Interview Tips for Small Business Owners

You’ve decided that you need help. You’ve crafted the perfect “help wanted” ad and you’ve started collecting resumes and applications. It’s time to bring the people who look best “on paper” in to meet with them and determine if they would be a good fit for your organization. There’s no need to be stressed about conducting an interview, just follow these few simple guidelines.

The most important step in conducting an interview occurs even before the candidates begin sending in their resumes. You must know exactly what you are looking for. You must have a list of the tasks that the employee will be expected to perform. You should have an idea of how their success will be measured. You should also know what benefits and incentives you have to offer new employees.

If you are offering a tech position, are there any special licenses or certifications necessary for the candidate to possess? Are you prepared to train the right candidate, or do you need an expert to step in?

As I mentioned in my last article, Hiring Tips for Small Businesses, you should also have a general idea of the personality type required of the position. Do you need an enthusiastic outgoing people person, or a shy number cruncher?

By now, I’m sure that you know that it is important to ask questions that are open ended. If everyone answers the question, “Do you consider yourself a team player?” with a resounding “Yes” you won’t be any closer to making a decision about the right candidate. Questions like, “Tell me about a time you were able to rally a team to accomplish a goal…” or “What role do you normally take on when working on group projects and why?” The answers should give you some insight into the personality of each interview subject.

Yes, you need to sell yourself and your company to the prospective employee; however, you should work from the assumption that the interviewee has spent at least a little bit of time checking out your website and reading the description of your company and the position on the classified listing. You did make your ad as descriptive as possible, right?

The best candidates will come in knowing enough about your company to ask compelling questions. Your job as the interviewer is to get the candidate to do as much talking as possible. The more they tell you, the better equipped you will be to make a decision.

There are several questions that you must avoid asking. The general rule of thumb is that if you are not allowed to hire/fire/discriminate based on the answers, you shouldn’t ask the question. In most states, this means no questions designed to illicit an indication of the employee’s ethnic, racial, or religious backgrounds. No questions about family status, sexual orientation, or parental status.

You are most likely to get in trouble by the “friendly conversation” you have during the interview than by the formal questions.

It is always a good idea to include other employees in the interview process, particularly if the candidate will be working closely with another employee or group. If you are hiring an assistant for your primary accounting employee, the primary employee should be involved in the process of picking the candidate. You can help avoid personality clashes and hard feelings (and potential lawsuits) down the road by simply consulting the affected employee.

Of course for that to be most effective, you and the primary employee need to be on the same page about exactly who and what you are looking for in a new employee.