PRACTICAL INTERVIEWING TIPS

Jim Bierbower
INTERVIEWING SUCCESS
Q. In what percentage of
interviews, will an
untrained interviewer make
the right recommendation?
A. 51%
Q. In what percentage of
interviews, will a trained
interviewer make the right
recommendation?
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A. 70%
UNDERLYING INTERVIEWING
THEORY

Past behavior predicts future

behavior.

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ANALYZING RESPONSES
• The perfect candidate doesn’t
exist.
• Interviewers must differentiate
between “acceptable flaws” and
deal-breakers:
– Generally acceptable: too much of
a behavior (i.e., verbose)
– Deal-breaker: unwillingness to
work designated schedule
– The massive middle: difficulty in
accepting criticism 4
Tip #1 – Pre-Interview
Information
• MYTH: The interview begins when
the interviewer asks the first
formal question in the interviewing
room.

• TIP: Often, some of the best

information is collected prior to
the start of the formal interview
when candidates assume that they
are engaged in informal
conversations. 5
Tip #2 – Relaxed Equals
Candor
• An interview is an inherently
stressful experience for most
candidates.
• The best interviewers make an
upfront investment of time in order
to establish rapport, gain some
measure of trust and reduce the
tension in the room.
• Consider adding time to the
beginning of the interview to
improve the candor of the 6
Tip #3 – Announcing
Start/End Times
• While announcing the beginning of
the formal interview can
temporarily increase the stress
level, the benefits associated with
announcing the end of the interview
outweigh the cons.
• Consider reinforcing the “interview
is over” message through non-verbal
communication (i.e., putting your
pen down).
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Tip #4 – Recording
Information
• Candidates monitor interviewers’
non-verbal behaviors.
• The best interviewers create an
intentional disassociation between
the time of the collection of the
desired information and when such
information is recorded on the
interview guide.
• This tip is especially important
when candidates provide negative
information about themselves. 8
Tip #5 – It’s Not a
Script
• Interviewing guides have been
developed to provide part-time
interviewers with guidance on how
to conduct an effective interview.
• The best interviewers do not use
the guide as a script. Instead,
they:
– Ask follow-up questions, where
appropriate;
– Skip questions, when information
was provided at the wrong time;
and, 9
Tip #6 – Giving
Guidance to Candidates
• The best interviewers will provide
intra-interview guidance to
candidates who are not meeting the
expectations of the interview.
• For instance, an interviewer might
say to a long-winded candidate,
“that was a terrific and
comprehensive response, but since
our time today is limited, please
try to tighten up some of your
upcoming responses.”
• Most candidates respond well to 10
such guidance because, even though
Tip #7 – “Wrong Time”
Information
• Q. Describe a situation where you
were able to motivate others to
action.
• Desired data: does this individual
possess leadership skills? Is
he/she assertive and engaging?
• Potential response could include
information related to functional
orientation: “Well, let me tell
you about my sorority’s rush, which
I chaired. This event gave me more
satisfaction than anything else 11
that has occurred in my life. Our
Tip #8 – Getting Answers
from Questions
• Think about the questions that
candidates ask you. These
questions can give you insight into
the candidate that our interviewing
guide questions did not elicit.
• “Does A&F have a tuition
reimbursement plan?”
– Suggests grad school interest
• “Are there opportunities to be
based overseas?”
– May be seeking international
employment 12
Tip #9 – The Best
Interview Question
• Many candidates are specifically
coached by their career planning &
placement offices on our
interviewing philosophy and have
prepared responses to typical
questions (especially true at Miami
of Ohio).
• If you sense you are dealing with a
heavily coached candidate, consider
increasing the amount of follow-up
questions to get to the real
answer.
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• A terrific way to get unrehearsed
Tip #10 – Non-Verbal
Communication
• Verbal answer – “I am a confident
person.”
– Non-verbal: no eye contact,
fidgeting
• Verbal answer – “My friends
consider me to be an enthusiastic
and energetic person.”
– Non-verbal: low energy, little
passion

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Tip #11 – Hire to the
Standard
• Be cautious when interviewing
candidates whose background has
similarities to your background.
– Same hometown
– Same university
– Shared interests outside of work
• Exercise caution when interviewing
physically attractive candidates.

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Tip #12 – Carefully
Make Promises
• Unless you are fully in control of
some aspect of the
candidate/associate experience,
allow your fellow team members some
room to maneuver in the future.
– All offers will be extended by
next Friday vs. We hope to extend
all offers by next Friday.
– No one ever works past 8pm vs.
Except in unusual circumstances,
most associates have exited the 16
Tip #13 – Can-do vs.
Will-do
• Less experienced interviewers have
a tendency to recommend candidates
who have a large measure of “can-
do” attributes without sufficiently
exploring the “will-do” component.
• When interviewing candidates with a
high cognitive profile (attending
Harvard, very high SAT/ACT scores),
be especially alert to this factor.
Most high cognitive candidates can
do the job. Many high cognitive 17
candidates won’t do the job.
Tip #14 – Allocating
Your Time
• Use the 90/10 rule for determining
the level of your interviewing
success.
• Experienced interviewers create a
hospitable interviewing
environment, ask initial and
follow-up questions and respond to
candidate questions, but minimize
the amount of time consumed by
their voices (10%).
• When an interviewer is talking, 18
Questions?

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