How Can You Conduct Better Interviews At Your Workplace?

By Author: UrSpayce
Total Articles: 15
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Have you ever wondered why it becomes such a daunting task every time your organization has to hire candidates? Recruiters run back and forth to align the interviewers, shortlist appropriate candidates, find a suitable location, schedule the interview, and take rigorous follow-ups, which consumes a lot of manual effort and reeks of an inefficient process.

Is there a way to streamline the operational aspects of the interview process?

The answer is: yes; using a booking management system.

Before going into how a workplace management system enables smart interview scheduling, let’s understand the three stages of the interview process.

Steps to schedule interviews with candidates
1. Pre-interview phase

2. Interview phase

3. Post-interview phase

Pre-interview phase
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The pre-interview process is mostly operational. Your goal is to arrange everything systematically so that the candidate’s interview experience is hassle-free.

Step 1: Coordinate with hiring teams early on

Understand the requirements of the hiring team and how much time ...
... the hiring team can devote to recruitment. Understand the crux of their work process and what exactly they are trying to achieve from the recruits. Get their available slots and also have a few backup ones in case they have to cancel or postpone due to sudden schedule changes.

Step 2: Keep emails ready

Candidates may not know your organization’s hiring or talent acquisition strategy. Have a standardized email template with the following details to be shared with shortlisted candidates:

The hiring designation
Expected roles and responsibilities from the candidate
Options for choosing a convenient interview slot among a few options
Dress code for the interview
Interviewers’ names and roles, along with LinkedIn profile links
Office address
Interview format and the number of rounds
Step 3: Invest in a booking management system

Provide admins and HRs with the visibility of a day-specific footfall so they can decide the best time to schedule the interview, book the meeting rooms and get a real-time idea of the availability of space and provide a great experience to the candidates.

Interview phase
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Our main aim is to give the candidates a memorable first impression of the organization. Humanize the visitor experience so that they feel comfortable. A few things which you should do are:

Step 4: Make candidates feel at ease

Candidates are usually anxious during interviews. Make them feel at ease with some small talk, give them an understanding of the job profile, and make sure they are not having any difficulty. Give them information about the organization and the team to rule out the fear of uncertainty. Also, highlight the organization's culture.

Step 5: Evaluate the candidate’s approach to standardised questions

While interacting, you can assess how the candidate approaches and answers the questions. Have a set of questions for every candidate to gather adequate information from each person.

It’s more important to get the approach right than the right answers. Make sure you do not start with leading questions, rather make them comfortable first.

Step 6: Ask for the candidate’s feedback/questions

Employees prefer working with organizations where their voice is heard and values align.

While giving the candidate post-interview feedback is important, be prepared to receive suggestions on the hiring/interview process as well.

Post-interview phase
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After the interview, candidate feedback is collated, and follow-up emails are sent with the next steps. These are:

Step 7: Document interview observations

Document your observation throughout the entire interview process to keep the interview process objective and avoid any personal bias of the interviewer.

Step 8: Provide feedback to the hiring team

Share feedback with the hiring team and get them open up about their expectation and knowledge of the interview process and understand the scope of improvement.

Step 9: Send a thank you email outlining the next steps

One thing that rolls the ball or breaks the podium is effective communication. No candidate wants to be left hanging without any update from HR. Notify them about the next steps and tell them the result so they can prepare for the next round or move on.

Benefits of using integrated workplace management software for interviews
Manually handling the entire interview process can be a quite daunting task. With integrated workplace management software, the process can be streamlined to automate checking available time slots, managing communication with candidates, and collecting feedback from candidates.

At a digital workplace, the IWMS software covers the entire spectrum of interview management, from time slot checking to collaborating with stakeholders and candidates to managing parking slots for visitors. Recruiters can focus on elevating the candidates' interview experience with the help of workplace management software.

How UrSpayce enables smart interview scheduling
The user-friendly interface of UrSpayce elevates the candidate’s overall interviewing experience by providing automated support at various touchpoints like:

Self-triggering automated email alerts along with integrated calendar
Effective communication at frequent intervals such as a required documents checklist, issuing visitor passes, automated sign-in at the visitor management kiosk app, and guiding the candidate to the right location within the premises
Automated booking of parking slots for a stipulated time frame
Automated arrival notification to hosts and hiring team
Conclusion
Conducting the interview process effectively is easier said than done! You need to be careful at every step, get the right folks aligned, and manage the entire operational aspect smoothly so the candidate can have a smooth interview experience.

By leveraging integrated workplace management software like UrSpayce, you can easily handle the mammoth tasks of interview management like an expert.