Crafting Your Interview Process
Hiring gets better when the process is clear. You need a way to compare candidates fairly, reduce bias, and keep strong people engaged while you learn whether they can do the work.
The goal is simple: learn whether the candidate is a strong fit, while giving them a real reason to want the role. Good candidates are evaluating you too.
Table of contents
- Assessment protocol
- Written (email) correspondence
- Phone screen (30 minutes)
- Taking notes for the phone screen
- Technical Review
- Hiring council interview (30 minutes)
- Welcome and review job/motivation (1-2 minutes)
- Measure impact of first impression
- Review work history and background (10 minutes)
- Assess a few major accomplishments (5 minutes)
- Evaluate response to feedback (5 minutes)
- Assess major team accomplishments (5 minutes)
- Discuss major job-related problems (5 minutes)
- Let the candidate ask questions
- Recruit using win-win hiring opportunity
- Measure first impression again
- Recommended Readings
Assessment protocol
Written (email) correspondence
The first contact with a candidate is usually written. Keep it prompt, kind, and specific. The goal is to gather the basic information you need and move qualified people to a phone screen.
If the job description asks for a resume, working hours, availability, or portfolio, check that those pieces are included. If something is missing, ask for it directly.
Once all the information requested by the job description is collected, schedule a phone screen!
Phone screen (30 minutes)
In an effort to reduce bias in the hiring process, seeing the candidate’s physical appearance is delayed for as long as possible. Italicized sections are script suggestions.
Taking notes for the phone screen
Welcome and review job/motivation (5 minutes)
First, provide a short overview of the job (1-2 minutes).
Then, ask:
- Can you provide a quick overview of how your background relates?
- What’s your current job-hunting status? How long have you been looking?
- What factors are you looking for in a new job? (pause)
- Why is having ___ and ___ important to you? (factors being looked for in new job)
Delay impact of first impression (1 minute)
Write your initial emotional reaction to the candidate. This will be compared to your emotional reaction to the candidate at the end of the interview.
Determine if the candidate’s phone personality and communication style would help or hinder job performance.
Review work history and achiever pattern (10-15 minutes)
Please tell me about your most recent job. What was your position, the company, your duties, the team you’ve been on, and the big projects handled? (Repeat for the last few jobs)
For each position, record title, promotions, responsibilities, team structure, impact, challenges faced, and any recognition received.
Ask why the person changed jobs (look for a pattern of career growth)
If the person is an achiever with stalled growth, or the current job is unsatisfactory, our job may be a good move.
Note: promotions, special awards and bonuses, big projects, and being pushed by a mentor all suggest a pattern of achievement.
Most significant accomplishment question (10-12 minutes)
Can you please tell me about your most significant career accomplishment or project you’re most proud of?
One major project we’re working on right now is ___. Please tell me about something comparable you’ve worked on before.
Try to understand the accomplishment in detail. If the work is relevant and the candidate can explain their role clearly, they may be ready for the next step.
Determine interest and recruit
While we’ve seen a few other very strong candidates, I’m also impressed with some of the work you’ve done. Based on what you know now, is this position something you consider more seriously?
For strong candidates, now is the time to explain why the position could be a good career move. Focus on the work, the learning curve, and the growth path.
Technical Review
Technical reviews should match the work. Some roles need a short phone screen. Others need a take-home task, live working session, or portfolio review. Take-home work can show how someone handles real tasks, but keep it short and paid when possible. Long assignments cause good candidates to drop out.
For technical roles, a live working session can be a good middle ground: you see problem-solving and communication without asking for hours of unpaid work. A few useful tools:
Hiring council interview (30 minutes)
Assemble 3-5 people for a panel interview. The goal is to reduce individual bias and evaluate each candidate against the same criteria. Keep the interview to about 30 minutes with time for the candidate's questions. After the interviews, schedule a separate debrief to discuss the candidate and make a decision.
Welcome and review job/motivation (1-2 minutes)
If the candidate has been phone screened:
Based on your other communications with our team, please give me a quick overview of your thoughts on the job, and what you’ve discussed with others so far.
Else, ask the intro questions from the phone screen:
- Can you provide a quick overview of how your background relates?
- What’s your current job-hunting status? How long have you been looking?
- What factors are you looking for in a new job? (pause)
- Why are ___ and ___ important to you?
Measure impact of first impression
Write your immediate emotional reaction to the candidate: relaxed, tense, or neutral.
Write the cause. At the end of the interview go over this again to expose any biases.
Review work history and background (10 minutes)
Please tell me about your most recent job. What was your position, the company, your duties, the team you’ve been on, and the big projects handled? (Repeat for the last few jobs)
Assess a few major accomplishments (5 minutes)
Can you please tell me about your most significant career accomplishment or project you’re most proud of?
One major project we’re working on right now is ___. Please tell me about something comparable you’ve worked on before.
I’d like to focus on ___. Can you tell me a major accomplishment that best demonstrates this?
Evaluate response to feedback (5 minutes)
Can you please tell me about a situation when your work was criticized?
A strong answer should show that the candidate can hear criticism, learn from it, and improve their work.
Assess major team accomplishments (5 minutes)
Can you please tell me about a major team accomplishment? Consider one where you lead the team and one where you were a key member of the team.
Discuss major job-related problems (5 minutes)
One major problem we’re now facing is ___. How would you go about addressing this? What would you need to know and how would you plan it out?
Let the candidate ask questions
Based on what we’ve discussed, do you have any questions?
Recruit using win-win hiring opportunity
While I’ve seen a few other very strong candidates, I’m also impressed with your work. Is this role of interest? Why? Why not?
Measure first impression again
Go back and re-measure your emotional impression of the candidate. Separate first impressions from evidence about job performance.
Compare this impression to the one from the beginning of the interview and identify any biases.
Recommended Readings
- Lou Adler, Hire with your head, 4th ed.
- Osman Osman, The Holloway Guide to Technical Recruiting and Hiring
Have a role in mind?
We can source, screen, and reference-check candidates from the Philippines and South America, then send you a shortlist worth interviewing.