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How to Conduct Job Interviews When You’ve Never Done It Before

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I will never forget the first time I interviewed someone for a job. I had just started a new recruiting position, and with shaky hands, I dialed the candidate’s number. I stumbled through the screening questions in a voice more unsteady than theirs. Having a colleague shadow me only added to the pressure, but her feedback became the foundation for my growth. Over time, I conducted thousands more interviews, hired hundreds of people, and started enjoying the process.

If you’ve never interviewed someone before and are now tasked with doing so, don’t worry. Like any other skill, you can master it with practice. Based on my experience, here are six pieces of advice that can fast-track your learning.

1) Understand the context.

There are two contexts you should consider prior to the interview: job context (what exactly are you looking for in this role?) and candidate context (given their background and experience, what do you want to learn more about?). Let’s take a closer look at each.

Job context.

Familiarize yourself with the job description, key responsibilities, and the skills required for the role. What is needed for a candidate to be successful? Are some skills required while others are “nice-to-haves”? Where can you compromise and where can you not? What tasks or responsibilities can you teach this person on the job, and what experience must they have on day one?

For example, depending on the role, you may need someone to be an expert in a specific coding language. Other skills, however, like proficiency in programs like Excel or Google Analytics, may be less important to their immediate work and are teachable on-the-job.

Candidate context.

Review the candidate’s resume and highlight any areas you want to explore further during the interview. Are there any previous experiences, skills, or key projects you want to spend more time understanding? Is there a skill you want to hear more about?

Let’s say, for instance, you’re looking for someone who has experience managing multiple projects at once and who is skilled at prioritizing various tasks. On their resume, the candidate writes “juggled multiple tasks and projects on a global team.” This is fairly vague, so make a note to dig deeper into it during the interview. In addition to the other questions you prepare, you can say: “Tell me more about your experience working on multiple projects at the same time. How did you manage that?” You’ll want to gain insights into the projects they took on, the tasks they carried out, and the skills they acquired through that work to gauge whether they’ll be a good match.

2) Prepare interviewing questions.

Your talent acquisition (or HR) partner will likely provide you with a list of interview questions. In some cases, you may also work together to write them. Either way, make sure you have a mix of behavioral and technical questions tailored to the role. Most position requires both hard and soft skills.

To get the most thorough information, make sure that your questions ask for specific examples. For instance, let’s say you want to learn about the candidate’s conflict management skills. You might ask, “Tell me about a time when you had a difficult conversation with a colleague. What did you do?” Or perhaps you want to know how adaptable they are to change. You could ask, “Provide an example of a time you had to adjust your expectations on a project. What happened, and how did you manage it?” The goal is to get them to talk about how they handled situations in the past — particularly, situations you anticipate might come up in this role.

When it comes to the more technical aspects of the job, ask questions about the specific tools or skills required to do the job. For example, if you’re hiring a software engineer, you might ask them to list the limitations of their favorite programming language. If you’re hiring a content strategist, you might ask them to describe what tools they use to measure the performance of their work. Requesting work samples or requiring people to complete a short behavioral or technical assessment can also be useful.

3) Do a mock interview.

Usually, job candidates are the ones advised to do mock interviews, but you, as a first-time interviewer, can also benefit from practice. I recommend role-playing with a trusted peer or a recruiter on your talent acquisition team.

Ask the other person to give you unexpected or challenging answers. This will help you practice thinking on your feet, probing deeper when necessary, and steering the conversation back on track if needed. For example, what will you do if the candidate is too verbose in their answers, or spends an excessive amount of time on one answer? You can practice politely interrupting: “Thank you for your thoughtful answer. In the interest of time, let’s go ahead and move on to the next question.”

What will you do if the candidate is too succinct or vague in their answers? Practice collecting more information: “Can you share some more details around how you did [project or task]? I’d love to understand your approach a bit better.”

Similarly, you should anticipate a few questions from the candidate. A mock interview is a great time to think about your answers to common ones. For instance, what if the candidate asks why you chose this company, or what you enjoy the most and the least in your role? Make sure you have a thoughtful response prepared.

4) Create a comfortable environment.

At the beginning of the interview, try to set a positive tone. Begin with a warm greeting and small talk to ease the candidate’s nerves. You could ask how easy it was to find the office (for an in-person interview) or how their day has been so far. I’ve found that starting on a more personal level — before diving into the tougher questions — helps the candidate open up and can lead to more genuine insights surrounding their personality. A little small talk will also help you relax. Remind yourself that you’re just having a conversation.

Next, let the candidate know what to expect during the rest of the interview, including its structure, duration, and what you’re looking for in their answers. Knowing the structure will help the candidate, and it will also allow you to review the concrete steps you’ll be taking. Finally, check if the candidate has any questions before proceeding.

As you dive in, show genuine interest in the candidate’s responses. Don’t multitask or let yourself get distracted. However, do let the candidate know that you will be taking notes. Your engagement will foster a two-way dialogue and encourage them to express themselves more freely. Remember to be curious about them and their experiences. Who knows, you might even learn a thing or two you weren’t expecting from their answers.

5) Take notes.

As you listen to the candidate’s answers, document key points. Don’t rely on your memory, especially if you’re interviewing multiple candidates. Take notes to ensure you can recall important details about their skills and experiences, which will help during the decision-making process.

To ensure your notes are unbiased and focused on job-related factors, it is best practice to have an interview guide in front of you. This is a structured document designed to facilitate and organize interviews, outlining the questions and topics you’ll cover. Interview guides have blank spaces to take notes, and while you don’t have to write down the candidate’s answers word-for-word, aim to capture the general context of the examples they share. What exactly did they do in certain situations? What results or skills were associated with their actions?

Having things written down will also help you analyze whether you have enough information to draw conclusions from a given question and whether you need to follow-up with an additional: “Can you tell me a little more about X or Y?”

Lastly, if the candidate struggles to provide answers to a question, don’t immediately disqualify them. Sometimes people need a little time to reflect. Give them a moment to gather their response, and if it’s still a struggle, move onto the next question and circle back at the end if you have time.

6) Evaluate the candidate and yourself.

You’ll rarely find a candidate who has all the job requirements you defined for a position. Most likely, you’ll need to revisit your wish list of must-haves and nice-to-haves, and make some compromises. Remember, many skills can be taught on the job. So, make sure you select a candidate that has the critical skills you initially identified. Don’t wait for the “ideal person.” Instead, balance what you need and how fast you need it with running an efficient selection process.

Just as candidates won’t be perfect, nor will your interviewing skills. It may be helpful to invite the recruiter or peer you’ve practiced with to observe you during the interview or watch a recording, and give you both positive and constructive feedback. Take note of what worked and try to improve one or two things during the next interview.

When you successfully match the right candidate with the right role, you set them up for a fulfilling career. This is something to take pride in — positively impacting someone else’s professional journey. I’m still in touch with some of the candidates I hired nearly two decades ago. Some have grown within the same company, while others have ventured to opportunities elsewhere. You, too, can make an impact, for both your new and old team members, by practicing the steps above to make the best possible hire.

Sources: https://hbr.org/2024/12/how-to-conduct-job-interviews-when-youve-never-done-it-before