Sorry can you repeat the question? Interview basics and role of an interviewer.

As an ex Police Officer, you may think I am an advocate of hard and fast grilling during an interview, see if you can trip them up. I am not, quite the opposite. We need to remember there are two objectives within an interview. Firstly, the interviewer has to ascertain if they have found the right person for the job, makes sense, right? Secondly and most importantly do not forget to sell the opportunity so the interviewee wants the job. There is zero point in finding your perfect candidate to find out they thought the interview was one sided and they did not really gel with you.

People are more relaxed and open when you set an environment to encourage this. In most cases the person you are interviewing will be working closely with you, so your first impressions count just as much. If you greet them hurriedly and proceed right into the questions are you really creating the best impression of your management style? This candidate may or may not be the right person but no matter what they have had an experience with you and will be talking about the company they have interviewed with- make the impression a good one.

The market out there is a competitive one, before diving into the questions it may be a good idea to talk about the opportunity and the prospects you can offer. This gives the interviewee a chance to acclimatise to the setting and really communicates the opportunity. During the interview please show an interest in the person sat with you. We often have feedback from candidates stating the interviewer was looking at their watch and phone etc during interview, resulting in them declining subsequent offers of employment.

So you have greeted your interviewee and they are eagerly listening to the opportunity in front of them. Now it is over to the questioning and looking beyond the obvious. Here are my top interview questions/tips during interview.

• Go through the CV and highlight any gaps or further explanation needed in terms of duties/experience etc.
• Body language/eye contact- Keep a note of this. Not only at the beginning but also during the interview, if they are uncomfortable with a question does their body language/eye contact change from the start of the interview?
• Motivations- Why are they here and how has their career been aligned to their motivations thus far? Why have the made each more? This should offer an insight into how they think.
• What type of management style do they respond to? This will help you make judgement on how well they will fit within your setting and allow you see what style they respond best to.
• How can I get the best out of you? Similar to motivations, this will allow you an insight to their thought processes.
• What did you dislike in your previous roles? This question helps gauge previous frustrations and reasons for leaving previous employers.
• If you are interviewing for a management role, really get to grips with their leadership style. How do they lead, motivate, train teams etc. Why are you a good leader? How do you interact with your team? How do you ensure you get the best from people? Why do you manage people? What is the best advice you would give to someone aspiring towards management?
• What advice would you give yourself 5 years ago? This is a good question based on reflection/personality.
• How do you build effective relationships with people?
• Finally, do not be afraid to ask questions outside of the box. I am sure you have better examples than me. Tell me about a lightbulb moment you had? Why this career of choice? How would your best friend describe you? Do you have an example of a book that influenced you? Who is your hero?

For more advice on interviews, interview structure and any other recruitment needs please contact One Property Recruitment.