Once you have shortlisted your candidates you will need to contact them to seek further information and arrange an interview. Ideally you will get in contact via phone but with artists all over the world and varying time zones sometimes that is difficult. I like to contact via phone as much as possible as it's much more efficient and personable.
Tips before contacting your shortlisted candidates (via phone);
- Have a copy of their resume in view
- Have a copy of your job description and responsibilities in view, including start date, salary, benefits, contract length, projects
- Have a notepad ready or new Word document open to take notes
- Have a list of questions you want to ask
- Know your schedule and the schedule of the relevant managers when arranging the interview/ Skype call
You want to have their resume in view while in conversation with them so you can see their experience and skills. You see a lot of resumes so its easy to mix up candidates and their resumes.
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Having a copy of your job description in view is important because the candidate may have questions about the role. You want to give them as much information as possible before inviting them for further interviewing.
Having a list of questions you want to ask keeps you focused and on topic. It also improves the flow of your communication and appears professional and organized.
Knowing your schedule and the relevant hiring managers' is crucial because you don't want to have to reschedule the interview several times. Have a window of time available that works for you and the candidate.
Your interview communication is important because you need the candidate to respect your role as the Recruiter. You need to drive the interview, drawing all relevant information from the candidate and getting the best sense of who they are and their ability to do the job.
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Interview tips;
- Make sure all hiring managers are invited to attend the interview and are briefed on the candidate.
- Have a copy of their resume, your job description, their reel and their breakdown. If the candidate is brought into the office for the interview have their resume and your job description printed and have their reel up on a laptop. Have a print out for everyone in the interview. This applies to a Skype interview too. Print out the resume and have their reel up.
- Offer the candidate a drink. This shows professional care and politeness. You will also probably want one yourself as you'll be doing a lot of talking.
- Have a space ready for the interview. Your office, a boardroom, the kitchen couch. You don't want to look unorganized when the boardroom has been double booked.
- Know the questions you want to ask. You want to look professional and organized. As the recruiter of the company you don't want to seem overwhelmed or stressed. Make sure you look professional. You want the candidates respect.
- Know the programs and terminology involved with the role. You don't necessarily need to know how to do their role, you just need to know that they are qualified and experienced to do the job you are recruiting for. But when they ask about company programs, workstation setups and hardware then you want to know the answers.
- Have a laptop or notepad to take notes. A laptop is quicker and it allows you to touch type and still give the candidate plenty of eye contact.
- Don't leave any dead air. If you need to take a break from the questions to type up some notes them ask a personal question or a simple question about their day. As a recruiter you want to build strong candidate relationships, so get to know your candidates. Asking personal questions also helps to remember them later.
- Keep up the positive vibes. You don't want to appear stressed or put out during the interview. Keep the interview positive. Don't discuss any company issues, like broken water filters or how you don't have time for lunch. Regardless of whether the candidate is hired or not you want them to have a positive image of you and your company.
- Encourage referrals. If you are recruiting for multiple positions perhaps the candidate knows someone great for the job.
- Have a business card. Its good to have an out of office phone number or email address for those who are out of your timezone.
Courtesy of The Globe and Mail, here are some interview pointers and how to analyze candidate answers. The top 10 questions can be re-written to make them relevant to artists. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/management/ten-must-ask-job-interview-questions/article610545/
The purpose of the interview is to assess whether the candidate is suitable for the role. Make sure they are qualified. Tell them about the role, take note of how they react to the amount of work and what is required of them. If it is a managerial role, make sure they can communicate effectively and that there is a presence of leadership. Take note of anything they feel negatively about. If they complain about the pipeline in their previous role then talk about how successful yours is. You are trying to win them as much as they are trying to impress you so mention all the positives of the role. The great projects, the social events, the short commute, the convenient lunch spots, the great pay, the chance for promotional development.
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The interview is all about communication. Getting to know the candidate, assessing their eligibility for the role and building a relationship with them. It also doesn't hurt to implement a little bit of company PR as well. They will share their positive interview experience with others.
Give the candidate your business card, give two and invite them to pass it on. Be sure to tell them that you will be in touch and how their application will progress from this point. Be specific.
Discuss the candidate with the hiring managers. Get their feedback. Note any concerns they may have about skill level, availability or salary. These are things you can work on and then negotiate with the candidate and subsequent candidates.
After the interview type up all your notes and make notes on their personality and anything else you may have noticed. Be sure to connect with them on LinkedIn, send a follow up email and save their reel and information to the database along with the notes.
Look forward to my next post, Recruitment Communication: Post Interview Communication
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