Executive Touch 11-Step Guide to Interviewing

Having the talent to interview is one of the most fundamental skills in business, states Executive Touch. The Leeds based firm offer their 11-step guide to help new entrepreneurs develop and nurture the art of interviewing.

It is incredibly important to have interview techniques developed and mastered whether it is as the interviewer or the interviewee. As an interviewee it is important, as a good interview is the difference between getting a new job or opportunity or simply, not. As the interviewer it is crucial to master the art of interviewing because this will help with discovering the right people to work for the business. Knowing what to ask in order to find out whether the candidate is the appropriate person for the role is essential for the business to run smoothly.

Executive Touch is an outsourced sales and direct marketing firm located in Leeds. The firm specialises in a personalised form of direct marketing which helps to improve their clients' customer acquisition, customer retention and brand awareness. Executive Touch connects with consumers on a face-to-face basis which helps to develop personalised and long lasting business relationships.

Executive Touch offer a Business Development Program for all those involved in their firm. The program gives candidates the opportunity to progress quickly through the firm from sales rep to leadership, giving them the opportunity and skills to open their own business in the future. Executive Touch trains their workforce and develop all the skills necessary to run a business, including interview techniques to ensure that they are equipped for when they open their own business.

To help those wanting to master the art of interviewing, Executive Touch is offering an 11-step guide:

Do Your Homework:
Researching candidates is not to find their embarrassing photos but to find out why they are interesting. This information can then be used to ask specific questions about previous projects.

Find the Limits of the Candidate's Capabilities:
Although the interview should not be an overly stressful experience, there should be challenging questions, questions that are intentionally complex. This gets the candidate to reveal their thought process. It is important to reuse these bigger questions across candidates and compare responses.

Get the Candidate to Talk About What They Learned:
Ask questions about the candidate's background. But avoid using questions that can be answered by simply regurgitating what is on their CV.

Use Scenario Questions:
Scenario questions are about crisis management or big decisions. The idea is to figure out whether the candidate can collaborate well during difficult moments or not.

Ask Brainteasers:
Brainteaser questions can distinguish sharp minds from average ones.

Develop a Trusted-Interview Program:
Only allow those who have received training to interview on behalf of the business. Interviewers will be members of an 'elite team of people'. With this program interviewing becomes a privilege and not a chore.

Schedule Interviews for 30 Minutes:
This strategy will prevent overrunning interviews with candidates who are clearly not a good fit. It will also reduce small talk and unnecessary questions.

Don't Interview the Same Candidate More Than 5 Times:
After four interviews the incremental cost of conducting additional interviews outweighs the value the additional feedback contributes to the ultimate hiring decision.

Measure a Candidate on Four Categories:
- Leadership
- Role-Relatable Knowledge
- General cognitive ability
- How their personality would fit within the firm

Hire by Committee, Use a Hiring Packet:
To make the decision collaborate with the people likely to work with the candidate. The hiring packet gathers all known information about the candidate. It should provide data and be standardised. That way, you measure the candidate relative to previous ones.

Quality must be Primary:
The golden rule of hiring is that the urgency of having the role filled should not mean compromising on the quality of the person hired.