How to conduct interviews for your small business

Define your hiring needs

Before diving into the interview process, it’s crucial to define your hiring needs clearly. Ask yourself:

• What roles do you need to fill?
• What specific skills and qualifications are required for these positions?
• How will a new hire contribute to the growth of your business?
• How much can this role afford to pay (especially in relation to experience)?

By having a clear understanding of your hiring needs, you’ll be better prepared to evaluate candidates during the interview.

Craft an engaging, honest job description

After you determine your hiring needs, it’s time to write a job description for an online hiring board. When you write this job description, it can be a fine line to balance the honesty of what you’re seeking and the appealing benefits, company culture, and room for career growth.

Grow a business

Use free apps and tools from microsoft for your small business and side gig.

Learn more

While you should avoid hackneyed and exaggerated terms like “rock star” or “guru,” you should still craft an engaging job description that entices potential candidates who are aligned with your business’s values and goals. Be sure to include the following, in order of importance:

• Job title and responsibilities
• Required qualifications
• Salary range and benefits
• A brief overview of your company culture

Develop a structured interview process for your candidates

By now, you’ll have piqued the interest of job seekers, and you may have a few resumes that appeal to you. Here, creating a structured interview process is essential for consistency and fairness. Your process should include:

• Initial screening: Contact the candidate to assess basic qualifications and interest. Set up a time for an in-depth and more formal interview.
• Formal interview: Assess their skills, experience, and cultural fit. Be sure to ask about their achievements at previous workplaces, their familiarity with your industry, and their salary expectations. Depending on the size of your company, there might be multiple formal interviews between candidates and various managers in your business.
• Assessment tests: Depending on the role, administer relevant tests or assignments to evaluate candidates’ abilities. For example, in the media and publishing industries, hirers will ask candidates to complete an edit test to determine their communication skills.
• Reference checks: Contact references to verify the candidate’s background, work history, and how their colleagues rate their skills and ethics.

Having a structured process ensures that you evaluate each candidate consistently and make informed decisions.

Prepare thoughtful interview questions

Before the formal interview, crafting effective interview questions is a critical step. Since you’re still getting to know your candidate, you’ll be asking about past experiences as a predictor of how they’ll fit in your company upon hiring. The following questions are examples of what you can consider asking job candidates:

• What drew your interest in working for this company?
• What is a past achievement at your previous roles that you’re most proud of?
• Give an example of how you were able to successfully delegate tasks during a complex project.
• How do you stay organized between multiple projects or clients?
• What was a difficult task or project at your former role that you were successfully able to navigate?
• Do you prefer working independently or on a team, and what size teams are you most comfortable working with?

These examples and similar job interview questions are meant to create a welcoming interview environment—while also avoiding illegal or discriminatory questions related to age, gender, religion, or other protected categories. You can also use these tips on what to expect during a job interview to see things from a candidate’s perspective and find inspiration when crafting your own interview questions.

It also helps to develop questions that allow you to pay attention to a candidate’s soft skills, such as communication, teamwork, and adaptability. In addition to technical skills, soft skills will demonstrate how well a candidate can work with coworkers as well as managers and anyone that they might be managing.

Other factors to consider during the interview process

The interview process is important because it can make or break the success of both your business and a potential team player. Here are some other factors to consider:

Give candidates a realistic preview of the role

Be transparent about your small business’s challenges and expectations. This honesty helps candidates make informed decisions about joining your team and reduces turnover.

Gauge the candidate’s cultural fit within your company

Assess whether the candidate aligns with your small business’s values and culture. A good cultural fit, based on background and expectations, can lead to higher job satisfaction and better team dynamics.

Be sure to follow up and give feedback

The interview and candidate search process can take a long or unexpected timeframe. That’s why it’s important to follow up with candidates after the interview, whether they’re successful or not. This shows both professionalism and respect for their time and effort.

Make data-driven decisions

Compare candidates objectively based on their qualifications, performance in interviews, and assessment results. This approach helps you make informed decisions rather than relying solely on gut feelings.

Extend offers in a timely manner

Once you’ve identified the right candidate, extend a job offer promptly and give an expected timeline for when your new hire will start. A successful candidate might need more time to give notice, relocate, or conduct follow-up training before they can officially start. Work with this schedule and keep an open mind while developing an effective onboarding process to ensure new hires integrate smoothly into your small business.

Conducting interviews for your small business can be a successful and efficient process when approached strategically. These steps can help you increase your chances of finding the perfect fit for your small business and foster its growth. If you’re looking for other ways to stay organized, check out tips for delegating effectively, reducing stress, and using AI to help with scheduling.