Using your heart AND your head; the rules of successful interviewing

You are gazing across a table, desperately trying to read their mind. You like them, but do they like you? I am not describing a first date; it is a first stage interview! Many companies follow their gut feelings when recruiting. They rely on an informal interview where they establish if the chemistry is right and make a commercial decision on very little information. However, many of the greatest recruitment mistakes happen when a company does not reveal enough about themselves at interview. Although it is important to thoroughly investigate the applicant’s background, many managers fail to present a favourable or realistic view of their business.

If you were looking to build a relationship with a new client or supplier, you wouldn’t sign on the dotted line without finding out more about them. You would want to know their history, their financial stability and their future before you commit. Modern day interviewees work the same way. You need to utilise this time, and the fact you have a captive audience to sell your organisation. Talk about the future plans of the business and where this role fits in. Explain your organisation’s unique selling point; it is likely you won’t be the only company they are meeting! This will hopefully instill confidence in the company and the role.

Many Blue Chip organisations spend money and time on developing their employer branding. They may build their reputation to become an ‘employer of choice’ and develop an internal communications strategy to ensure that all employees promote the same message. However, many SMEs do not have the resources to do this. One way to promote your business is through the interview itself. We have already discussed the business issues within an interview, but what about the factors that will make you an employer of choice? Areas that need to be highlighted at interview stage are the softer side of a role:

What are your staff development procedures?
Do you have a family friendly policy or a benefits package?
Talk about the quality of the services or products you sell. By demonstrating the investment in your staff and the quality of your services the applicant can see if the culture of your business matches their needs.

Although the content of an interview is very important, there is nothing to say that it has to be in a standard format. The way the interview is structured and the tasks set within it can be utilised to provide an insight into the company culture. Examples of this include;

Having a trial day for a people orientated team
Getting the applicant to sell a simple object such as pen if you are a sales focused company.

In conclusion, the interview should be used in part as time to sell the company to the candidate. You are probably not the only company they will be meeting, and you have to make sure they buy into you and the organisation, as much as the job itself. It is rare that a role is accepted purely on salary. In fact, a “yes” if usually because of the respect and rapport that was built during the meeting and the long term opportunity presented.