Three interview techniques for a candidate short market

Improving your interview technique in a skills-short market is key to securing the best talent. Find out the top three ways you can make your organisation stand out to applicants in job interviews.

Interviewing candidates in a competitive talent market: Key insights

Talent acquisition needs to evolve when there is a shortage in the supply of candidates with certain skills. We have gathered three interview techniques that all recruitment managers and interviewers need to succeed in hiring the best talent for their team at this time.

1. Your aim shouldn’t be to try to trip up the applicant in the interview, but to let their skills and experience shine. Review the structure of your interviews and take a focused approach to ensure that you’re gathering the right information.

2. People & culture is a key reason why employees both leave and stay in jobs. Make sure to touch on the people and culture aspect of your organisation in the interview to help the candidate gauge the atmosphere. If possible, offer a peek into what it’s like by introducing the candidate to relevant people and giving them a tour of the workplace.

3. Keep the candidates in the loop as much as possible. Communicate clearly how long you expect it to take before you get back in touch after each stage.

Keep reading to learn more about the different modern techniques that employers can utilise when interviewing candidates.

Alternatively, explore our employer services to find out the recruitment support we can offer for your organisation.

Interviewing candidates in a competitive talent market: Background

Interview nerves usually affect the person sitting in the candidate hot seat more than the interviewer. However, in such a fiercely competitive talent market it is often the interviewer who really needs to work on their rusty interview techniques.

Our latest research highlights that employers are actively deterring some of the very best candidates by not putting enough focus and preparation on the interview process. Our recent What Workers Want report showed that 47% of applicants have been deterred due to a lack of preparation by the interviewer. That’s an astonishing figure when you consider that the UK unemployment rate is at its lowest since the mid-70s (in July 2018), and we face critical skill shortages.

So, it’s worrying that organisations could be missing out on future talent simply because interviewers are unprepared or out of date with their interview techniques.

Three ways employers can improve their interview process in a competitive market

1. Give applicants a chance to shine

Interviews should give you the strongest chance of finding the best person for the role, and not be a test to trip applicants up. Open-ended interview questions are the most popular for both employers and applicants. However, less than half of applicants believe that competency-based interview questions give them the best chance of articulating their expertise and skills.

While the trend of brain teaser-style interview questions has faded, employers should consider whether their current interview structure gets the best out of their applicants. It’s crucial for employers to review the style and structure of their interviews regularly and make relevant changes. Collecting the right information through the application process will also help you conduct more focused interviews with appropriate candidates.

2. Don’t undersell your people and culture

Today’s applicants also expect more than a formal Q&A with the hiring manager. The people and culture of an organisation are a key deciding factor in whether people accept or leave jobs. So, it’s not surprising that applicants want to get a sense of this during the interview process.

If you have extolled the vibrancy of your company culture in your recruitment advertising, make sure you bring it to life in the interview. Applicants also want to know where they will spend their working days as 76% say they want to see the physical work space before accepting a role.

Despite the importance of technology in recruitment today, it’s still the people that really matter. Applicants want to meet the colleagues they will be working with, and managers want to meet their future team. But while 62% of applicants say meeting direct reports is important to them, only 13% of employers offer this opportunity.

Where feasible, offer a tour of the workplace and introduce the candidate to important team members. These extra steps can really help sell your culture to an applicant who might be unsure about the role.

3. Communicate clearly and quickly

The interview and offer process should help you develop mutual trust and respect with the applicant. Prompt feedback is incredibly important to applicants. 58% would only wait between 1-3 days after an interview for an offer before accepting another. Applicants also want to have a clear point of contact and to understand how long the process will take at every stage.

If employers fail to provide any feedback on an interview, they threaten the relationship between them and the applicant. It can also cause lasting damage to their employer brand.

In a candidate-short market ‘ghosting’ by applicants has also started to take place and employers are reporting applicants ‘disappearing’ even after accepting an offer. Keep the lines of communication open, even if there are delays in the process. This strategy can help employers cement the mutual trust they need from their future employers and ensure a successful hire.

For more detailed insights into how employers can hone their application process to attract top talent, view our latest What Workers Want report.

Interviewing candidates in a competitive talent market: Next steps for your business

Get in touch about our Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) service and let us streamline your hiring in a candidate short market.