Effective recruitment interview skills help HR not to overlook potential candidates

Are you a recruiter in a business? Are you currently screening and "hunting for talent" for vacant positions? So, in your role as a recruiter, have you mastered the following recruitment interview skills? Discover now to find the answers and self-improve to become a professional recruiter!

1. The important role of recruitment interview skills

First, recruiters need to understand the importance of recruitment interview skills in order to find the most potential candidates for the job position and the business.

An interview session is only effective when recruiters capture all the capabilities, experiences, attitudes, and personalities of the applicants. This allows recruiters to minimize the chances of selecting the wrong person and reduce recruitment costs and time. For the applicants, an effective interview session helps them have a more positive view of the business and perceive professionalism in the working environment.

Therefore, businesses should focus on investing and seriously implement the recruitment process by planning in detail for each specific position, understanding recruitment interview skills to conduct successful interviews.

Read now: 7 recruiting skills make you more professional

The important role of recruitment interview skills

2. Common Types of Job Interview

Here are common job interview formats along with interview questions to accurately assess candidates' qualifications:

Interview skills

This format is also known as assessing the candidate's professional competence and experience, often conducted through face-to-face interviews, delving into specialized knowledge and the essential skills for the position.

Employers often ask candidates: "In your opinion, for the position you're applying for, which skills are the most crucial? Do you possess these skills?" or request candidates to self-assess their qualifications and skills.

Technical Skills Assessment Interview

With the technical skills assessment interview format, there are higher and more precise demands. Through practical tasks, employers can accurately evaluate the technical expertise of each candidate.

For example, for a content marketing position, employers might ask candidates to write a sample piece of content, and for a programming position, candidates might be asked to write a piece of code.

When assessing technical skills is combined with professional recruitment interview skills, you should have all candidates perform the same practical task to facilitate fair comparisons of their abilities and make informed final decisions.

Behavioral assessment interview

For positions that do not require very high levels of specialized knowledge, behavior and attitude become crucial factors for employers to find the most suitable candidates.

In behavioral assessment interviews, employers present various hypothetical situations and observe the candidate's attitude, behavior, and problem-solving abilities to make the most informed hiring decisions. For example, in a customer service role, employers might pose scenarios and evaluate the candidate's responses.

Interview with the panel

Panel interviews typically involve two or more recruiters participating in the interview, depending on the job position and the interview scenario. With this format, candidates receive a more objective and impartial evaluation, ensuring that the final candidate is genuinely suited for the position.

The purpose of this interview format and recruitment interview skills is to provide a comprehensive view of the candidate's professional competence and qualities. It's also an excellent opportunity for candidates and employers to exchange information and engage in discussions to better understand each other.

Direct Interview

The format of face-to-face interviews can involve one or multiple stages, depending on the hiring position, regulations, and the culture of each business. Candidates are observed and evaluated through each stage, with a final face-to-face interview to reach the ultimate decision.

Call Interview

Phone interviews help screen candidates before proceeding to face-to-face interviews. Initially, recruiters ask a series of questions to assess the candidate's suitability. This depends on the recruitment process and the plan of each business.

Types of Popular Job Interview

3. A Comprehensive Recruitment Interview Process

In essence, the human resources interview process typically goes through the following steps:

Initiating the Interview

Employers should start by creating a relaxed atmosphere to help candidates express themselves more fully and ensure that potential candidates are not overlooked. Engaging in light conversations about personal interests or asking about the candidate's journey to the interview location is an excellent way to begin the interview.

Introduction and Information Sharing

Next, as the employer, you should introduce yourself (name, position, company name) and provide a brief overview of the position being recruited. Continuing, you should share information about the interview format, process, and request that the candidate provide a brief self-introduction.

Asking Interview Questions

With your recruitment interview skills, you should progress from general questions to specialized ones, gradually increasing the difficulty and delving deeper into the candidate's information based on the questions asked.

Summarizing and Evaluating the Interview

You can conclude the interview by summarizing the information exchanged. Afterward, express gratitude to the candidate for their participation and clarify the timeline and method for notifying the candidate of the interview results.

Suggesting Additional Interviews or Skill Assessments (if needed)

For job positions that have specific requirements regarding professional qualifications, employers may continue by requesting additional small assessments to further screen and identify the most suitable final candidate.

Standard interview steps

4. How to improve your professional job interview skills

Besides job interview skills, you can refer to some tips below:

Prepare well 

If not well prepared, the employer will affect the results of the interview, even choosing the wrong person or not the most suitable person. 

Therefore, before the interview, you should make sure to carefully read the candidate's CV, print out a hard copy for reference during the interview process; review submitted candidate sample products (as designer, content marketing); proofread the job description to discuss roles and requirements for candidates; develop a list of interview questions; Update knowledge about values, culture, corporate structure and benefits for the vacant position.

Consider choosing an interview method

Without a clear methodology, the interview easily digresses. These types of interviews can make candidates feel comfortable but don't make effective hiring decisions. If you don't have a lot of time to develop a complete interview framework, try to simulate that interview by:

• Choose interview questions carefully: Prepare a list of questions suitable for the position you are hiring and avoid questions that intrude deeply on your personal life, questions that are not suitable for the job.
• Note: Take note of the highlights of the candidate's answer.
• Evaluate answers on a scale: Use a scale from "poor" to "excellent" to evaluate candidates after each interview.

Show interest in candidates during the interview process

Caring about candidates will create a better experience for candidates and show that you have professional job interview skills, enhancing the recruitment brand of the business. You can do this by:

• Start with positive recognition: Notice and greet candidates who arrive for interviews on time.
• Make it easy for candidates to participate in interviews: Introduce yourself and other interview colleagues. Then, ask the candidate to introduce himself or herself and lead the candidate through the interview through more in-depth technical questions.
• Focus on the conversation: Focus on communicating and listening to candidates.
• Answer questions from candidates: Encourage candidates to ask questions and answer them.

Don't ask much, ask well

Asking smart questions helps recruiters know more and more deeply about candidates. Instead of constantly exploiting candidates with superficial questions, you should clearly define the objective of the question and "design" the question skillfully to gather information about "quality and quantity" – quantity and quality from them.

Don't talk much, listen a lot

Recruiters should view the interview as a runway for candidates. As a person who enjoys and evaluates, don't talk too much. Talk to them by asking a provocative question and then listening to the answer afterwards.

Incorporate body language 

Instead of talking a lot, recruiters with job interview skills will know how to incorporate body language to create a sense of closeness and comfort for candidates. The gesture nodded, smiled slightly, sat up straight,... is some applicable body language.

Give candidates time to think 

You should be patient if the candidate does not immediately answer your question. Try to wait for the candidate to be ready to respond with a slight smile on his face.

Control the timing of interviews 

Controlling the interview time helps employers avoid letting the interview last too long and affecting other candidates. This also partly shows your professionalism and the business in general.

The secret to practicing effective job interview skills

Recruitment service at Navigos Search - The leading headhunter brand in Vietnam

At Navigos Search - The leading provider of middle and senior recruitment services in Vietnam currently has more than 375,000+ senior candidates, 85,000+ senior management candidates, helping to quickly recruit quality candidates.

Our consulting team are recruitment experts who deeply understand the value of human resources, deeply understand each industry and professional job interview skills will accurately grasp the recruitment requirements of your business. All recruitment experts here are well-trained and have seniority in the field of human resource recruitment.

Based on the strict recruitment process and capacity, experience of candidates and recruitment requirements, Navigos Search will conduct a search for the most suitable candidate and commit to a very high vacancy rate in your business.

Our recruitment process is as follows:

Step 1 → Search and screen candidates: Navigos Search searches and screens candidates with competencies suitable to the recruitment requirements of businesses.
Step 2→ Face-to-face interview: Navigos Search conducts interviews to assess competencies as well as listen to candidates' needs and expectations.
Step 3→ Support businesses to interview: Navigos Search provides a list of potential candidates for your company after thorough evaluation. We will accompany the company and the candidate to provide additional support throughout the interview process.
Step 4→ Reference Check: Formal and unofficial reference checks will be conducted.
Step 5 → Support negotiations and job offers: Navigos Search acts as a bridge to negotiate and advise on salary and benefits. After the candidate receives the invitation letter and confirmation of participation, the vacancy will be closed.
Step 6→ Closely follow recruitment: Follow up with candidates to aim for success after joining the company.

 Navigos Search - The No. 1 mid and high-level talent hunting company in Vietnam

With more than 20 years of experience in the field of recruiting middle and senior personnel, Navigos Search is proud to have supported and brought successful recruitment solutions to many multinational businesses and corporations across Vietnam, helping them get the best quality human resources. 

Every month, the number of potential CVs sent to us is huge. Therefore, if your business is in need of recruiting any middle or senior personnel position, please contact Navigos Search to receive quality services!

Navigos Search - Vietnam's leading midand high-level talent hunting company