This guidance describes the most important to ask further questions about during an interview.

Most interviews are terrible. And, we’re not talking about it from the perspective of the candidate, but rather the manager! Most of us really are not very good at all at interviewing. When you combine this weakness with what every Manager Tools manager knows – that interviewing is the most important thing managers do – well, that might just be a problem. ☺

The question we get most frequently from managers is what questions should I ask? This is a fine question – and that’s why we have our Interview Creation Tool. But it’s not the best question. The best question is how do I evaluate their answers? Most of us do this poorly. Part of that happens because candidates are terrible at answering our questions. And, most of us don’t probe enough as they’re answering.

One way to quickly get better at evaluating answers is to probe the decisions they make. But how?

  [Play in Popup]

This guidance describes the first meeting a manager ought to have with a new team member.

Too many of us don't do a great job of focusing on hiring the right people…and then we compound the error by being too busy to get them off to a good start.

But this is Manager Tools, and there's a right way. As we like to say, here's how. 


  [Play in Popup]

This guidance concludes our discussion on when and how to end an interview with a candidate you won't hire.

Even though many of us do plenty of work to screen candidates, there are still times where the candidate fails to meet our standards. You wouldn't be a good interviewer if you said yes to everyone. And, to be clear, there's no way to be so good at screening that the interview is just a formality. (Too many managers think this.)

But what do we do when a candidate clearly has failed in the first part of an interview? What do we do when we KNOW – not think, not are pretty sure about, but KNOW – that someone will NOT get hired?

Here's what.

  [Play in Popup]

This guidance describes when and how to end an interview with a candidate you won't hire.

Even though many of us do plenty of work to screen candidates, there are still times where the candidate fails to meet our standards. You wouldn't be a good interviewer if you said yes to everyone. And, to be clear, there's no way to be so good at screening that the interview is just a formality. (Too many managers think this.)

But what do we do when a candidate clearly has failed in the first part of an interview? What do we do when we KNOW – not think, not are pretty sure about, but KNOW – that someone will NOT get hired?

Here's what.

  [Play in Popup]

This guidance recommends the best way to take notes during interviews.

Taking notes is something people seem to find difficult at the best of times. We frequently get asked how to arrange notes in a notebook, what symbols or shortcuts we use and how we find things again.

When it comes to interviewing, those notes become even more important. It's not because they're a legal document, though some people will tell you to be careful what you write because they are. It's because you need to be able to make a decision about whether to hire based on evidence. The only way to remember what you heard and what conclusions you drew is to have good notes.

What to write and where?

  [Play in Popup]

This cast concludes our guidance on how to write a job advertisement.

  [Play in Popup]

This cast gives our guidance on how to write a job advertisement.

Writing job advertisements is a job which managers love to delegate. They think it involves creativity and therefore must be difficult and takes lots of time they don't have. Like everything, those of us who have written lots of advertisements know there is a formula.

Once you know how, it's easy.

  [Play in Popup]

In this cast, we conclude our conversation on how to interview candidates by conducting multiple interviews.

  [Play in Popup]

In this cast, we continue our conversation on how to interview candidates by conducting multiple interviews.

  [Play in Popup]

This guidance describes how to interview candidates by conducting multiple interviews.

Interviewing candidates effectively is the most important thing a manager does. We don't get to say that - "the most important thing a manager does" - but one dime, so when we say it, we mean it.

Unfortunately, interviewing candidates falls under the Christmas rule. We don't do it very often. It's really important to us. Therefore, most of us STINK at it. And to make matters worse, the only way many of us have seen it done is poorly...so with no other model we're likely to repeat doing it that very same way.

This is BAD. This is, in fact, VERY VERY BAD.

To alleviate this, let's learn how to interview others effectively. We start by learning that one interview is never enough. Never, EVER enough, even for our best friends whom we've known for years.

  [Play in Popup]