The hiring process should, in essence, be a simple process of identifying skills and personality traits that match the requirements of your business. But far from it being simple, it can be stressful for the people on both sides of the desk and will often leave the interviewer paralyzed through fear of making the wrong decision.

So – how can we make sure we get the best from each interview and take on only the perfect candidates for your team?

Here’s our top 7 tips.

1. Do your preparation.

70% of interviewers check out a potential candidate on social media prior to meeting them. We’d recommend LinkedIn as the most appropriate place to start although some clients delve deeper in to personal social media accounts you would need to establish the relevance of them to your business

2. Start warm and relaxed.

Give the interviewee chance to get in to the discussion – remember, they’ve got to like you as much as you like them so be affable, approachable and friendly

3. Be conversational in your questioning technique.

Now you’ve warmed the candidate up, try to encourage the relevant experience from them with conversational questions that naturally flow from one another. Open questions first – the closed ones come later

4. Experience and Relevance.

Talk to the candidate about their experiences – preferable in chronological order so they get to tell the ‘story’. Reasons why they took a job, what motivated them to move on, things like this. Then ask them to explain their relevance for the role based on that experience and the job description you’ve provided. They should have connected the two and be able to make direct links between the job and what they’ve done in the past.

5. Establish the real motivations.

With the job market moving so quickly and it rapidly shifting to a candidate driven place, you’ll want to make sure you entirely understand the candidates motivations. In the marketing, digital and creative fields it’s less likely to be money and more to be genuinely about career progression. Check this as you don’t want to get in to a bidding war with your chosen target.

6. Sell, sell sell!

Once you’ve decided who you’d like in the team then make sure you do everything to encourage them to come on board. Talk about your business opportunities, perks, working culture – be prepared to go through these in detail so they know it’s THE place they want to be. Help them visualise themselves working with you.

7. Listen.

It’s obvious (maybe) that you need to listen closely to what your interviewee is saying but how often do we drift away, planning the next question without fully listening to the answers for the previous ones. This will really undermine the quality your questioning technique and may be the difference between some one joining you and not if they’re not convinced you are genuinely interested.

Whilst this isn’t an exhaustive list it will certainly offer the right foundation for success in your interviewing. Good luck.

For tips on writing a job description take a look here.

For our advice on how the perfect recruitment process should work, click here.