Interviews

Short-listed candidates should be called for an interview. For secretarial and similar posts, a short list of three to five applicants should be sufficient. Too long a short list is symptomatic of your indecision.

The interview is the main forum in which the employer can further determine the suitability of the candidate for the job, and the candidate can learn more about the vacancy. The interview is a two-way process, with both sides anxious to impress; the interviewee is selling himself, while the interviewer is selling a job. The outcome of an interview may be that the employer may or may not offer the job, and that the applicant may or may not accept any post offered.

Good organisation and planning of the interview can increase the effectiveness of the interchange. Candidates need to be invited for interview, and informed of the date, time and venue for the interview, including any supplementary arrangements for preliminary talks, tours of the business or tests. Directions to the location of the interview, together with a contact person and a telephone number if there are problems, are important.

There are a number of possible strategies for organising a series of interviews. All candidates may be interviewed on the same day, and possibly participate in preliminary group sessions, or interviewees may be called over a series of days. In the interests of effective comparison, and making an appointment before applicants find another job, interviews should be reasonably concentrated in time. Interviews may be conducted by one person, two or more together, or a series of people one after another. Formal interviews usually use an interview panel, but informal discussions may be more effective if the applicant talks to people one after another. Even in a small business, a second opinion may be welcome, and, if necessary, a consultant with experience of interviewing may be engaged to assist.

Adequate preparation starts with a mechanism for receiving candidates. Any staff involved in the interviewing process should be fully briefed with regard to times, their role and the background of the applicants. A comfortable interview room needs to be organised with suitable seating, heating and lighting, and no possibility of interruption.

Interviews should be well structured. If a panel is responsible for conducting an interview, the members of the panel should meet before the interview to agree the order of events and the role of each member. Employment legislation should be noted in framing questions.

The appointment

Once all interviews have been completed, it should be possible to make a decision concerning the most appropriate candidate for the job. Usually, one or more candidates will meet the selection criteria, but if none of the interviewees is suitable you should think again rather than making a hasty appointment. It is sometimes tempting, in desperation, to appoint the best of an unsuitable bunch; this is a recipe for disaster. If the interviewing process has been unsuccessful, it may be necessary to think again, and possibly to readvertize the post at a different salary, with different working conditions or elsewhere.

The offer of appointment may be made verbally in person, over the telephone, or in writing. Once the successful candidate has accepted the post (and not before), it is courteous to notify the unsuccessful candidates, and to thank them for their time and interest.

The first offer should be followed by a written letter of confirmation. This is usually accompanied by a document that outlines the terms and conditions of employment, or, possibly, the actual Contract of Employment. Employment legislation under the Employment Protection Act requires that full-time employees should receive, within 13 weeks of starting work, details of the major items of the contract. Technically, a contract exists when an offer of employment is made and accepted; it is not necessary for a contract to be written for it to be binding. Nevertheless, a written contract is a better basis. The contract should be prepared in duplicate, with the applicant signing and returning one copy and retaining the other for personal reference.