When looking to recruit new staff it can be daunting to think of conducting face to face interviews, particularly if it’s the first time that you have had to do them.

One of the first things to do is look at the job that you are recruiting for and come up with a comprehensible job description that can be given to candidates for the preparation of the interview. This should include key responsibilities of the role along with mandatory skills and qualifications then additional skills/qualifications desired.

Based on the job description it is then important to prepare a list of questions that you will pose to a candidate to determine their suitability for the role including an allocated time where they can ask questions about the role/company at the end.

You may also want to include a short test as part of the interview process such as a simple copy and re-write exercise of a table of information. This will give you an indication of the accuracy of the candidates work along with an idea of how they cope under pressure.

It’s always worth remembering that most people in an interview situation are nervous and so it’s important to make some allowances for that to be able to get a clear representation of the candidate and get an idea of their suitability for the role.