Welcome to

I’ve been conducting a number of interviews this week. Having run a whole pile of interviews in past years, I have a few tips for those looking to hire for a position:

• Decide in advance what you’re looking for. Create a ‘profile’ for the type of person you would consider the dream candidate.
• Create an interview script. You want to ask all of the candidates the same questions, in order to be able to make as much of an apples to apples comparison as possible.
• Ask good questions. Duh. Harder than it seems. Stay away from the trite questions which everyone has a practiced answer for. Seek questions which will draw out the candidate and get them to expose their true thoughts and workstyle (as opposed to the version they want to present).
• Remember that you’re selling your company as much as they are selling themselves. Be positive! Even if it is someone you’re not going to hire, you still want them to leave with a good feeling. You never know who they know, or how your paths might cross in the future. Eventually, they’ll get hired somewhere, and maybe that company could use your services.
• As much of a pain in the neck as it is, you need to interview numerous people in order to get a good sense of what’s out there. Whatever you do, don’t just hire the first person to come in, no matter how ideal they seem. Experience has shown that this is always the wrong choice, and always something you later regret.