Course Outcomes

This interviewing course will:

  • Prepare participants to successfully interview potential candidates.
  • Suggest techniques for asking thoughtful questions.
  • Share guidelines regarding questions that should not be asked.
  • Provide ample practice time.

Course Overview

Unfortunately, during the job interview process, many hiring managers and supervisors make costly mistakes.  While well intentioned, these people often don’t know what they are looking for, neglect to ask the right questions, inadvertently ask the wrong questions, and ultimately end up mis-hiring or worse. With training, most people can quickly learn to conduct interviews that lead to better hiring choices.  This hands-on workshop covers the ins and outs of interviewing and best practices for finding top talent.

Program Objectives 

At the program’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

  • Explain the impact of interviewing and hiring the best applicants.
  • Practice six best practices before they see a single candidate.
  • Use a variety of questions to form a comprehensive picture of those they interview.
  • Reproduce a specific step-by-step process for interviewing that eliminates mistakes.

The following outline highlights the course’s key learning points. As part of your training, we will modify content as needed to meet your business objectives. Upon request, we will provide you with a copy of participant materials prior to the session(s). 

Workshop Outline 

Before We Begin: The Six Unbreakable Laws of Interviewing

In this introductory discussion, participants will discuss the value of systematic interviewing.  Next, they will explore six essential elements to consider before posting a job opening.

Think It Through: Knowing What You Want

The biggest mistake hiring managers make is not taking the time to identify and focus on the specific qualities they are looking for in the ideal candidate. In this course segment, participants will learn how to “target” candidates based on desired skills, expertise, and compatibility with the organization’s culture.

Star Search: Nine Techniques for Finding Talent

Leaders often look for talent in the wrong places and at the wrong times. This course component covers nine easy-to-execute techniques for finding talent. As part of this segment, participants will identify their go-to sources and new areas to explore.

How to Get Started: Following Repeatable Processes

In this portion of the workshop, participants will discuss ten repeatable best practices they can use to establish a consistent process for screening new talent.  Topics include reviewing résumés, screening by phone, establishing interview teams, practicing exclusion versus inclusion, avoiding bias, and using knock-out questions.

Who Was That Masked Candidate?: How to Get to the Truth

In this segment, participants will learn an almost foolproof, step-by-step procedure designed to ferret out candidates who have read interviewing books for the purpose of saying what they think an interviewer wants to hear. Through a series of roleplays, group members will practice a procedure to discover the “real” person beneath pat responses.

It’s All in the Questions: Inquiries That Get Results

A main component of effective interviewing is planning and asking the right questions.  Surprisingly, many people who find themselves in the interviewer’s chair fail miserably when it comes to selecting questions in advance.  During this program discussion, participants will review dozens of questions they can ask to generate truthful and substantive responses.  They will also learn the order in which to ask questions, when to probe, and when to double back.

You Shouldn’t Have Asked That: Keeping Interviews Legal

“What year did you graduate from high school?” “How many kids do you have?” “Are you married?”  On the surface, these questions may seem benign and just part of the standard battery of inquiries one might move through when getting to know another person.  Unfortunately, these questions and others like them are illegal and unnecessarily expose companies to potential litigation.  In this part of the program, we will review illegal questions and suggest acceptable alternatives.

Tough Talent: Handling All Types of People

Occasionally, Silent Sam, Betty Bluff, Slippery Sue, Talkative Tom, and other characters will make their way to an interview.  In this part of the program, participants will identify solutions for handling interview surprises.

Verification: Checking References

“The interview went so well, we didn’t bother calling references – our mistake.” Checking references may be tedious, but it’s a necessary part of a good interviewing process.  In this final program segment, participants will learn best practices for asking previous employers about their experiences with prospective candidates.

By the conclusion of this interviewing skills training program, participants will know how to prepare to meet with candidates, detect rehearsed responses, and use strategies that will lead to hiring top talent.