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Closing The Interview of HRM

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Shehar Bano
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17 views3 pages

Closing The Interview of HRM

Uploaded by

Shehar Bano
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Closing the interview

A popular method of closing the interview is to say the interview is ending and to offer the
candidate the opportunity to ask questions. This will enable the candidate to gain clarification on
aspects of the position and on employment conditions such as hours, salary and benefits. The
interviewer should answer the candidate's questions as frankly as possible. If it is not an
appropriate time to discuss compensation—perhaps others are present—the interviewer can
suggest a follow-up discussion. Interviewers should be prepared to provide documents describing
the company and its benefits. In closing an interview, the interviewer may want to:

 Ask if the candidate is interested in the job based on the information provided during the
interview.
 Ask about availability.
 Ask for a list of people who can be contacted for references.
 Explain the time frame for the rest of the interviews, the subsequent steps in the process
and when a decision is likely to be made.
 Explain how to get in touch with the interviewer and when to expect to hear from him or
her.
 Walk the candidate to the door and thank the person for the interview.

Such steps can ensure the applicant is left with a positive impression of the interviewer and the
organization. After interviews, the interviewer should update the assessment grids for all active
candidates.

Additional Considerations

In addition to the general aspects of preparing for and conducting employment interviews
already discussed, a few other issues bear consideration. These include the possibility that a
candidate can be over prepared for an interview, thus affecting the impressions he or she creates;
the question of whether and how to take notes during an interview; and methods of following up
with candidates after initial interviews.

Over-preparedness
The overly prepared applicant can be a puzzle for hiring managers who are trying to determine if
the applicant would be a good fit for the position and the organization. Job seekers can learn
from books, magazine articles and websites not only what questions to expect but also what
answers to give to those questions. Determining whether an applicant is providing a truthful
response to specific questions can be equally as challenging for interviewers. There are,
however, several techniques that may be useful:

 Do some research to determine if the questions you are asking are on popular interview
preparation websites. If they are, but the interviewer still feel it is important to ask those
questions, he or she can consider how to push applicants beyond their prepared
responses.
 Ask follow up-questions. Keep asking questions until the applicant gives a response that
sounds genuine and thoughtful rather than studied and coached.
 Do not go astray and ask irrelevant questions when trying to generate questions that do
not elicit rehearsed responses.
 Consider that the rehearsed responses may be legitimate and informative. The fact that an
applicant has prepared a response does not necessarily mean that the applicant is being
insincere or untruthful.

See How Can I Cut Through Rehearsed Responses During Interviews and Learn More About
These Candidates?

Taking notes

There are various schools of thought on note taking during employment interviews. Some
experts say it distracts the interviewer; others say that notes should be made both during and after
the interview for documentation purposes. While there seems to be no consensus on this topic,
many experts do advise employers to avoid the practice of writing notes directly on applications
or resumes because they might be used to support an applicant's claim of discrimination. See Is
There a Problem with Writing Notes Directly on Applications or Resumes?

Notes about an applicant's skills or experience that are related to the job in question can be
recorded on a separate interview evaluation sheet to accomplish the goal of accurately recording
information from an interview. However, notes should never be made about the physical
characteristics or appearance of an applicant or any other area of potential legal liability. Note
taking should be restricted to unobtrusive commentary about the applicant's qualifications and
skills relative to the position.

Follow-up interviews

Organizations often bring certain applicants back for second or even third interviews for a
number of reasons. Sometimes the employer may want to confirm that an applicant is the ideal
candidate for the position, or the employer may be trying to decide between two or more
qualified applicants.

An interviewer conducts first interviews to screen applicants based on their general


qualifications. Once the interviewer narrows the selection to specific candidates, he or she then
needs to apply additional screening methods at a follow-up interview level to further ascertain a
candidate's specific qualities and potential cultural fit. A follow-up interview is also an
opportunity for candidates to do further research on whether the company is an organization they
want to work for.

During the follow-up interview phase, the interviewer should have specific goals in mind and
may want to invite other staff members to take part in the interview.

The follow-up interview is usually the final step before extending an offer of employment to a
candidate. If the candidate passes muster, the employer will then extend an offer orally and in
writing.

Communicating with candidates not selected

Following up with candidates who were not selected for a position, particularly those who were
interviewed, is a professional courtesy that should not be overlooked. Providing those candidates
with a respectful rejection letter can maintain goodwill and increase the likelihood a candidate
will consider future job openings with your company that may be a better fit.

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