There's nothing worse than an undercooked candidate. Get the lowdown on how to get your candidate ready for the big interview, including tips on identifying interview style, not being an oversharer, 3 categories of questions that are ok to ask, and one thing to definitely NOT bring up.

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Hi, and welcome to the talent trade.

This is Stephanie Maas, partner with Thinking Ahead Executive Search.

Today, we are going to talk about one of the most basic, but crucial steps in the interview slash recruiting process.

Today, we want to talk about the candidate prep.

The reason why I want to bring this to light, because once you've been doing this for a while, sometimes it's super easy to get in your own head and say, you know what, my candidate knows what to do and not spend a lot of time or effort in this step of the process.

But let me caution you not.

Taking the time to slow down and really spend some good doesn't have to be long, but some quality time with your candidates to prepare them for an upcoming interview is a huge mistake.

Here are three reasons why this step of the recruiting process is so important.

Number one, most of our candidates Are not professional interviewers, even if they're phenomenal at what they do, top of the class, whatever they want to call themselves or you call them.

For most folks, they do not interview most days of the week.

And it's not that we're prepping them to the best interviewer gets the job, but what we are preparing them for is to show themselves in a thoughtful, well thought out way.

In a way that allows them to get nerves out of the way and really highlight the value that they can add to the role.

That's one reason.

Another reason is, quite frankly, there are a lot of questions that they probably still have.

And sometimes when they do have a lot of questions, especially if you work with folks that are a little bit more analytical in an interview situation, they can get wrapped up in asking all their questions and forgetting that they also need to be quote unquote selling a little bit.

The other thing is sometimes they have questions and they don't know how to ask them or how to phrase them.

So they come across in the right light during an interview.

This is an area where we can add tremendous value.

And then lastly, this step is part of us.

Honoring our promise to our clients.

We here at Thinking Ahead promise our clients that we will vet candidates for three things.

One, of course, is a skillset match.

Two is affordability.

And then three, sincerity of interest.

That's probably the toughest to measure, but when you spend time with a candidate in a prep, this is a great way for us to really listen and hear how sincere those candidates are in this opportunity.

You're not going to necessarily cancel.

An interview, if the candidate doesn't show right, but it definitely provides data points if they continue in the process and you get other signs that they might be window shopping.

So how do you accomplish a candidate prep?

Couple things real quick before I dive in.

I know some folks like to take 45 minutes to an hour to prep their candidates.

If this works in your niche, Absolutely.

You should keep doing that for some of us.

This is a 15 to 20 minute call.

What I encourage you to do is if you're not sure where your timeframe should come, really practice.

Listening more than talking during a prep, and that'll guide you on how long these should be.

If you find that you're doing a ton of talking, my guess is you're probably oversharing talking to hear yourself talk and you're losing the candidate along the way.

If you find that you were able to share what you need to share and the candidate does most of the talking, you're probably right on with an effective candidate prep.

So here's how we start.

First and foremost, introduce the call.

Do your typical minute or two of building rapport.

One of my favorite questions.

Hey, Tom, before we jump in, anything new or different on your end since we last spoke.

Then set the tone for the call.

Remind them why we're having this call.

Hey Tom, in our time today, there's just a couple of things I was hoping to accomplish.

One, I wanted to give you some insight on who you're going to be interviewing with, their style and agenda.

I want to talk through any additional thoughts or questions you might have and how to best put those together.

For the interview and then share just a couple general pointers that quite frankly most folks know, but certainly appreciate the refresher.

How does that sound when you ask that?

How does that sound?

That gets their buy-in?

Most of the time they go, yeah, that sounds fine.

Then I stop and say, Hey, before I dive into my agenda, is there anything on your mind you wanna talk about before we dive in?

And then just pause again.

We've already asked them if anything has changed, but this is a great place that if you really practice patient listening, if there's anything going on behind the scenes, hesitancy, excitement, change in their employment status, this is a great place for them to kind of offer.

Oftentimes they'll say, I don't have any thoughts or questions right now, but I'm sure as we get started, some might come to mind or they'll say, well, I do have a couple of questions, but I want to see what you cover first.

That might answer them.

And you go, okay, Hey, no problem.

Then with your permission, let me dive in.

Let me also encourage you.

I have written down everything that I need to share with you today.

If you have a thought that comes to mind or question, please don't hesitate to interrupt me.

I'm not going to forget to share anything with you.

It's all written down right here in front of me.

P.

S.

This is why scripts are so helpful, but hey, let me encourage you to jump in and interrupt because more than anything else, what's really important is your agenda, not just mine.

Sound good?

Okay, great.

Then you quickly jump into who they're going to interview with, a couple of highlights from their background.

And then you talk about their style and their agenda.

Their style could be, hey, they're a resume interviewer.

They're literally going to go chronologically through your resume and ask questions.

Their style may be, hey, tell me about a time when.

That's called behavioral based interviewing.

By the way, you will get this information when you do a client prep.

That is another talent trade episode.

So if you haven't listened to that one, please let me encourage you to do so.

So you share with them who they're interviewing with a couple of highlights from their background that you think could be applicable.

Then you talk about their style.

Their agenda interviews have pretty much the same agenda every time they're trying to evaluate your skill set.

See if you'd be a cultural fit and compare you to anybody else they're talking to.

So even if you're not exactly sure what the agenda is.

No, it's going to revolve around those three things.

Also if you know any specific hot buttons for the hiring manager, likes or dislikes, make sure that you share them.

Hey, Tom, one of the things I definitely wanted to share with you is when I went over your background with the hiring manager, one of the things that really appealed to them, it's not a requirement for the job, but they really liked your dot, dot, dot.

So if I was you, I would make sure.

To be prepared to talk a little bit about that, if they are going through their resume progression, make sure you explain to them, Hey, be prepared to talk about why you've made the moves you've made, where you've been, what you've learned, the impact that you've been able to have.

And emphasize that they need to be able to do this in a clear and concise manner.

In fact, if you've got a quote unquote talker, you're going to have to be lovingly firm with them and encourage them.

to practice these answers with a timer.

If they go on a monologue that lasts for two or more minutes, they will lose their audience.

So teach them how to go through their general background.

We all know that infamous question.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.

Again, most folks are professional interviewers.

So we get to talk through with them and coach them on how to answer that in a clear and concise way.

Make sure that they can speak to their successes.

In each of their different roles, however, that is measured.

And by the way, this is a definite conversation.

As you share information, ask questions.

How does that sound to you?

Is this making sense?

Any thoughts or feedback on that, et cetera.

Then as much as this is an opportunity for them to get to know you, this is an opportunity for you to get to know them, the organization and the position a little bit.

Let me encourage you to have.

Five to eight questions prepared that are thoughtful to help you gain the information that you're going to need to continue to evaluate this opportunity.

I always tell them they can ask things in one of three categories.

Anything they want smartly in regards to the hiring manager, things like what brought you here, what keeps you here?

What have you been able to accomplish that you're really proud of since you've been here?

What are you hoping to accomplish specific to this role?

What's your leadership style?

If we were sitting here 90 days from now, what could I have accomplished that you would feel really good that you made the right hire?

And that's a perfect transition into the job itself.

Share with them, Hey, I took a look at the job description.

There's a lot there.

Can you break it down for me a little bit?

What do you see is the three key, most important aspects of this role?

What are the challenges of the role?

Where have folks stumbled in the past in this role or where are the challenges and how did some of your folks meet them or accomplish them or work through them?

How would you describe the culture of the team?

How will the opportunity be measured?

How will I know I'm doing a good job?

Anything that again reflects the position and then the last area for questions.

is the organization as a whole.

Things like, how would you describe the culture of the organization?

How is that different from the culture of the team?

You give me a vision for the organization as you see it for the next three to five years.

Things like that.

Again, you don't actually want them asking five to eight questions for each one of those, but have them pick.

Hey, what's two or three questions in each of those areas that will help get you the kind of information you're looking for?

If they need to talk about remote work or hybrid work or in the office full time.

By the way, you should already know what this situation is.

But if it's a hybrid, hey, walk me through.

How does that work?

Etc.

I do encourage them to not talk about money, but sometimes it does come up.

They should not be bringing it up, but it might come up.

Hey, by the way, what are you looking for in terms of compensation, Tom?

Hey, that's a great question.

As you know, because by the way, I share with all my hiring managers, the exact comp of my candidates.

As you know, I'm currently at a base of 150 with a 30 percent bonus in terms of what I'm looking for.

If this was in fact, the right fit.

I'd be looking for something that was fair and reasonable.

We don't want to turn this into a negotiation.

This is not the time or the place.

And I absolutely let my candidates know that.

Of all the things I do at my job, negotiating on your behalf is one of the things I'm really, really, really good at and I enjoy.

You don't want to take that away from me.

Not because it's going to hurt my feelings, but I'm good at it.

And if you let me do it, I'm going to make sure we get you the best possible offer.

Then say, Hey, now that we've gotten those things accomplished, let me just share with you a couple of just general reminders that people really appreciate.

Things that you already know about interviewing, but things that people appreciate as refreshers.

First and foremost, please be yourself.

This is not going to be best interviewer gets the job.

It's going to be most qualified gets the job, but be honest and sincere with who you are, your skill set.

And please don't be afraid if they ask you a question that you don't know the answer to, don't be afraid to own that.

Hey, that was a really good question.

I'm not sure that I know the answer.

May I have an opportunity to get back to you on that?

Then lastly, it is the candidates responsibility to close the interview.

People naturally feel when an interview is coming to an end and you want to encourage them that they need to be the one to actually do the closing.

And I tell them, I'm not talking about anything cheesy.

This is a 1985.

We don't need to go and say, well, Mr.

Hiring Manager, now that you know me.

What do I need to do to get the job?

We're not talking about that.

We're talking about, Hey, express your interest.

Hey, hire your manager.

I really appreciated your time this morning.

The more I learn about the opportunity and the organization, the more interested, intrigued, whatever word they want to use.

I am becoming.

Is there anything else you need to know about me at this point to feel the same?

Something super simple like that.

Basically, I'm interested.

Is there anything else you need?

Now, it's been a few years for me, but just like when you're out dating, we all know that when you're out dating, if you want to be asked out again, you start dropping hints that if they did ask you out again, you would say yes.

And usually it sounds something like, Oh my gosh, I had a really great time tonight.

Thank you so much.

I'd love to do this again.

Something of that nature, right?

So you tell the candidates to do the same thing.

Hey, I really appreciated your time.

I'm definitely interested in learning more.

I'm just curious.

What's the next step?

Where would we go from here?

Now, the thing you want to caution your candidates on the answer and response from the hiring manager to that question is irrelevant.

Half the time they'll tell you the next step half the time they'll posture and say, Hey, you know, we're going to interview five other people.

We'll get back to you in a week.

The answer doesn't matter.

You're going to get the real answer and your client debrief.

Please pay attention there.

That will be yet another episode of the talent rate.

The point is that they're showing that they know how to close and expressing their interests.

There is a psychology when you are in a hiring position, you tend to like people who you think want the job.

There will be a time and a place to play hard to get.

This is not it.

So you encourage them to be clear with their interest level, by the way, if they're not interested.

You, of course, don't want them to close because that's going to leave a bitter taste in the hiring manager's mouth when you go, Oh yeah, they lied.

They're not interested.

So instead you tell them to say, Hey, if you know for sure this is not for you, then all you have to do is, Hey, thank you for your time.

I really appreciated the opportunity to know more.

You've given me a lot to think about.

That's a close when you know you don't want the job.

If you're not sure, I always encourage folks to close to the positive.

We can always go back and say, Hey, the more they thought about it, the commute just won't work or the timing's not right or this or that.

But if we give a neutral to negative feedback, it's almost impossible for me to get a second round of interviews after that.

Lastly, Make sure that they understand, and if you can get on their calendar, this is the best way to do it, that after the interview, you need them to call you.

And again, if you can set an appointment, hey, the interview is Tuesday at 10, let's you and I talk Tuesday at 2.

Make sure they understand the importance of why you need to connect and the sense of urgency.

I like to say, hey, I am not going to call the hiring manager.

And they know it until I've heard from you.

I am representing your interest.

So I need to know where your head's at.

Now, I'm going to give you plenty of time to process this, but at some point within 24 hours of your interview, I need to at least connect with you.

Get kind of your initial gut response, because the client will be waiting for me to call them, and they know I won't call until you and I have spoken.

If we don't connect, my client will start to assume that you're not interested, because they know this is how I work with my candidates.

That is our prep.

Again, it can be accomplished in 10, 15, 20 minutes.

If you're interviewing for multiple people, it might be a lot longer, but again, this is a critical step.

You should be doing no more than 50 percent of the talking and this will set them up regardless if they're the ones that get the job, this will set them up to start understanding how and why we're different.