The sole purpose of the interview is to find the right talent for your business. Scheduling an interview is tedious because you have to line up the candidate for the virtual interview from across the states. The tiresome part of the schedule is finding a mutually agreeable time. Interviews may get rescheduled or canceled depending on the availability of the candidates.
Small businesses are constantly looking for ways to reduce operational costs and save time. Scheduling interviews in advance and sticking to the schedule is one way to do it. As the old proverb goes, time and tide wait for no man, so small businesses stay in business is essential. Here time is of the essence. The significant advantage of scheduling interviews has enough time to prepare for the interview and perfect the pitch.
Here are some valuable tips for scheduling interviews.
1. Shortlist candidates for the interview
Before scheduling the interview, shortlist the candidates. A quick way to shortlist candidates is to skim through the resumes the candidates have sent. By doing so, you can familiarise yourself with the skill set the candidates can potentially bring to the company and frame the questions accordingly.
While scheduling interviews, remember to make the schedule flexible. Suppose the candidates cannot attend the interview. In that case, you have to reschedule the interview, given that the candidates inform of the inconvenience in advance. Moreover, let the candidates choose the interview time to make scheduling the interview easier.
2. Prepare a roadmap
For small businesses, scheduling interviews can be a bit of a hassle. Proper planning helps you can overcome the hassle with flying colors. Foremost, while scheduling an interview, schedule the interview to the closest date as possible to the date you want the candidate to join. Remember that some of the candidates you want to interview are working and may be available for an interview right away. Therefore, schedule the interviews in advance for at least two weeks. Suppose the candidate you want to interview lives in a different time zone; you have to consider that.
3. Technology saves time
Technology saves a lot of time and resources for small businesses. There is software available to schedule interviews with potential candidates. For instance, Picktime is one such scheduling software.
Picktime is an appointment scheduling software uniquely crafted to address the need of small businesses. You have all your schedules for the day, week and month organized. Picktime can quickly send reminders over email or SMS about the scheduled appointment or interview.
You can also promptly squeeze in the changes when needed. Moreover, you can link the payment gateways to accept partial or complete payments upon each booking.
Technology has shrunk the size of the world we live in now. You can hire talent for your business from across the globe. To give the candidate the best experience possible, you can consider including telephonic, virtual, and pre recorded interviews. You should not limit your option to just an in-person interview.
4. Initiate engaging conversation with the candidates
After you start interviewing the candidate, you can try to have an engaging conversation with the candidate. Such an approach will help you put the candidates at ease before you start asking questions about the technical aspects of the job that demands from the candidate. For instance, you can try talking about yourself and the company you represent. Moreover, you can ask the candidate what aspects of the job profile attracted them to apply for the position.
Remember that an interview is a two-way process. You interview the candidates to assess their skills and how they could contribute to the company’s growth. Likewise, they are also evaluating your organization.
5. Treat telephonic as an in-person interview
When you conduct a telephonic interview, treat it like an in-person interview. You can ask the questions you would usually ask a candidate that you would ask otherwise in an in-person interview. For instance, you can ask the candidate to introduce themselves and pause. The candidate would feel obliged to fill the silence. What they say in this movement may be not practiced. With such an approach, you can quickly evaluate the candidate. Moreover, the tone of the candidate reveals a lot about themselves. For instance, standing up and smiling during the interview implies they are authoritative.
Hopefully, these five tips will help you strategize the interview proceedings to pick the right candidate for your business.
