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How to be an Outstanding Interviewer: 6 Effective Tips


Did you know that around 120 people on average apply for a single job? The candidates are aware of the competition they have for every job position, and they will try to leave a perfect first impression. The question is – will you recognize an ideal candidate?

Becoming a good interviewer requires good preparation. You primarily need to write an effective job description and share all the details with a potential employee. After that, you need to determine the right questions to ask, design appropriate skill tests, etc. All these steps require in-depth analysis, and things will be much clearer after reading the list below. Let's start!

Write an Appropriate Job Description

Respecting a few writing standards will help you write an appropriate job description. Before everything, outline the job description and highlight all the parts it will contain. Come up with an entertaining title that will grab the attention of people (check out some examples here). After that, continue writing in a simple and friendly tone about all the details you highlighted in the outline.

Details you should cover are skills and qualifications, key responsibilities, reasons why your company is a good working place, and contact information/location.

Clear requirements and expectations will allow potential candidates to determine whether your job offering is good for them or not. However, writing is not always a skill that good interviewers have. For instance, HireWriters online writing tool can provide you with the writing help you need. The professionals will know how to make complex information simple and clear.

Bonus Tip: Don't Forget Team Vision Statement!
A good interviewer will always tend to get out of the box. You need to motivate and prepare the potential employees even before you offer them a job. Adding the team vision statement to the job description will potentially help you do that properly. It is a single sentence that describes the main goal of the entire company organization. The employee will understand that as an invitation to join the team, understand goals better, and improve their desire to start working with you.

Make a List of Questions

The right job interview questions will help you get familiar with some personal characteristics of a candidate. Every company has some core values, and they will hire a person that meets them. You can ask the candidates to talk about the teams they worked with before, how they usually boost their motivation, and why exactly they applied for a job in your company. It is okay to go a step further and ask the candidates about their interests, hobbies, the music they listen to, etc. The answers will tell you if they can easily adapt to a new team or not and potentially make new friendships.

Don't Hesitate to Make an Outline of the Interview

Determine the structure of the interview and ensure you won't skip some important steps or make some stages unnecessarily long.

The length of the job interview depends on different factors. For instance, in-person interviews should last between 45 minutes and an hour and a half. On the other hand, video interviews (the most modern type these days) should last between 15 and 90 minutes. It is recommendable to stick to that time length and gather all the essential pieces of information.

Define the Standard Rating System

Let's imagine that 50 people applied for your job offering. 50% of them were extremely good and they all deserve to get the job. However, your company needs only three new employees for a particular job position. How are you going to make the difference?

The answer is actually quite simple; you need to define a standard rating system. Some candidates may seem more interesting to you because of some personal characteristics (they are communicative, silly, cute, etc.) and they will leave a better first impression. However, making conclusions in that way would be wrong. Instead of that, use the same criteria for all candidates and remain objective until you get the final decision. You can check out the example of the interview rating sheet here.

Something you actually need to ask yourself is "What am I looking for exactly?" Analyze the gaps in your organization, and try to determine the perfect mix of skills and mentality you are looking for. Team collaboration statistics, for instance, can help you here. You should check out the team evaluation, work hours per team member, and other insights and compare them with the results you achieve. When you determine the biggest gaps, defining the characteristics of a new employee is going to be much easier.

Try Out Case Study Interviews

Education does not always show the real picture of the work qualities the candidates have. The best way to confirm their knowledge and skills is by organizing case study interviews. Use some of the previous problems that your company had and successfully solved. The potential candidate will need to find an adequate solution to that problem. If he/she finds it, give him a job. If not? Give him/her another chance, maybe he or she needs time!

The case study interview can be the last step in the entire process. Check out how some successful companies were using it in the past.

Final Thought

Unqualified people are not going to apply for the job position if your job description is clear. They will understand which requirements you exactly have and whether they can meet them or not. Still, many candidates with a fitting experience can really be a good addition to your team. Because of that, appropriate questions and a standard rating system will help you make the right decision. If you need additional confirmation about their expertise, you can always use the case study interviews and allow future employees to show their talents and skills. With all that in mind, finding the right person/people won't be a problem.


Estelle Liotard is a writer, editor, and proofreader at Get Good Grade. She helped a big number of entrepreneurs improve the quality of their job descriptions and attract qualified workers to apply. Spending time with business owners helped her understand the best methods job interviewers use to make an appropriate selection.

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