For an organization to thrive, it needs people with both functional skills and a desire to be a part of the organization’s success. Behavior-based interviewing focuses on skills and behaviors to build the right team. The goal is to understand the candidate’s values, thoughts, feelings, and reactions to common situations – because if they match expectations, there’s an infinitely higher chance that this new hire will be part of a high performance team. As a complement to EnsuriseHR’s webinar session on Effective Recruiting & Insider Tips for Interviewing we summarize how to manage a structured, behavior-based interview process.
Effective Preparation
Effective interviewing starts long before the interview itself, and the first step is to truly understand what is needed from a role. A good position description will provide functional skills plus the qualities the organization values. Combined, these insights and skills will illuminate crucial job requirements. Don’t just repost what was used three years ago! Reflecting on what was wonderful about the last person who did the job and what didn’t work as well can help build a stronger description resulting in a better hire. While it may be tempting to use AI to generate a job description, it will still need to be thoughtfully reviewed and edited by a human who really knows the job.
Once the position description is written, highlight what matters. This is the foundation for an effective interview, uncovering core functional skills, but more importantly, the candidate’s ability to fit, thrive and add to the team’s success.
Resume Screening
Understand that a hiring manager can’t know everything about a candidate just from their resume. However, focusing on skill and will can narrow the candidates to a group that’s worth advancing in the hiring process.
Does the resume suggest stability and reliability, employers, dates of employment gaps? Look for the closest skill match, relevant experience, and qualities like ability to learn new skills, a work history that shows direction and progress, and a resume that’s thorough and well-presented. A candidate that meets many (but not all) of the functional skill requirements and has good alignment should be carefully considered. If employment dates or other details are unclear, ask for clarification in a screening interview or a pre-hire background check.
While AI can be used for these screens, it’s still recommended that it’s done by a person familiar with your organization and culture. State legislation is evolving with regard to AI employment screenings, specifically in California, Colorado, Illinois, New York City, with more pending, so if AI is used for screening, make sure that it meets the legal requirements.
Of course, the hiring manager wants the full package – but sometimes that is elusive. In these cases, it may be necessary to re-evaluate your criteria, categorizing attributes as non-negotiable versus nice-to-have, which may open up the process to additional candidates who will be great in the role.
The Interview Process
An interview process with three or more stages provides organizations with the best hiring information. Take your time – hire slow and find the right person for the position.
Stage one begins with a brief screening interview over telephone or Zoom. In 15-20 minutes, the screening staff can clarify any red flags on the resume get an initial confirmation of motivation and match. This step helps filter out the mismatched applicants so that the best possible candidates move forward.
Your applicant tracking system should have a screening checklist of required functional skills, structured questions around values, what the candidate wants in a workplace and in a manager, and finally confirming that they’re in agreement with details like the work site and base pay. The objective here is to evaluate if it makes sense for the candidate to meet the hiring manager.
Stage two is the heart of the effective hiring process – a structured interview. Research confirms that important body language cues are muted over screens, so it’s recommended to conduct interviews in person when possible. The hiring manager has two goals: to sell the candidate on the company and position (30%) and to learn about the candidate (70%). So, don’t get lost in the conversation and make sure the candidate does most of the speaking.
Organizations that add a second level interview to the process have even higher success rates and are less likely to hire candidates who interview well, but may not be an actual match for the role. Additionally, panel interviews work really well for a structured, scripted interview process.
Sadly, this isn’t something to do casually – even the most experienced manager should use a scripted interview at the core. While it may feel awkward, it’s incredibly effective. This interview is meant to find out if they can do the job, a little about if they want to do the job you actually have, how they will fit with your company culture, and especially important, how they will get along with the team.
In stage three, reference or background checks are conducted to confirm employment information and ensure the candidate does not have any red flags that puts the organization at risk. It’s best to use a third-party vendor to do these background checks.
In stage four, the hiring manager or team evaluates the candidates and determines if they want to make an offer. Because recruiting is also marketing, we want every candidate to have an amazing experience, even if they don’t get the job. You never know how that candidate could engage with the business in the future, so it’s considerate to notify applicants who are not interviewed, and call those who were, thanking them for their time.
What is a Structured Interview?
A structured interview follows a specific, prepared strategy. The hiring manager might start with a brief introduction.
“Hello. Today’s interview may be a little different from other interviews you’ve done. I’m going to ask a predetermined set of questions to get us started. I’m using the same questions for all of the candidates. This type of interview is called a structured interview. It may feel less conversational, but it will help me compare our candidates equally.”
After the intro, it can be helpful to ask an easy opening question to set the tone.
“Tell me what you already know about this role in the organization.”
Once the interview is opened, use the prepared questions related to skills, and move to additional behavior-based questions to evaluate motivation and fit. Ask the same questions of each candidate so that you can discuss all of the candidates in an apples-to-apples basis. Finally, answer all of the applicant’s questions, close the interview and let them know what will happen next. (Great candidates hate to be left hanging.)
Preparing Useful, Appropriate Interview Questions
Behavior-based questions that ask the candidate about what they did in an actual previous situation gives the best insight into what they will do in similar future situations. A behavior-based question is not a hypothetical. Telling stories gives much more information than close-ended questions – stories are harder to lie about, and the story will reveal both what the candidate did and how they did it.
“Tell me about a time someone didn’t comply with a procedure that impacted your ability to get things done. What was that procedure like?”
A question bank containing a balance of questions relating to achievements and challenges is a helpful tool. The best questions create parallel scenarios that help you uncover both the skill and will. In your question bank, categorize questions for different skills, because you won’t use every question for every job search. Select ones you want to use for each position with intention.
Some interview questions, while not illegal, have so much liability potential in a discrimination lawsuit that they should be strictly avoided. These include any interview questions that are related to a candidate’s age, race, ethnicity, color, gender, sex, country of origin, birthplace, religion, disability, marital or family status or pregnancy. If a candidate offers information about their personal life, do not pursue it further or allow the interview turn into a chat session. Stick to the script and focus on questions that make good use of the interview time.
Active Listening is a Skill
After asking a question, stop talking and listen. Don’t participate in the story (no matter how good it is) but smile, nod, lean forward, show engagement and indicate to them that the story is helpful. It may be helpful to take factual notes to support evaluation afterward. When a comment can be substituted for a question, it will feel less investigative, especially in this structured format.
Often follow up questions are needed if a story seems too good to be true or doesn’t match the rest of the answers. Ask for clarification, another example, or more detail – even which of their references might be able to speak to the situation. If you sense extreme discomfort, the story may not be entirely accurate. For a definitive “I don’t remember,” try rephrasing the question, offer multiple choice options, ask as a more closed-ended question, return to the question later or ask a related question. People who are comfortable will talk freely. To maintain rapport, we strongly encourage you to use positive body language to bring out the candidate’s best.
Evaluating Candidates
Remember that everything is part of the interview – from how they behave in the waiting area to how the candidate says goodbye – not just responses to interview questions. To evaluate candidates after the interview, review notes for keywords and ideas. They should be descriptive, but factual. A standard interview evaluation form to ensures consistency.
When the structured interview process is complete, you’ll be ready to make a hiring decision. The ideal candidate is the candidate who’s both willing, a great culture fit, and able, a great skills fit. The easy no is for the candidate who doesn’t have the skills and they’re not really interested in what you’re doing as an organization. We recommend you also say no to any candidate who’s able but not a match for your culture. (They rarely succeed.) But, if you have a willing, capable candidate who’s a great culture fit and you have the ability to train, these willing and not-yet-able candidates can be amazing hires.
Conclusion
While experienced hiring managers rely heavily on gut feeling, pairing it with a sensible structure generates the most helpful information. The best tool available is behavior-based interviewing, because research says that the single best predictor of a candidate’s future job performance is past job behavior. Building high-functioning teams through effective, structured interviews doesn’t just happen, it requires investing time and energy into building the process and training teams.
As a starting place, do some simple homework. Select a position, identify essential functional skills and essential culture fit skills, then write behavior-based interview questions, and practice with a partner, probing for detail and counter evidence.
Hiring right the first time, not being surprised by something expected to be great and isn’t, is worth the investment every time.