Hiring? This Interview Worksheet Template Can Help

You’ve advertised your open position, screened resumes and applications, and now you’re ready to interview the top candidates.
Conducting in-depth interviews is time-consuming, and it can be stressful and unproductive if you’re not prepared.
How do you make the most of this investment of your precious time? How can you glean the information you need to make the best decision for your business?
Download this template to help you develop a list of questions to ask each candidate.
Then follow these tips for best results:

• Be consistent. To evaluate candidates fairly, ask everyone the same set of questions.
• Open up. Ask open-ended questions rather than yes-or-no questions.
• Listen carefully. If the initial answer doesn’t tell you what you need to know, keep probing until you get a meaningful response.
• Encourage questions. The questions a candidate asks can be as telling as their answers to your questions.

Questions You Can’t Ask

Remember to brush up on what you cannot ask in an interview. Federal and state laws prohibit certain questions that might be used to discriminate against candidates.
What may seem to be innocent questions, asked in good faith, can leave your organization open to costly and time-consuming charges of discrimination.
For example, you should NOT ask questions about an applicant’s typing ability unless typing is a requirement for the job to be filled.
Also, you should ask the same questions of men that you ask of women, and make the same inquiries of minority applicants that you make of non-minorities.
If the information is needed for post-employment purposes (e.g., withholding tax), but NOT to determine qualifications for a job, this information should be obtained after the applicant has been hired. Such questions include date of birth, arrests, record of garnishments, etc.