Conducting job interviews is a skill within itself. It’s more than simply asking questions to determine the applicants skills and expertise. If you’ve conducted interviews, you’ve also more than likely experienced making a bad hire. A hire where, the successful candidate said one thing at interview however the reality of them doing the job successfully once they got started was a cataclysmic failure. So, what happened from the interview where they said all the right things, wowed you with their skills, knowledge and charisma, to the day to day reality of actually doing the job? There are many reasons why interviews don’t lead to successful hires however that’s another blog entirely.
This week’s blog is about helping you get a better outcome when interviewing and the power of having applicants actually apply and demonstrate their skills, in action, in the interview so you aren’t simply relying on what they are telling you.
What’s an interview presentation? This involves having shortlisted candidates talk to or present to a scenario you have provided them. I’d say most commonly the presentation is used at the likes of the second round interview. The scope and parameters of the presentation will change depending on the role you are hiring for however the concept remains the same.
As the recruiter, you develop a scenario or hypothetical situation that is related to the job you are hiring for. It might be related to a key responsibility of the role, or a potential challenge the successful candidate will have in the role. It can be linked to the strategy of the business or an operational project / task. In setting the scope of the scenario, it’s not about having them come up with the solution to a problem, it’s about having them present to you on how they would approach the scenario, what their research, process, actions, thinking and ideal outcomes would be. In developing the scenario, ensuring you are specific with exactly what the candidate needs to present to and providing parameters is critical. Parameters might be things like additional info and resources that you provide to help them put together their presentation. It is also things like setting timeframes for how long they have to present for – or how much of the interview you are dedicating to the presentation and if you expect the likes of a powerpoint presentation or any visual aids. I can’t reiterate enough here, the importance of detailing the scenario and the parameters with complete clarity.
The power of the presentation
This is where you get to see the candidates skills in action. Is what they told you at the first interview about their skills, approach and work style demonstrated through how they have prepared and delivered their presentation.
When a candidate presents, I’m looking for and assessing:
- What degree of preparation have they done for the presentation; have they done more research than just looking at the info provided to them, have they really thought about and comprehended the scenario and information (what’s their level of understanding and have they thought outside the square at all), what effort have they put in to their presentation/visual aids and how well are those aids presented.
- Their approach; does it align with the way we do things at the company? For example, it you’re a small business and are fast paced and pivot quite quickly, is the candidates approach to write you a 100 page briefing paper that takes 3 months to compile, going to be a good fit? It’s not that their approach is wrong, it’s just that the approach may not be suited to how you operate as a business.
- Their presentation skills; the skills you need here will depend on the role, however I’m looking for how they articulate their key messages, how they get their point across. After all, pretty much every job requires an element of communication skills. How they influence, engage and respond to questions from the interview panel. Again, depending on the role, but in most cases I am also looking for energy, enthusiasm and passion here. If they’re not demonstrating that when they are trying to win the job, how much of it will they demonstrate when in the job?
- The key selection criteria; overall, I’m linking what I am seeing and experiencing at the presentation, back to the key selection criteria of the role I am recruiting for and assessing how what I am observing aligns with what the job requires and what success looks like.
Having your shortlisted candidates present, is another tool to have in your recruiting toolbelt. It might not work for all roles however if you have the opportunity to see a candidates skills at play, in the real world, I’d seize the opportunity. It will give you so much more insight than just the typical Q&A style interview.
