Must-Have Talent Acquisition Skills: Interviewing

By Linda Brenner | November 04, 2013

Job interviews, 1990's style: an interviewer would control the meeting. A candidate would come into the office for the scheduled meeting, prepared to answer various questions such as "what are your strengths and weaknesses", "how would a co-worker describe you", "identify a problem you solved and how you solved it". Hiring managers would question the candidate on how their skill set would be a match for the job req. That was the Talent Acquisition process - developing premium interviewing skills wasn't always a focus for companies.

Job interview, 2019 style: the candidate arrives, having prepared for a slew of questions from the hiring manager. These are not amateur answers, but instead have been culled from websites and ebooks and webinars as to exactly how to impress the interviewer and craft the perfect response for that job. A Google search for "best interview techniques" resulted in 54,700,000 pages. Sheesh. Candidates are more aware of the importance of a corporate climate that is a fit for them, and are interviewing you as much as you are interviewing them. The Talent Acquisition process has shifted tremendously.

Candidates' interviewing skills are more polished, sophisticated and prepared than ever before.

Hiring managers need to keep up with this trend, and can't get complacent with their usual old-school interview techniques and perspectives. One of the biggest shifts is that a hiring manager needs to not only look at the candidates' qualifications, but also ask the right strategic questions to insure they'd be a good cultural fit for the organization, and would operate smoothly with the existing gears. A recent study by Leadership IQ was a shocker. They found that 46% (yikes) of new hires fail within their first 18 months. The biggest wake-up call for Talent Management teams…89% of them fail for attitudinal issues. Not skill issues. Problems fitting in the culture, poorly adjusting to the pressure of the position, chemistry issues with the team. This are conflicts that can be identified in the interview process if the right questions are asked.

So, what can you do? We have some ideas. (You knew we would). You can download our whitepaper on Quality of Hire. You can read our blog about the topic. Talk to us about our Talent Acquisition Assessment Center. You can vote for our Quality of Hire session for the Talent Acquisition Excellence Forum.

Or, you can always Google "Interviewing Skills". We know you'll find at least a few million pages on it.

Contact us; We'd love to talk about your approach to talent.