Week 15: Being an interviewer

At some point, you’re going to be on the other side of an interview, and instead of being asked questions, you will ask them, and it’s a completely different story (obviously), you need to focus on different things, you’re still nervous but not in the way the interviewee is.

The interview process (again)

Through the weekend most of my efforts were to prepare for the interview, and there are many things that you need to consider, like the stack of the interviewee or the experience, everything counts for an interview, knowing things like this you can prepare the right way, and ask the right questions.

As the interviewer, you are supposed to know all of the answers, because if for some reason the interviewee had some troubles (which happens most of the time) you will interfere, not to correct or tell them they’re wrong, actually to guide them. When someone feels blocked, your job is to show them a way to get to a solution, sometimes people are capable of doing things, but for certain circumstances, like nervousness, fear, or shyness, interviewees feel attached and couldn’t perform the way they used to.

Interviews are stressful situations, so getting people to feel comfortable is something good. Maybe at the beginning, you could do some chit-chat, ask them about their days, make some jokes, your purpose is to make them feel that everything will be alright and this will not be the end. Although this is not that simple, everyone is different, sometime you will cross with people that like to talk a lot, and it’s very easy to keep a conversation with them, so that makes easier the process of the interview, but some other times you will meet people very quiet, and it could feel awkward, but you that’s the way they are and you need to find different ways to make them more open. As soon as you realized that, the process will become more simple.

Being a spectator of an interview

One of the things that I most enjoyed last week was the opportunity of seeing the process of recruitment in Encora, I only was a spectator, but it surely helped me to understand how things worked behind the scenes. Getting a little glimpse of how everyone prepares for an interview was amazing, it opened my eyes to see what I needed to do next and during the interview, the way feedback should be given, how to properly talk to people, and how to acted when people are struggling. It certainly was a great experience.