidate has to offer.

Place better candidates.

Supplying clients with interview recordings makes it easier to collaborate over potential hires. It allows them to outline exactly what they like or don’t like about a candidate – even more so with a candidate showcase feature. The feedback that you get from clients can help you provide top-notch candidates moving forward.

Expand your talent pool.

Having a growing talent pool is an essential resource for recruiters and staffing professionals. Building and tending to an internal database of candidates ensures quality talent is readily available when it’s time to fill a new position. With video interviews, if a candidate doesn’t work out for one client, you’ll still have their video interview on file for a future job order.

The panel should include no more than four or five people; a larger panel could be intimidating and unwieldy. One interviewer should serve as the leader, and other participants should serve in support roles. While all the interviewers need to be involved throughout the interview, the difference in the two roles needs to be very clear.

To help ensure the validity and effectiveness of employment interviews, the interviewer must prepare in advance. Before implementing the interview process for a given position, the HR professional who will be asking the questions should complete the following preparations:

Interviewers must know how to elicit desired information from job candidates. It doesn't require a sophisticated technique, but it does require more than just asking candidates if they possess the required skills and attributes. The most recent thinking on how to conduct job interviews recommends that employers ask applicants about specific incidents in the workplace. Therefore, questions should be designed to show how the candidate has displayed the required skills in specific situations during his or her career. Responses to such questions can provide enhanced glimpses into applicants' actual experiences.

For both the Human Resource Management (HRM) and the candidate to get the most out of an interview, it is essential to carefully consider the type of questions to ask. Despite the importance of preparing questions in advance, the Human Resource Management (HRM) should not go into an interview with a list of ideal answers in mind. It is unlikely that any applicant would come close to providing such answers. A better approach is to keep in mind ideal characteristics that a successful candidate would possess.

Questioning should elicit information that will shed light on a candidate's ability to perform the job effectively. Many experts say it is best to ask open-ended questions ("Tell me about your relationship with your previous manager; how could it have been improved?") rather than closed-ended questions requiring only brief specific responses ("How many people reported to you?").

Open-ended questions encourage candidates to provide longer answers and to expand on their knowledge, strengths and job experiences. For interviewers, such questions can provide greater insight into a candidate's personality. They can also help employers gauge an applicant's ability to articulate his or her work experience, level of motivation, communication skills, ability to solve problems and degree of interest in the job.

Open-ended questions can provide a sense of an applicant's potential and whether the person would be a cultural fit. Following are some examples of open-ended questions:

Closed-ended job interview questions can enable the Human Resource Management (HRM) to receive direct responses and specific information from the candidate, and they can help the interviewer control the direction of the interview. But such questions can have drawbacks:

Benefits of Video Interviews for Staffing and Recruiting Firms

Improve how you market candidates (and yourself).

Coach candidates along the way.

Place better candidates.

Expand your talent pool.

Benefits of Video Interviews for Candidates

Video interviews offer many benefits to your candidates that are important for you to know about.

Gets candidates in front of hiring managers

Hiring managers are the ones that participate in final round interviews with candidates. Ultimately, they are the people that make the hiring decisions. Video interviews give candidates the chance to get in front of and impress hiring managers earlier in the process because their video interview is shared with them.

Speeds up the hiring process

By eliminating scheduling conflicts and allowing the company to complete more interviews faster, video interviews not only speed up the process for companies, but also for candidates. Candidates don’t want to go through a lengthy process and video interviews significantly cut down on the time from the initial application to a hiring decision.

Showcases more than just a resume

Candidates have a story to tell. The video interview makes sure hiring stakeholders get to know the real candidate vs. just reading a piece of paper. A report on video statistics found that people retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text. The video interview gives candidates a platform to further discuss their background and expand on key aspects of their work experience that make them a great fit for the position.

Questions To Ask New Employees In Their 1st Month

The first 30 days of a job can feel like a blur. New hires are getting to know their co-workers, managers, the job, the company, the tasks – and everything in between. As a manager, hopefully, you’ve been able to spend adequate time with your new hire. But a lot of it has probably been spent on task-oriented training. Making time for feedback questions as they relate to manager interaction, job performance, team dynamics and career progression will help you understand what makes your new employee tick.

Here are 23 questions to ask new employees that will help get to know them – and their preferences at work – better.

What aspects of work would you like more involvement and direction from me? Which would you like less? If you can sort this out, it will save you both time.

How can I make your job easier? As a manager, your job should be to support employees. Find out firsthand how you can do it.

What would be the best use of our one-on-one time? Some employees prefer to review tasks and others want a brainstorm session. Let them use the time with you for what they need.

What would you do differently if you were me? A fresh perspective can help you improve. And it will also lend insight into what the employee might need more of.

What resources do you need to be successful at your job? Especially if this is a new role, there might be certain equipment, software or supplies that would aid your new hire in being successful. And they might be conflicted about outright asking.

Which aspect of the job are you excited about? Which are you worried about? In a month, the new employee should see his or her future and be able to express how they feel about certain tasks.

What has surprised you about the job in the first 30 days? Their answer will reveal how accurately you marketed the job and matched the skills necessary to complete it. It may also reveal something they’re uncomfortable doing.

What are some highlights of the job so far? You might find out that he or she likes giving presentations or that they were happy to hear one of their coworkers was impressed with their work. This question will show you what hits home for them.

What motivates you to come to work? If you can hone in on what excites your new hire about the job, you can help them achieve ultimate employee satisfaction.

Tell me about the best day you’ve had so far. And the worst day. This will lend insight into what the new employee values in doing their job.

How frequently do you like to receive feedback? Some employees want to know how they’re doing every step of the way; others prefer a quarterly check-in. They can feel bombarded or lost if you’re giving feedback too often or not enough.

How do you prefer to receive feedback? You may find your new hire likes written feedback, so he or she can take the time to digest it. Others may prefer it verbally, so they can have a two-way conversation about it.

How would you rate yourself? This answer will reveal how confident the new hire is in their performance.

What challenges have you come across thus far? Anything here is fair game. The new employee may mention another employee or a certain project.

Have you had any stressful experiences in the first month? As a manager, you may prefer to catch up on emails on a Sunday night, but that could stress out your new hire. Knowing that will help avoid any unnecessary anxiety. This is important, especially this early in the relationship.

Who on the team has been most helpful? And how? This provides good insight into which employees on the team step up when needed.

Is there something that’s missing on the team? Especially if you’re looking to expand the team, it’s nice to find out what the newcomer thinks about future need.

Have you had any conflicts with coworkers? Hopefully, this isn’t an issue in the first month, but it’s better to know and address it early if need be.

What do you like about the organization? This will help you see if the new hire is connecting to the organization. It could be a determining factor in longevity.

What area of the company would you like to learn more about? If there are projects that require collaboration, the answer could give you good direction. It may also lend insight into the employee’s other interests or career aspiration.

How can I help you reach your goals? Frame this as a big-picture, career-projection question. You want to show the newcomer you see them for more than what you hired them in for. Potential is important for retention.

What do you think you need to improve now that you’ve been doing the job for a month? As a manager, you probably have a few things on your list that you’d like the new employee to work on but see if they mention it first. It will help you determine how self-aware they are.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working? Sure, this is a personal question, but it will allow you to see your direct report as a person and not just an employee. It’ll help you start building a personal relationship if you haven’t already

Squeezing the Most Out of Onboarding Interviews

There are a myriad of to-dos for Human Resources when a new hire comes on, but the most important step of onboarding a new employee is the post-hire interview.

This should take place anywhere from 4-6 months from the hire’s start date, and with the goal of gauging how well the organization is doing with their recruiting, training and onboarding practices. It is also a great time to get proactive about workplace issues that the new hire might be experiencing. Bonus? They might be just past the honeymoon period and willing to tell you the honest truth.

Ideally, an HR professional who has gone through the appropriate training should conduct these interviews, but this may not always be possible. No matter who is handling the post-hire interview, it’s a massive missed opportunity that your team can use to reduce risk, improve retention and get better at onboarding. Concentrate on these areas during your post-hire interviews to get the data you need to make improvements and get proactive about employee relations issues.

Q: How would they rate their experience throughout the recruitment process?

The information gathered about a new hire’s candidate experience SSSS your recruitment team some insight into the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses. With only about 5% of job applicants rating their experience “excellent”, there will likely be room for improvement.

It is especially important to gather information about how the candidate was treated. If they felt in any way discriminated against, or treated unfairly, the actions or behaviors that caused them to feel this way should be investigated immediately. If these issues persist, it could put the organization in jeopardy of facing litigation. Agree on a numerical scale for general feelings about their recruitment process and anecdotal feedback for specific areas that seem to need attention.

Q: What about the onboarding process?

Talent management experts contend that there is a strong correlation between low retention rates, and weak or non-existent onboarding processes. The onboarding process is crucial for establishing expectations, and the information collected during the post-hire interview can assist employers in doing that as effectively as possible. Slamming a binder down and uploading new programs to an empty computer does not make the onboarding process complete. Every company has its own processes and procedures, all the way down to the mailroom. Unfortunately, most companies neglect to tune in new employees, leaving them floundering for guidance at a crucial juncture.

This is also the step of the new hire lifecycle in which ensuring compliance is vital. If your new hire doesn’t know the rules, how can you protect them and your company? Short answer: You can’t. In the interview, confirm that the employee has access to all information and resources necessary. Then, confirm they understand it. A quick and informal quiz on policies and procedures can help you gauge their knowledge on company compliance.

Q: Was the training program effective?

Formal training is a process that all new hires should be asked to evaluate. The interviewer must find out if the employee felt as though they were adequately prepared for the job requirements. The interviewer should also solicit information about whether or not additional training is needed and how effective their training has proven to be. Ask specifically, which modules or areas of the training program have had a direct impact on his or her job. Take this knowledge back to hiring managers or CLOs in aggregate to create better training initiatives.

Q: Are expectations being met?

New hires generally come into a new organization with a lot of expectations. When there is deviation from those expectations, it can cause dissonance. This is a great time to revisit job descriptions and ensure that they are as accurate as possible. Dissonance can be getting hired as a creative director and then finding out that expected responsibilities are more akin to a junior-level designer. You can share these findings with recruiting and marketing teams to assist with employer branding initiatives. You should also ensure they have the tools needed to do their work properly.

A study conduct by Equifax revealed that 40% of employees who left their jobs voluntarily in 2013 did so within 6 months of starting the position. That statistic certainly represents a strong reason to improve and/or implement post-hire interviews. Focus on post-hire interviews if for no other reason than reducing exit interviews.

Use this interview as an opportunity to be proactive about workplace issues.

Post-hire interviews should also be seen as a prime opportunity to get proactive about identifying and handling workplace issues that might otherwise go unnoticed. Soliciting information about potential complaints doesn’t just start a healthy dialogue, in certain cases; it can prevent costly employment practice litigation. However, starting a healthy dialogue doesn’t just happen overnight. An honest, two-way dialogue between HR and new hires needs to be cultivated immediately so that employees feel comfortable communicating workplace issues. The perfect time to do this is in the post-hire interview.

As the instance of EEOC claims increases, HR professionals must take steps to prevent workplace issues, and mitigate the risk those formal charges present. Because the post-hire interview is documented (not an option), having this information is vital to safeguarding the organization in the case of future litigation.

The interviewer should always disclose the motives for soliciting this information. Let the employee know that this data is vital in making improvements and keeping the workplace safe and healthy. The post-hire interview is a prime example of how HR and management can act in the best interest of the organization, while being a representative of the workforce.

The 6 Different Types Of Interviews (And The Pros And Cons of Each)

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: There’s no right or wrong way to run an interview.

Each method, style and technique has it’s own pros and cons, considerations and preparations depending hugely on your industry, business, the advertised position and so on.

It’s all about finding out what works best for you and your company…

Below, we’ve outlined the 6 different types of interview and their advantages and disadvantages .

Let’

1. The Telephone Interview.

Telephone interviews are hugely valuable because they speed up the interview process and minimise time-wasting, whilst culling your weaker candidates earlier on.

A face-to-face interview will take up your time as well as your candidate’s, so having a quick chat to suss out whether they’re suitable, before meeting up, will benefit both of you.

A CV only tells part of the story; hearing the candidate’s tone of voice and assessing their direct answers will provide a much more detailed insight into their personality.

Recruiter Pro Tip
This is the perfect interview for you if…
You have heaps of great CVs and you need to cut down your potential candidate list.
You don’t have a lot of time on your hands.
The job that’s on offer requires great telephone communication.
You want to make your interview process as efficient as possible.

How Long Should It Take?

In general, a telephone interview should take about 30 minutes, giving you both a chance to warm up for 5 minutes, check each other out for 20 minutes and warm down for 5.

Of course, if a candidate manages to keep you on the phone for longer than 30 minutes with engaging conversation, that’s a very good sign.

Advantages:

It’s quicker than a face-to-face interview.
It’s cheaper than a face-to-face interview.
It’s less effort for you and the candidate.
You can assess the candidate’s telephone manner.
You can reach long-distance candidates.
You can cull weaker candidates right at the start of the process.

Disadvantages:

The call could be interrupted (bad signal, other calls, background noise).
You can’t read a candidate’s body language.
You might have to schedule it outside of working hours (if their employers don’t know).
It’s difficult to build as much rapport via the telephone.

Here’s a tip:
You can use the telephone interview as a fact-checking exercise to verify any prerequisites for the role, for example, do they have a driving license?
Also – don’t try and be clever and multi-task whilst doing a telephone interview; it’s important to remain focused, or you’ll sound disinterested in your candidate!
If you’d like to find out more about how to successfully pull of a telephone interview (and why you should even bother) click here to check out our recent post.

2. The Video Interview.

Video interviews (Skype, Google Hangouts, FaceTime) are a great alternative to telephone interviews.

The fact that you can actually see each other adds a certain level of importance and professionalism to the ‘call’ and removes the temptation for either party to multi-task or lose focus.

Of course, you could still face similar issues to those that plague the telephone interview.

Background distractions could still occur, other calls could come through, bad signal could distort the conversation and, as you can both see each other, there’s no hiding from them!

Recruiter Pro Tip.
This is the perfect interview for you if…
You have heaps of great CVs and you need to cut down your potential candidate list.
You don’t have a lot of time on your hands.
You have long-distance candidates to speak to.

How Long Should It Take?

Video interviews will vary in length, depending on the situation…

If used as a substitute for the telephone interview, at the beginning of the process, then it should last roughly 30 minutes.

If used as a substitute to the individual face-to-face interview, nearing the end of the process (either a group video chat or one-to-one) then it should last roughly an hour.

Advantages:

It’s quicker than a face-to-face interview.
It’s cheaper than a face-to-face interview.
It’s less effort for you and the candidate.
You can reach long-distance candidates.
You can cull weaker candidates right at the start of the process.
You’ll be able to tell if they’re focused (or just reading from notes).

Disadvantages:

The video call could be interrupted (bad signal, connection, background noise).
You’ll find it difficult to read the candidate’s body language.
You might have to schedule it outside of working hours (if their employers don’t know).
It’s difficult to build rapport via a video chat.
You have to look professional and focused (unlike via the telephone).

Here’s a tip:
To successfully pull off a video interview, you’ll both need to set up an account with a service provider like Skype, Google or Apple, have a strong connection and be positioned in a quiet location.
Tablets and phones are designed to make this process as easy and flexible as possible however we recommend using a computer for group video interviews – the more people, the smaller each feed will appear on the screen.
To find out more about video interviewing, check out this post from Spark Hire.

3. The Panel Interview.

Panel interviews are the same as individual, face-to-face interviews, but with two or more interviewers in the room.

The main advantage of panel interviewing is that it precludes any personal biases that might creep into the assessment process.

Each interviewer will pick up on different characteristics, strengths and weaknesses and together (hopefully) make a much fairer judgement.

Recruiter Pro Tip.
This is the perfect interview for you if…
• There are multiple people who need to meet the candidate before a decision is made.
• The primary interviewer isn’t experienced.
• You’ve reached a fairly late stage of the process.
• You’re interviewing for a senior role and need to involve multiple decision makers.

The panel interview is usually conducted as the sole or final step in the interviewing process to take place instead of an individual interview and following any telephone and/or group interviews.

How Long Should It Take?

Panel interviews should last 45 Minutes, at the very least, giving you a suitable amount of time to work out whether the person is genuinely right for the role.

A really great interview will last longer than an hour; your candidate must be doing something right if they’ve managed to engage you in conversation for such a prolonged amount of time.

Advantages:

No personal biases.
The chance to compare different opinions.
More chance to get notes (while others talk).
All relevant people meet at the same time.
Weak interviewers might need back-up.
The candidate gets a chance to meet everyone.

Disadvantages:

Some interviewers could get complacent.
It could be overwhelming for the candidate (scary!)
Interviewers could interrupt each other, striving for dominance.
There’s a risk of disagreement.

Here’s a tip:
One person should lead the interview, asking all of the main questions, while others follow-up with more in-depth inquiries into each topic.
This allows the interview to flow more easily and should prevent overlaps and interruption.
For more information on how (and why) to conduct a panel interview, check out this article from eHow.

4. The Assessment Day.

Assessment “days” can be used to assess larger groups of interviewees at the same time, for a range of different skills.

Common amongst graduate employers, they are a great way to evaluate candidates in more detail, for a longer period of time.

If you’re interviewing a large group and your offices are only small, it’s a good idea to seek out a local assessment centre to host the day for you.

Recruiter Pro Tip.
This is the perfect interview for you if…
Certain skills are essential for successful completion of the role.
You’re hiring graduates who’ve had no previous work experience.
You want to quickly assess large numbers of candidates in a team environment.

How Long Should It Take?

Most assessments take place across one day (although some companies have been known to host week-long assessment interviews).

They’re commonly used as the very first recruitment step, to suss out the superstar candidates in a big crowd, or as the only step, with an individual interview scheduled at some point, meaning the entire process is completed in just one day.

Advantages:

You can assess a wide range of skills.
Extra time to get to know each of the candidates.
It minimises legal risk and is less disputable.
You can assess interpersonal skills and teamwork.
You can interview all candidates at once.
It sparks competition.
Out of the norm, so generates genuine answers.

Disadvantages:

More difficult to administer effectively.
The pressure will put some candidates off.
You’ll have to focus for a longer time.
Dominant personalities will quash others
You could miss something or someone
More difficult to build rapport with individuals
Some candidates work better individually
It requires more staff to pull off

Here’s a tip:
Assessment interviews are so useful because they offer more time to assess a variety of skills, so make sure you take advantage of that with…
Case studies. Give candidates (individually or as part of a team) some information to analyse and to draw different conclusions from.
Group work. Pose a problem or brainteaser and ask the group to work it out together, presenting their strategy and findings at the end of the task.
Activities. Set tasks for your candidates, for example, ‘sell this pen to me.’
Presentations. Ask candidates to plan a presentation on a topic they feel passionate about, a random topic of your choosing or something industry-related.
Individual interviews. If this is the final stage of interview, try to fit in scheduled, individual interviews at some point too (if not already conducted).
Social events. Simply putting on a social event like a group dinner, lunch, party or activity day will enable candidates to exhibit their teamwork and interpersonal skills.
Psychometric tests.

5. Group Interviews.

Group interviews are used a lot less regularly than the other interview techniques we’ve mentioned, but they still have their place in modern recruitment.

You could conduct your group interview in two key ways… like an individual interview; asking exactly the same questions that you would ask in an individual interview, openly, to the whole group, allowing candidates the chance to compete to impress.

Or like the assessment day, with brief introductions, leading into group tasks and activities.

How Long Should It Take?

Group interviews that replace the individual interview, should last roughly an hour and a bare minimum of 45 minutes.

Of course, interviews that incorporate group-work tasks are much more difficult to organise and will invariably last longer, so allow yourself more time.

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