How to run an incredible interview

Ten Top Tips for Spotless Interview Hygiene

When we come to interview a candidate, we are very likely to base our opinions on first impressions. Hey, I’m not judging! It’s human nature to do this, after all. It’s all too easy to forget that our candidate is likely to do the same. In this post, I’ll discuss why it’s healthy to ensure your interview hygiene is spotless and put your best foot forward.

1. SET EXPECTATIONS

Interview hygiene starts long before the interview. If you can make time to accurately set a candidate’s expectations ahead of time, you will ensure they are comfortable and that they have a good interview experience. Regardless of whether you offer them the job, you want them to walk out of your building feeling positive about your brand. Have a think about all the key bits of useful information and either send your candidate an email or offer a short phone call to tell them everything they might need to know beforehand, such as:

• Your office location - is it difficult to find? Where is the nearest public transport?

• Your office dress code - if you have a smart casual dress code, it’s worth telling your candidate they don’t need to be suited and booted. It gives them an opportunity to dress more comfortably and save any embarrassment.

• How many interviews they will have, with how many people and how long for?

• What format will the interview questions take?

• Will the candidate have a chance to answer questions and who will be best placed to answer them? If the Recruiter or HR will answer questions about salary and benefits, then let your candidate know this up front. This will avoid awkward situations where they are asking your CEO about salary!

2. DO YOUR RESEARCH

How many interviews have you walked into, where the interviewer leads you via the printer so that they can pick up a freshly printed copy of your CV? None? Well you’re lucky! This is another little message to your candidate that you haven’t planned ahead and that you’re not hugely interested in them. Read their CV thoroughly BEFORE the interview and make notes; look for the needle in the haystack and plan to ask them about it. Is there a gap in their employment? Did they do a degree unrelated to their career path? Did they work on something that you’d love to find out more about? If you can make time, check out their LinkedIn profile (even better with a Recruiter LinkedIn licence) and Google them to see what else pops up. Spend some time thinking about the role you are recruiting for and the key attributes you’ll need from an employee. Make a list of the questions you can ask your candidate that will really uncover whether they are a good match.

3. BE EARLY

If you can, arrive early to collect your candidate, but absolutely CATEGORICALLY do not be late. A lot of emphasis is often put on the candidate to be on time, or arrive early (but not too early!), but in my time on both sides of the fence I have seen too little emphasis put on the interviewer to do the same. Think about the underlying message; if you’re late you’re basically telling your candidate that you value your time over theirs. As first impressions go, it’s hard to undo. If you arrive to collect your candidate even just two minutes early, you have time to greet them, walk to your meeting room and get started bang on time. If your diary often gets blocked out or double booked, block out the 15 minute slot before the interview and mark it as ‘Important - do not double book’, so that you know you’ll have enough time.

4. KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING

Don’t forget to book a meeting room well in advance of the interview and check which one it is before you go and collect your candidate. You don’t want to be wasting time walking up and down corridors, or find yourself in a situation where you have to kick a bunch of people out of a room so that you can get in. Even worse, in a situation where you don’t have a room at all! This is a surefire way to show your candidate that you haven’t planned ahead. You can use the same trick with your meeting room as your diary - book it for 15 minutes ahead of the interview time, or even better 30 minutes, so that you can spend a good bunch of time reading your candidate’s CV, scouring their LinkedIn profile and preparing your questions.

5. REMEMBER THEIR NEEDS

I don’t know how many times I have been to an interview and not been offered so much as a glass of water. Offer drinks, ask your candidate if they need a comfort break and check whether the interview room is too hot or cold. I know you’re busy and you have a lot going on, but just remember your candidate is a human being, they are potentially a bit nervous, and a little bit of empathy and a human touch can go a long way to giving them a positive experience of your organisation.

6. SAY THANK YOU

Yes, your candidate should be thanking you for your time, BUT... you should also be doing the same. Often a candidate will have to take a day of holiday or call in a dodgy sick day to attend an interview, so just make sure you acknowledge this both up front and at the end of the interview.

7. NO DEVICES

Brought your laptop? Shut it. Brought your phone? Turn it over. And put it on SILENT, not vibrate!! Your candidate should have 100% of your attention and maximum eye contact for the duration of the interview. Remove any other distractions and commit to being present with your candidate. This is your only opportunity to get to know them and their only opportunity to get to know you. If you only have 40 minutes scheduled, you better make damn sure you’re making the most of the time. You can’t rewind and replay!

8. ACTIVE LISTENING

You’re either a note-taker or not, when it comes to interviews. Some of you will literally transcribe the interview (I have been this person in the past!), some of you will take notes of key points and some of you will rely on the old grey matter completely, without a pen in sight. The key thing to consider is how you listen. Active listening is the process of making a conscious effort to fully concentrate on what is being said to you. When your candidate is speaking, you need to, process what has been said, summarise and analyse, then form a response. Some of this is obviously about ensuring that you get what you need in the interview so that you can accurately assess the candidate, but it’s also about giving your candidate a positive experience. Regardless of whether they want to work with you or not, they will walk out of their interview with a positive perception of their experience if they really feel that they have been heard.

9. LEAVE TIME FOR QUESTIONS

Don’t forget that an interview is as much about the candidate interviewing you, as you interviewing them, especially in today’s job market! Allow a good 10 - 15 minutes at the end of the interview for the candidate to ask questions, and ensure that throughout the interview you encourage them to ask questions as they arise. A great interview feels like a great conversation, after all. If your candidate doesn’t have any questions for you at the end of the interview, that says something in itself (clue: maybe they’re just not that into you), but at least you have given them the opportunity. It may be subliminal but this is just another little piece that fits into the puzzle of creating a positive candidate experience.

10. DEBRIEF AND HIT PAUSE

Once you’ve thanked the candidate for their time and sent them off on their way, take some time out to debrief. Straight after the interview, review your notes or take some time to replay the interview in your mind and make some key notes about your candidate. Most importantly though, hit pause on your decision-making process. The yes/no decision you feel compelled to make right now is most likely subjective and emotional. I know it’s hard, but just try to make your notes as balanced as possible and include all pros and cons about the candidate and what you talked about. If you want to make a truly objective decision about whether to hire a candidate, you need to give your brain a bit of time to process. Your candidate may have been engaging, funny and fascinating, but if you had great rapport it can very easily cloud the more logical assessment you really need to do to make the best hiring decision. If you don’t believe me, just try it next time you interview someone. It’s a great way of challenging your thinking and staying rational about your hiring.

Good luck and happy interviewing!

Top tips for staying productive when you’re working from home

Top tips for staying productive when you’re working from home

Working from home is becoming increasingly popular, as more and more of us take advantage of flexible working policies, starting up our own businesses, or choosing remote working roles. The advantages are clear: no commute time, no one coming up to your desk to distract you, plus you can stay in your PJs all day if that’s your gig. So if you can work from home, why wouldn’t you? It seems ideal. Well, the reality, as I’m sure a lot of you will know, can be quite different. Either the lure of Netflix/the cat/the pile of washing pulls you away from your work priorities and you’re woefully less productive than you’d envisaged, or conversely you open your laptop at 7am and literally don’t look away from it until 7pm. Even though you barely moved from your chair and definitely didn’t have a shower, never mind brush your teeth, you still feel like you only scratched the surface of your to do list. Working from home can be a double-edged sword, so here’s my survival guide to help you get the most out of it. I’m going to break it down into a 5-point list, mostly because I just love a good list. 

Planning

Plan the hours you are going to work and the breaks you are going to take. This is so important. When you go into the office you have a predictable shape to your day; you travel to work at a similar time, you chat to your colleagues throughout your day, you make tea or coffee, pop out to get lunch and probably travel home at a similar time. Even if you work long hours, at some point you do actually leave the office, which means you stop working. The danger with working from home when you’re particularly busy is that there’s no reason to stop, to down tools, to give your brain a rest. This is why setting the intention to do a certain number of hours and take breaks at particular times is crucial. After all, your brain is not a computer. It is a living thing and sometimes it needs a rest! It also needs rewards, so make sure you have something nice in the fridge for lunch, or promise yourself to get something delicious from a local cafe. Also, invest in a decent coffee machine if you can. There’s nothing quite like being able to pop downstairs to your kitchen and make your own Flat White. 

Distractions

Try to minimise distractions, but acknowledge that they exist. If you feel the pull of the cat/the piles of washing/Netflix is too strong, allow yourself some minutes in your day for it. Maybe you could watch an episode of your favourite show during your planned lunch break? Maybe you could use your planned morning/tea break to put the washing on. You could find the time away from your desk and the sense of accomplishment beneficial, but stick to your allocated minutes. Be careful not to disappear down the “I’ll just quickly do this” wormhole, because before you know it you might have a sparkly clean bathroom, but that list of emails has not written itself.

Workspace

Set up a dedicated workspace. I recently asked a group of business owners whether they “go to work” despite being based at home, and received a resounding “YES” in response. I took this advice on board and almost instantly felt the benefits. The kitchen table might be closest to the kettle and the sofa may be deliciously comfortable, but both of these spaces are sneaky gateways to distraction. Creating a dedicated space that is comfortable, distraction-free and makes you feel motivated says to your brain “Let’s get some stuff done!” On a side note, try to invest in a decent office chair to support your back, or consider a stand-up desk, which could be a great solution if you’re short on space.

Get dressed

Don’t lie in too long and don’t stay in your PJs. I know, I know, I’m such a killjoy. Trust me though, neither one of these will do you a lot of good. If you want a lie in (and you don’t have small human beings/cats/dogs in your house that are likely to wake you up at the normal time anyway!), treat yourself to an extra 30 minutes and be happy with that. All the evidence says that going to bed and waking at similar times is better for you and your circadian rhythms anyway. Once you’re up, go about your morning in the usual way. Make sure you have a shower and get dressed. If you’re missing your PJs, just throw on some tracksuit bottoms. You can still treat yourself to a more comfortable outfit than an average day at the office, but at least if you need to leave the house you can do so at a moment’s notice. Let’s face it, you were probably going to have a shower at some point, so why not tick it off nice and early? So, it’s now the time that you would usually leave for work and guess what? You’re ready to start your day earlier than usual. You can either use those precious reclaimed minutes to crank up the laptop and get a head start on that pile of emails, or you could go for a walk around the block to get some fresh air before you start, or even spend a few minutes reading or listening to a podcast. The point is, instead of that reclaimed commute time disappearing, you’re consciously using it to make your day just a bit more pleasant. Try it, I promise you’ll like it!

Go outside

Get out of the house! I’m aware this is counter-intuitive, but there is a kind of science to it. Firstly, fresh air is good for you, as is getting your heart rate up. A brisk walk around the block, popping to a local gym for half an hour, or going for a 20 minute run during your allocated lunch break will clear your head and help boost your motivation for the rest of the working day. It will also aid your overall sense of accomplishment. Another option to consider is working in a local cafe, library or shared working space. Much as working on your own at home can be a lot more productive, it can equally feel isolating at times, especially if you find yourself stuck on a task or project. Getting out and changing your working environment can often get the old brain cogs back in gear and spark a bit of inspiration. Plus, if it’s a cafe, you can get someone to make your lunch for you!

Good luck and happy WFHing everyone!

Be interested, not interesting: Social Media marketing tips for SMEs

How to smash Social Media as an SME

At a recent networking event, something that one of the attendees said with reference to networking really hit home with me when you apply it to Social Media. She talked about being INTERESTED in your fellow attendees, ahead of being INTERESTING as a person. You need to ask questions and take the opportunity to learn about those around you. One of the topics at this event happened to be social media and how a lot of us have become a bit passive in our engagement. How many times do we ‘like’ or view, compared to how many times we ‘comment’ or actively ‘share’? It struck me that there was a clear parallel between these two areas; social media is basically a way of networking, but online. As such, it’s even more important to actively participate when you’re online, as people otherwise don’t know you’re there!

CHANNEL REMIX

Throughout my years on the planet, I have watched the world go from analogue to digital (yes I am old enough to remember life before the internet and mobile phones!). I have watched the digital revolution unfold in front of my eyes. In the field of marketing, this has meant that our channel mix has literally exploded in the last couple of decades. There are so many options available to us that it can often be quite daunting to know where to start. The great thing about social media is that it is an instant two-way channel. You have the opportunity to get to know your audience at a one to one level and understand what they want, without having to invest much time or money.

GET STARTED WITH SOCIAL

So where do to start? First things first: a reality check. Social is probably not going to drive you a tonne of sales. I’m sorry, I hate to put a downer on this, but it’s just not. Think of Social Media as sitting at the very top of your funnel. It’s about brand awareness but it’s also about giving your brand personality and showing your audience what you stand for. It’s about conversation. After all, why are your audience there in the first place? I don’t go on Instagram to buy products, I go on it to look at nice pictures and chat to my friends. Remember it is SOCIAL media. This leads into point number 2 which is…  Who are your audience? Where do they live? What do they do? What motivates them? Think about your target audience - you can use your existing customers as a starting point. If you’re literally just setting up shop, then ask your friends, your neighbours, anyone: who would buy your product or service? Once you have some working theories about the key attributes of your audience, then ask yourself where they are active online. Let’s say you’re an interior design business - do your target audience scroll through Instagram drinking in pictures of lush room layouts? Do they dreamily craft their ideal home on a Pinterest board? Put yourself in your audience’s shoes and think about why they use social media and what they do when they are on there. This gives you direction in terms of which platforms to prioritise and what your messaging will be.

GET THE BASICS RIGHT

Whichever platforms you are using, it’s a good idea to ensure that you have the basics covered before you embark on a big social push. Consider the value of setting up separate business accounts, so that your bio or profile can feature a short description of your business and a link to your website. You can then use your company logo as your profile picture. A word to the wise though, not all logos work in a square format, so you might need a submark of your logo or a different format. Ensure your account type is set to ‘Business’ - this will open up different options in terms of advertising and analytics (especially on Instagram). As always, check that you have up to date contact details on your profiles such as your email address, location and phone number (if you are happy to share it). If you already have a good following on your personal accounts, you can then use your personal account to share your business content and drive your audience to business accounts.

FOLLOW YOUR PEOPLE

Once you have set up an accounts, get following. For instance, if you are a B2B service provider, you’re probably going to be doubling down on LinkedIn, so find the companies you are targeting and follow them. Follow industry leaders and publications, follow thought leaders, speakers at conferences, follow anyone and everyone that has an interest in your field. Another important exercise is to think about related fields. Let’s say you’re a personal trainer - how does that link into other areas? You could search for hashtags such as ‘wellness’ or ‘wellbeing’ or ‘self-care’ and find people blogging on these topics to follow. 

GET CHATTING

The next step is to get chatting. Don’t worry too much about posting anything yourself - initially you could keep this fairly brief and just introduce yourself and your business, to help new followers understand what you’re about. Really the most important thing you can do is start understanding your audience and what they are posting, sharing and engaging with. What trends can you see coming through from everyone you’re following? When people post, make some time to ask questions and reply when you get a response from someone. This is an opportunity to show some of your personality, as well as get feedback from real people on what they care about.

CONTENT WITH CONTEXT

Next stop is to get writing, snapping, videoing and to start producing relevant content based on what you’ve learned. Think about what is going to add value to your audience’s lives. What are the key questions trending right now? What problems can you help other people solve? Try not to think of each piece of content as a lead generation tool because your audience will see through it in a heartbeat. Don’t forget you can re-use and repurpose content too - a change of image or a cutting  down a large blog post into bitesize chunks can make it work across other platforms and save you a tonne of work. Build yourself a content calendar for the next couple of months and schedule writing, reviewing and posting on certain days so that you keep your commitment to it. Remember to go for quality over quantity - you’ll see much higher engagement from your audience. Don’t worry too much about fine tuning, especially when you’re starting out, they key thing is to try stuff and see what works. You could even run a few little tests or polls to see what seems to resonate with people, and best of all you can ask your audience for feedback right then and there. More to come on content strategy and production in a future post, but for now, just try being INTERESTED and see what happens…