Once you have candidates for your open positions, how do you proceed with the interview process?
The first thing I always do is a 30-minute-or-so video chat. Why a video chat? There are two main reasons. First, so much business is done over the telephone and video these days that I like to see what sort of impression a candidate makes visually and audibly. Does he/she come across as positive and upbeat, does he/she speak clearly and understandably, does he/she answer my questions or duck them, are his/her answers concise or long and rambling, and, my pet peeve, do they let me finish my questions or do they interrupt me and start answering before I have even finished asking the question? I use a video chat interview form so that I am sure to ask the same questions of each candidate and I grade each video chat on an A-F basis as soon as I am done, while my impressions are fresh in my mind.
The second reason for the initial interview being done over video chat is that it saves the candidate and me the time of the personal interview. If someone is driving several hours to meet me, I feel bad only giving them 30 minutes. I don’t feel bad only giving someone 30 minutes over the video chat. Plus, I do a lot of the video chats at night and over weekends because it’s normally easier for both parties to do at those times versus during the work week, especially if the candidate is employed.
After the round of video chats, I cut the field to two or three candidates and have them in for personal interviews. My time allotment for a personal interview is normally about two hours or even longer for senior positions, preferably including a meal so I can observe his/her manners, how they treat servers, and how they engage in small talk. Again, I use a standardized list of questions to ensure that I ask the same questions to each candidate, and again I grade each candidate on an A-F basis.
After the personal interview round I have the leading candidate come back to interview with several other people in our organization. It’s helpful to get the perspective of other people and if the consensus is that this person will fit in our organization, then, if their background check and reference checks are good, we make a written job offer. We always make our job offers in writing so as to avoid any misunderstandings as to exactly what the compensation package entails.
Jim Sobeck is CEO of New South Construction Supply, a building-products distributor based in Greenville with 10 locations in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida. He is the author of “The Real Business 101: Lessons From the Trenches.” newsouthsupply.com.
