Help! Giving Interviews

[Silvercat]

It might not be obvious, but I'm not a people person. I have to give five interviews today and I don't really know what to say or ask.

I plan on telling them about the job (ie You'll be helping me print and make sample labels - about 20 a day, except in more detail)

I'll ask how well they can read bad handwriting, since all the salesmen scribble.

I'm sure some other stuff will come to me, but right now I feel like flop-sweating.

I know the stuff you can't ask: religion, family info, etc.

So, anybody have any advice? Or just want to give interview horror stories?

[KuzcoLlama]

My only piece of advice (and I'm not sure if this is just something they have to do and I don't know that as never having been an interviewer) is:

If there is going to be more than one interviewer, please tell the interviewee. Twice they didn't say that to me, and I nearly passed out both times from the sheer terror of it.

[Gurndigarn]

It might not be obvious, but I'm not a people person. I have to give five interviews today and I don't really know what to say or ask.

I plan on telling them about the job (ie You'll be helping me print and make sample labels - about 20 a day, except in more detail)

I'll ask how well they can read bad handwriting, since all the salesmen scribble.

I'm sure some other stuff will come to me, but right now I feel like flop-sweating.

I know the stuff you can't ask: religion, family info, etc.

So, anybody have any advice? Or just want to give interview horror stories?

OK. Let's start with the basics.

What do you want out of an employee? What are YOU looking for? You didn't include fully what the job is, but I'm assuming you're looking for part time workers, relatively low wage. In that case, high on the list is (A) will show up on time, and (B) will work, followed by (C) can process basic instructions and follow them.

Since that's what I usually interviewed for, let me point out the things I usually did when I interviewed.

I started with a basic "tell me about yourself." That gave me a basic overview. Usually it didn't pull out much serious information, but it gave me a quick feel for what that person felt was important.

Depending on circumstances, I might ask what they thought of our location, and if they saw anything that needed improvement. Probably doesn't apply to you, but I was in an arcade, and I wanted to make sure they weren't there to play games (ie, ignore customers), so I listened to how they responded more than the acutal words.

I went over their availiblilty, and made sure they meant what they said, and made sure they knew what I had to offer them.

Then I went over past work history. Parts I really cared about were what they felt of the job, and why, plus why they left. If they had a work history, that made a pretty important indicatory of how they would act.

In general, overall I was looking for how they responded as much as what they said. Someone who bitches about everything in their work history is likely to bitch to/about you later. Someone who doesn't fill out the applicaiton fully probably is going to cut corners. And so forth.


Finally, in your specific circumstances, I would include bringing samples of the handwriting (both bad and rediculous), to see if they actually can read it, since that's one of the things you really need.

[Mr. Rager!]

I would have to say is make sure you treat the like you'd like to be treated.

Give them enough time to answer the questions, and allow time for questions. I've had interviews where they've asked if I had any questions, and I asked a question and they wouldn't let me follow-up with another question.

I'm sure if you search around on the web, they have places for the interviewer to get tips too.

[draftermatt]

Ask them why they want to work there.
Why they are leaving their current job
If there is no set salary, how much do they want to make
Are they in college? Will they have to leave for classes or anything
Have they ever done this type of thing before

Just try and get a feel for how they are. If you don't like them, don't think you can trust them then don't hire them. That simple. The one time I hired someone I didn't like it backfired on me like I thought it would. But I was desperate.

[Silvercat]

Well, first interview done. Nice guy, very smily and talkative. Seemed like he'd be a good coworker.

I kinda let the interviewee guide the interview and since I've made so many templates and things so my work would go faster, a lot of what I'm watching is to see if I would want to work with this person.

On the plus side, I didn't have any anxiety symptoms. Take that social anxiety!

Thanks for the help everyone.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I second Fashion Lad...I'm sure there is plenty of stuff on the web that might help you out.

It's too late for today, but might be good for future reference, but there are plenty of books on the subject too. Check out the business section (at BN there is a Human Resources subcategory under Management), there should be several books with basic interview process and "what to ask to hire good people" sort of books. You could also look in the career section; there's a bunch of books like "101 Answers to the Hardest Interview Questions" or whatever, which can give you plenty of ideas. If you will be doing more interviews in the future, they might be a good reference to keep on hand.

Take a deep breath and just remember, they're the ones who should be nervous, not you! Good luck!

-ams-

[Silvercat]

Three down, two to go.

First guy has shot himself in the foot. He emailed us a thank you that included 'so when are you inviting me for dinner?" Joke or not, not very professional.

Second girl was nice, but seemed a bit desperate. I'm hoping thats all it was, because something rubbed me funny. Also she had gum. Ick.

Third guy was really really quiet. And late.

[Gurndigarn]

First guy has shot himself in the foot. He emailed us a thank you that included 'so when are you inviting me for dinner?" Joke or not, not very professional.

Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Second girl was nice, but seemed a bit desperate. I'm hoping thats all it was, because something rubbed me funny.

Stick with your instincts. Even if numbers four and five don't look good, either.

Third guy was really really quiet. And late.

Quiet is fine. Late is real bad.

Edit: Quiet is fine. Shy is not if he has to deal with the public.

[Silvercat]

One more to go. She should be here any minute now.

At the moment, I'm going to hire #4.

For those of you who hire, how much of your decision is logical reasons, and how much is gut feeling? (Well... mostly right now my gut is saying I want to go home, dammit!)

[Ringtail Z28]

I would say to go with your gut, more often than not it would be the right choice.

[Gurndigarn]

For those of you who hire, how much of your decision is logical reasons, and how much is gut feeling? (Well... mostly right now my gut is saying I want to go home, dammit!)

It's like picking someone to marry. You need both your heart and your head to agree on the person, or you're likely to regret it down the road. With the major exception being that their are times when you need to hire someone right now, so you take the best of what's availible. I don't care how much your loins are on fire/your biological clock is ticking/you're tired of being alone/your parents are nagging you, wait on marriage until you found a keeper, and you'll come out in a much better situation.

[ladodger34]

I can tell you from interviewing hundreds of people that there isn't an exact science to picking someone for a job. We used to interview a lot of entry level type of people and sometimes the best interviews ended up being garbage employees.

Our most successful crop of employees were hired in a crunch. We had a major national softball tournament coming up and we needed warm bodies. If someone showed up on time to their interview, they were hired. I think we got kind of lucky, but we really hired a good group of kids.

When we did our interviews, we had a list of about 8-9 questions and asked all the people we interviewed the same questions in the same order. If I remember correctly, we scored each interview after they left on a 1-5 scale for each question. We tallied up the points. Obviously, the people with the highest scores were usually hired.

[flicksgirl]

I hate interviewing I actually make alist of questions before hand and trya nd stick to it the best I can. And I almost always hire according to gut instinct, if I dont like something about them or they rub me the wrong way why would i want them working for me? Hope it all works out for the best.

[Silvercat]

Thanks for the help, everybody!

I should have some help next week.