Interviewing

Once you have decided upon whom to shortlist, you need to contact the people to tell them where the interviews are and at what time you would like them to be interviewed.

You can hold the interviews at your local Job Centre or you can use your budget to purchase a room for the day at a local hotel/conference centre. 

Some people prefer to interview at home where they feel more relaxed.

If you live alone this may not be advisable, and we recommend that anyone interviewing at home

always has another person with them.

You might like to have support from an employment advisor or member of a peer group.  It is always useful to have notes taken of what the person said, what their body language was like, whether they were smartly dressed and if they were punctual.

Don’t forget, you have already asked most of the practical questions on the application form so it is not generally worth repeating them in the interview.  Use the interview to ask more general, discussion-type questions. 

However, on re-reading a person’s application form, there may be a specific point(s), say about their health or experience, that you want to explore further with them.  You can add that type of question to your general list that you ask everyone.

When the applicant arrives, a few informal questions to help them relax are a good idea, i.e. did they find you O.K or chat about the weather.

They are probably feeling just as nervous as you are!!!

You might like to explain a little about the Individual Budgets and introduce everyone present.  It would then be a good idea to give an outline of the job, including the rate of pay (flat rate needs explaining), holiday entitlement per year, usual place of work and number of hours to be worked.

Try and use open questions that avoid yes or no answers.

You should also ask specific questions about anything in their application form which concerns you, such as criminal convictions, ill health, periods of unemployment and so on.

Do be careful not to stray into a persons personal circumstances (e.g. marital status, sexual orientation); doing this could lead to the person feeling they have not been fairly treated.

Keep all the notes that you make during the interview – they will help you to come to a decision.  They will also help you later if someone asks you why they didn’t get the job.

At the end, thank the person for coming in and tell them when you will contact them with your decision.  You should always notify everyone who comes for interview, whether or not they have been successful. You may wish to inform successful applicants over the phone.