Mastering interviewing requires a combination of skill and experience. Therefore, you must prepare for each interview as best you can. In doing so, you can stay organized and focus on what truly matters: finding the right people for your biotech or medical device company. In this article, we will discuss ten interviewing tips for first-time hiring managers.
Why is Interviewing Important for First-Time Managers?
First-time hiring managers often lack extensive interviewing experience. Therefore, careful preparation is crucial in helping inexperienced hiring managers stay on track. After all, hiring the right candidate boosts overall productivity, reduces staff turnover, and increases morale.
Top 10 Interviewing Tips
Let’s take a look at the top ten interviewing tips first-time hiring managers can put into practice right away.
1. Understand the job description
This first interviewing tip may seem obvious. However, inexperienced hiring managers may go into an interview without fully understanding the details of the job description. This can be particularly troublesome when the position requires the type of specialized skills often found in the biotech and medical device industry.
Why is understanding the job description important when interviewing?
Every position in the company is key. However, positions are important for different reasons. Therefore, savvy hiring managers know that hiring the right person is essential. Moreover, understanding the job description allows hiring managers to prepare appropriately for interviewing. This preparation includes assembling insightful questions and looking for possible red flags.
2. Review the resume before interviewing
Often, hiring managers take a cursory glance at a candidate’s resume. However, this approach may cause a hiring manager to miss crucial details. Thus, one of the key interviewing tips is to review a candidate’s resume before an interview.
How can you review a resume before interviewing?
Comparing the job description to short-listed candidates’ resumes is a great way to prepare before interviewing. Additionally, highlighting specific details such as gaps between jobs and vague qualifications can help you spot red flags. You can then ask questions to gain more insight into these areas.
3. Practice, Practice, Practice
First-time hiring managers need to rehearse interviewing as much as possible. Conducting a “dry run” can help you get a sense of where you want to take an interview. After all, it’s easy to miss details, especially when interviewing a substantial number of candidates. So, preparing beforehand is a crucial interviewing tip.
How can you prepare for interviews?
Running mock interviews can help you get a good sense of what to expect. When you practice interviewing, you can anticipate key questions and details you need to keep in mind. Also, you can sit in on other interviews. You can observe other colleagues’ techniques to see what you could put into practice yourself.
4. Organize yourself
Part of your preparation should be to organize yourself. For instance, you might want to have a copy of the candidate’s resume on hand. Also, you might want to write your questions down. Please note that relying on your memory is not always a good idea. A great interview tip is to organize yourself.
How can you organize yourself for interviewing?
Creating a checklist helps take the guesswork out of interviewing and avoids having to rely on memory. This approach is particularly useful when you’ve got a load of candidates to interview.
5. Ask big questions early
Every position has key requirements. You want to focus on these requirements early in the interview. For instance, you might need to discuss drug testing, educational background or technical certifications as specific requirements for the position. As a result, asking key questions early is one of the more essential interviewing tips on our list.
How can you ask big questions early?
Transparency is the best policy. Being upfront about requirements provides you with a clear opportunity to ask big questions. Please remember there’s no need to dance around important questions. It’s always best to get them out in the open sooner rather than later.
6. Cut down on small talk
Naturally, small talk is an essential part of successful interview skills. Nevertheless, you must ensure that you cut down on small talk as much as possible. In particular, try to avoid wasting time with meaningless chatter. Consequently, managing small talk is an important interviewing tip.
How can you avoid wasting time on small talk?
Once again, preparation is critical. You can plan for every type of interaction, including small talk. Take the time to think about how small talk can help you gauge a candidate. For example, asking them about their journey to the office can tell you a lot about how organized a candidate is.
7. Ask behavioral questions
Behavioral questions focus on what a candidate would do in a specific situation. When interviewing, behavioral questions allow you to determine a candidate’s soft skills. Handling behavioral questions effectively is a necessary interviewing tip.
How can you ask behavioral questions?
As you prepare for interviewing, think about situations the candidate might find themselves in. For instance, a manager will have to deal with conflict. So, asking a question like “how would you address an argument between two staff members?” can provide you with significant insight into the candidate’s thought process.
8. Take notes
Taking notes may seem old-fashioned. However, you may not be able to record conversations when interviewing—as such, taking notes will help you organize your thoughts during the decision-making process. Taking notes is a must-have interviewing tip.
How can you take effective notes when interviewing?
Remember checklists? Using a checklist while interviewing can help you focus on the task at hand. For example, printing out a form with your questions allows you to summarize the candidate’s answer. Also, leaving some lines for your thoughts enables you to jot down your immediate impressions.
9. Determine each candidate’s value
You may often interview someone who’s not right for the position they seek. However, the candidate might be suitable for a different one. As such, using your judgment is crucial in determining a candidate’s value. Knowing a candidate’s value is a critical interviewing tip.
How can you determine a candidate’s value when interviewing?
Your notes will help you get a sense of a candidate’s value. Then, you can take the time to consider other open positions. This approach will help you avoid dismissing candidates before evaluating what they can offer.
1o. Leave the door open for questions
Inexperienced hiring managers might believe interviewing is a one-sided conversation. As such, the interviewer expects to ask all the questions while the candidate merely responds. However, the candidate may also have questions in mind. Leaving the door open to questions is a pivotal interviewing tip.
How can you leave the door open for questions when interviewing?
Set aside a couple of minutes for questions as you prepare for interviewing. After all, the candidate may have something they would like to address. In doing so, you have an opportunity to see the candidate’s instincts in action. Ultimately, you get a chance to add more elements to back up your decision.
How Can Simply Biotech Help Your Interviewing Process?
At Simply Biotech, we know that interviewing is not always simple. Hiring managers often need a helping hand, especially when staffing highly skilled positions in biotech and medical device companies. Also, managers may lack interviewing experience, particularly when hiring is not part of their core functions.
When you need a helping hand, Simply Biotech can become your trusted partner during your interviewing process. We know what it takes to interview candidates for specialized fields, thereby spotting the right people for your organization. We take the time to understand the position and carefully go through resumes. Ultimately, we know what to look for when interviewing.
Let Simply Biotech help you take the guesswork out of interviewing. Learn more about how we can help you focus on driving your business and expanding your market share.
This post is made available for informational purposes only to provide a general understanding of the topics discussed herein. It is not intended to provide specific business, legal, or professional advice, and should not be relied on as such. Simply Biotech is not liable or responsible for any damage or loss arising from any reliance placed on such materials.
