In recruitment, we come across more interview styles than you can shake a candidate at.
Some brilliant. Some terrible. Some so overcomplicated you wonder if the company even knows what they’re looking for anymore.
Is there a good way to interview?
Yes.
Over the years, through our own experience and hearing how clients interview candidates, we’ve pulled together a few ideas that genuinely help get the best out of the process.
- Don’t have an interview. Have a conversation.
People open up more when they feel comfortable. You’ll build rapport faster, reduce stress, and usually get a much more honest version of the candidate. Honest is good. Honest tells you whether this person will actually fit your team and manager. - Research before the interview.
Going in cold means you’ll only ask whatever pops into your head at the time. Prepare properly. Have questions ready from the CV and questions beyond the CV. Good interviews are guided, not improvised chaos. - Don’t rigidly stick to an agenda.
Interviews should flow naturally. Questions often get answered before you ask them. That’s fine. Don’t make it feel like an exam or interrogation. - Ask situational questions, not checklist questions.
Instead of:
“Can you sell into aerospace?”
Try:
“We’re trying to develop our aerospace market. We need someone to help drive that forward. How would you approach it?”
Then let them talk.
- Take fewer notes.
Too many interviewers spend the whole meeting writing instead of listening. Focus on the person in front of you. Reflect and write properly afterwards. - Ask open questions.
How? Why? What? Where? When? Who?
Those questions create conversations instead of one-word answers.
- Watch your body language.
It matters more than people think. Don’t sit there folded up, defensive, or staring at your phone. Be engaged. Sit forward. Look interested. - Think about the environment.
Quiet rooms work best. Coffee shops sound nice in theory, but noise kills conversations. People open up properly when they feel comfortable and private. - Be honest about the business and role.
Candidates can usually sense when things are being hidden. The more open the conversation, the better quality information you’ll both get out of it. - Talk about normal life too.
Football. Rugby. Family. Hobbies. Whatever. You’re hiring a person, not just a skillset. - Reflect properly after the interview.
Spend 10–15 minutes afterwards writing notes and reviewing your thoughts before jumping into the next thing. Also, keep your process sensible. Endless interview stages exhaust good candidates. - Don’t assume. Ask.
An old manager once said to me:
“If you haven’t asked the question, and they haven’t answered it, everything else is assumption.”
That stuck with me.
Too many hiring decisions are made on assumptions rather than facts. If you think someone will get bored, leave, struggle, or not fit in, but you never actually explored it properly in the interview, then you probably haven’t asked enough questions.
Hopefully there are a few ideas in there that help.