what do you consider important when you interview a candidate?

Answer 1

Albeit an interview is insufficient to evaluate an applicant to a job opening in your company, there are still some good points to remember when you conduct one. Firstly, don't get into the wrong idea that your applicant should impress you with his/her academic record and awards. In the real world these things comprise only about 17% of what you really need for a job applicant. What you should prioritise is the ability of the applicant to respond to cases/situations/scenarios you opt to asks him. You can best evaluate an applicant by knowing his/her course of action once confronted with an issue/problem through hypothetical but realistic scenarios. According to studies conducted by psychologists and HR personnel, most applicants who can very well respond to situations asked are the more effective and efficient applicants. The rational behind this is simple, you don't need your A+ grade in marketing to do the job. What you need is the ability to apply theories and concepts you have learnt from your studies.

Take note however that I am not claiming that grades are useless, what I am simply asserting is that there are more valuable aspect of an interview to look up to, like the ability of the applicant to respond quickly and rationally to a situation.

Remember to prepare questions or cases ahead of time so you'll be able to thoroughly design the conduct/questions etc. for the interview.

Other than what's been said, you should take time to analyse the track record of the applicant and make sure you verify them. ie. employment record, reason for resigning/being fired, etc. You also need to do extra research about your applicant after the interview. In that way, you'll be able to make sure you're really hiring the right person to do the job. Moreover, through this, you'll minimise the cost of firing and hiring again.

Hope I was able to help you.

Good luck.

cheers

Answer 2

What are you interviewing the person for? if it is for an opening at a business then it is important that they show up on time (or a few minutes early), are dressed appropriately, and have the right skills for the job.

Answer 3

honestly, the most important thing when hiring an employee, to me, is to see if he´s being sincere. when people try too much to impress, i know s/he is not the right one...

but you gotta have the right skills, an appropriate curriculum, show maturity and be well-dressed.