During the interview process, you have three main goals:

Evaluate whether the candidate is capable of doing the job they're applying for.

Evaluate whether the candidate shows the potential to grow into a larger role.
And sell the candidate on the job.

All easy to say, hard to do.

How do you tell whether the candidate can actually do the job? There are dozens of books on the subject, and most of them do a very good job of explaining the process (My favorite is Who by Geoff Smart and Randy Street). I can't improve much on their work, but I'll share some helpful tips.


Get the candidate to explain something they're excited about in detail. You're looking to see their process of thinking through a project. If they landed a big sale, ask them what the single most effective line in their pitch was. Why was it effective? Are there some that are less effective? Does it change depending on the audience?

By asking follow-up questions and digging deeper, you will quickly see who the top candidates are. Great candidates will have an answer for any reasonable questions because they've already done the work to think through what you may ask. A poor candidate generally does not have the ability to dig deeper into those questions. As you ask deeper questions, they will give shorter and shorter answers. The top candidate will frequently give longer answers.

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Convincing The Candidate


Of all the parts of hiring, this is the one that I see emphasized least often. Yet, for the people you most want to hire, it's the secret weapon that can help you actually bring this person into your company. Top candidates are smart enough to hedge their bets and interview multiple places. Those people tend to outshine their competition, so they end up drawing a lot of offers. You need your company to be the one that sticks out to them.


When you've decided to make an offer to a candidate, your job is not finished. You have hooked the candidate, now you need to work to land them. But you may be wondering, after all, that they are the one trying to convince you to give them an offer, so shouldn't it stand to reason that they already want the job?


As with many things, this is theoretically true, but the real world tells a different story. Most likely, the candidate that you are hiring is one you are really excited to work with (if you aren't, why are you hiring them?) You're probably not the only one who is excited about this person. You need to make sure that the full package you're offering can beat out your competition and land this potential new employee.


Most of the time, you won't be able to offer the most attractive combination of salary, benefits. Even if you could offer the most money, you need to give them a compelling reason to choose you and your team. Most employees make their choice on emotional factors rather than cold financial logic. I doubt you would willingly work in a miserable job that came with a higher salary, and you shouldn't expect anyone you hire to either. You have to convince them that this job is one that they will enjoy doing and will help advance them toward their goals. If you can't, you won't be able to make many good hires and you won't be able to keep the good people you have hired.


Get them excited about the work they'll be doing. Working with you. Working with your company. Working with your team. This starts as soon as you post the job, and it continues through at least the first few weeks they're employed.


First and foremost, you have to be excited about the job and the opportunities it presents. If you think the job is thankless and menial drudgery, candidates will pick up on that and discount the opportunity accordingly. If you think the job is high-stress and painful, candidates will pick up on that as well. Who would want either of those? Focus on the benefits and advantages. The top candidate will understand the downsides to the job, so you don't need to add additional focus on them. You have to sell them on the upside. The top candidate is usually willing to put in hard work for long-term gain, so you need to focus on what that gain looks like.


When talking about the job, you need to be honest about the requirements and responsibilities, but that doesn't mean you have to paint things in a negative light. All challenges are opportunities in the right hands. Clearly, some parts of every job are just plain tedious, but if that's the light you paint your job in then you will never hire a great candidate. Equally important is to not oversell a job - smart and talented people will see right through you trying to describe a receptionist job as something more prestigious.


Ultimately, you need to highlight the positives of working in the role, especially considering what your ideal candidate would love about that role. Find those things, and hammer them home. If you need a bright, bubbly personality to charm guests, highlight the opportunity to be the first face of the company, never be bored, and be on your feet rather than behind a desk. If you need someone who enjoys coordinating 50 simultaneous incoming calls and visitors, highlight the logistical challenges they'll face and the fact that they're the hub of the company. Describe your ideal employee for the position, and write the job description as if it's a letter written directly to them.


Never mislead a candidate or be dishonest with them. That is a waste of time that will only lead to quick turnover and hurt feelings. If the job can be menial, then you need to say so. If it can be stressful, then they need to be aware. The difference is one of emphasis rather than of kind. Tell the truth, but express your genuine excitement for the position.