Interview skills from the interviewer’s point of view

by Muna Onuzo Iyanam

Muna Onuzo Iyanam
| credits: File copy

Participating in an interview can sometimes be a daunting experience. This is especially evident if the candidate has not prepared ahead of time for the interview. Symptoms such as bouts of anxiety, profuse sweating, freezing up during the interview session and over excitement are all signs that show how anxious and nervous the candidate is. Surprisingly, the interviewers whose role it is to select a candidate that best suits the advertised position also exhibit these signs. I make this assertion because most individuals have found themselves always on the other side of the table as interviewees never considering that one day, they will in turn become the interviewer, with the responsibility of recruiting.

Does this sound familiar? Most managers today are given the responsibility to recruit bright talents into the organisation’s existing workforce. This responsibility presupposes that these managers already have the required skills to spot talent and recruit the best candidate for the position. This lack of skills has made most unskilled recruiters contributors to the high turn over of human capital within their organisations. It is an un-flattering trend that 90 per cent of organisations excluding companies such as Price Water House Cooper, among others, have not instituted the structure of engaging skilled trainers to facilitate interviewing skill training for their key members of staff, whose role it is to recruit on behalf of their departments. The ability to spot a candidate who is not only skilled but who also possesses a positive personality, which is a very important trait in achieving productivity within teams, is a critical aspect of talent sourcing. Hence, this singular interview skill for spotting the right candidate for the job during an interview session can save the company money and in turn increase ROI, which is the ultimate goal of every organisation.

So, what are these interview skills needed from the point of view of the interviewer in order to avoid making errors of judgment as a result of lack of experience, preparation and nervousness?  In my personal experience, I have been able to narrow down to three  some of the important skills every manager needs to refine if the interview process has any hope of yielding positive result. The first skill to consider when you find yourself behind the table with the power to decide if the candidate being interviewed for the position is right for the role is to assess your ability to be a good judge of character and personality. At the end of the day, this is what will either ensure you have successfully put together a great team that can work together or you have only succeeded in putting together a team of misfits that will end up being a drain on team spirit and team productivity.

Another skill to hone is the ability to determine the relevance of skill over qualification for a particular position. One of the mistakes most managers make during an interview session is to promote qualification above skill. Now, I am not saying that having two masters degrees and a doctorate is not a laudable achievement. However, if a candidate has spent a better part of their adult live immersed in acquiring certificates without consistent work experience, the candidates will end up becoming professional scholars and they might as well focus on becoming academicians instead of trying to re-integrate themselves into the corporate environment. I have interviewed candidates with international masters degree who could not pass an IQ test or possess the required practical knowledge for the position. Confidence in answering interview questions comes from an innate knowledge that the candidate has of his or her ability to successfully handle all the expectations required for the job. For example, my best social media consultant is an excellent online marketing strategist, highly cerebral, analytical and has never seen the four walls of a university. I am a champion of education, but, what is important to note here is that unless you are a doctor, lawyer or a dentist where the level of specialisation determines worth and expertise, it will be necessary to equate skill with education when interviewing candidates for a role that requires practical hands on experience such as a sales position, IT and technical and installation executive positions, especially with the shredded integrity of today’s educational system.

Finally, the most important skill an interviewer needs is the ability to discern truth from falsehood during the interview process. This is the most difficult skill as different personality types with divergent values and integrity are scheduled for the same job interview. Candidates lie on their CV’s. They want the job so badly that they go to the extreme of faking certificates and graduation dates. They are also very convincing during the interview. These nefarious candidates take their time to master the questions and acceptable answers to appear skilled and professional. This particular ruse is what deceives the unskilled interviewer who is then lulled into a sense of confidence in the candidate’s ability to perform the job.  However, when the chips are down and they get the job, these fraudulent candidates will be a huge disappointment to the organisation.  It is then a necessary need for all managers and division heads who participate in interview sessions as interviewers to go through a formal training session on developing their interviewing skills to avoid the recruitment gaffe mentioned above.