As a recruitment agency owner, I am always trying to find better ways to interview candidates; but what defines better?

Actually, in my opinion, the job of an interviewer is twofold; firstly to give a complete and honest overview of you as a company and also the role itself, with no grey areas. Secondly, is to gain a complete and honest overview of the candidate, again with no grey areas. This seems simple, right? Well, you’d think so, but when I ask the question to employers or indeed candidates, what’s the reason you (or they) left, the most common answer is the role (or person) wasn’t what I expected.

At Thompson & Terry Recruitment, we live by the philosophy of honesty and transparency to both candidates and clients, which once implemented, in our experience is the most effective and best way to interview.

So what do we do? Our interview process is simple:

Step one:

The first call, must be brief and to the point – We go straight in with what are you looking for? (Things like salary, location, hours) I am sure there is nothing more frustrating for a candidate than having a long call with an agency (or employer) about a great role, for them not to be able to get there for example. We then give a very brief overview of the role and ask is this something you’d like more information about.

Step two:

The follow up, which we send via email and this must be detailed. We always include the original job description, link to the clients website and as much information about the company and role that we can possibly find. Once the candidate has had a chance to properly review the information, we then ask them to call us back (it’s important not to rush this).

Step Three:

The interview, which has two parts. Firstly we go over the company and role verbally in real detail (whether working for us or a client), before answering as many questions as the candidate may have and ensuring they have no concerns whatsoever. Secondly, we then go over their skills and experience in great detail, which we record so we are able to provide these to the client.

Step four:

The application and notes. Providing both the candidate and us are happy, we then provide the original CV (never, ever, ever re-write the CV, or if you are a candidate, always ensure it’s your own work – it’s so vital the interviewer can see your work) with our detailed and 100% honest interview notes (normally circa 15 bullet points).

Step five:

Managing the process. We always ensure we get feedback from every stage from both the client and the candidate, and regularly ask if either party have any concerns no matter how small. It can be

very daunting for a candidate or indeed interviewer to voice these. If you aren’t using an agency, then I would strongly advise another staff member that isn’t involved in the interview process takes this role.

I believe implementing these five steps to every interview process is the reason for our success rate, and actually it’s so simple to do. Good luck!

Ben Thompson
t: 01235 797 177
e: ben@thompsonandterry.co.uk