The interview panel should have already been determined prior to the shortlisting process. The panel must remain consistent for the interviews unless there are exceptional circumstances preventing this.
The Chair and/or nominated other should:
- ensure an appropriate confidential room is booked with time either side of the interviews to allow for panel preparation and final decisions to be made
- consider the seating arrangements in the room – a round table is less daunting and formal for candidates, but seats can still be arranged in a more welcoming manner on a traditional interview layout
- arrange for a quiet waiting room (or area) to be available for candidates close by
- have water available for the candidate
- prepare a set of interview questions for the role and share these with other panel members ahead of the interviews for comments. These should reflect the requirements detailed in the Job Description and Person Specification. View a selection of generic competency-based questions (PDF, 237KB) and an Interview Record Sheet.
- consider including values-based questions that tests candidates’ alignment to the LJMU values
- decide on the interview structure (how long, who will welcome candidates, who will ask each question, etcetera)
- Display an ‘Interviews in Progress’ sign to avoid being interrupted or disturbed.
- Welcome candidate into room and introduction to panel/brief overview of interview process.
- Give a brief overview of the role (or this may be done at the end if you are testing candidates’ understanding).
- Opportunity for candidates to ask any questions before the interview begins to ease anxiety.
- Each panel member asks allocated questions (mention this above when preparing questions).
- Thank candidate for attending, offering a further opportunity to ask questions.
- Outline timeframes for a decision being made – be realistic.
- If a fixed term post, it is a good opportunity to remind candidates of this and the proposed duration of the role.
Make sure the same questions are asked of each candidate to ensure consistency and fairness. If a candidate raises a point in the interview that requires further exploration, follow up questions, or prompts for further information are allowed.
Please note
Candidates may come along with questions of their own, which you will need to be prepared to answer where you can.
Examples could include:
- What are the training/progression opportunities available?
- What will be the immediate priorities of the role?
- What are the working hours / hybrid working arrangements (where appropriate)?
- What do the next 3 / 6 / 12 months look like for the department/team/institution?
The use of behavioural and competency-based questions is recommended to assess candidates so that past experience and behaviour can be determined. It is therefore important to obtain detailed answers by using open questions to test candidates’ knowledge and experience. View examples of competency-based questions for common competencies/skills (PDF, 237KB) which can be amended as appropriate to suit the requirements of the role being recruited to.
When writing your own questions, here are some things to think about:
- Identify the key skills and personal attributes that you are looking for. You can use the Job Description and Person Specification document for this.
- Ask the candidate what they have done. As questions about specific situations that allow them to draw from their own experiences rather than asking about hypothetical scenarios (what they have done rather than what they would do).
- Draw upon experiences. Think of situations that the candidate is likely to encounter in the role if successful and build questions around these.
- Don’t make the questions too narrow. Make sure that the questions can be answered by candidates independent of their experience.
- Think about what answer you are expecting. You can have positive (and even negative) indicators that can assist with scoring.
- Ask open-ended questions. Ask questions that cannot be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer and encourage the candidate to talk. This will provide you with valuable information to make a decision about which candidate is most suitable to the role. Open-ended questions are the ‘what’, ‘why’, ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘who’ and ‘how’, as well as the ‘explain’, ‘tell’ and ‘describe’.
- Think of probing questions that might be needed. These are shorter questions that can be used to draw out further information, for example ‘what was your involvement in that?’ or ‘what would you do differently’. Probing questions that you haven’t thought of in advance may also come naturally as a result of candidate responses, and this is fine also.
- Ask specific questions based on the individual’s application form. Read the candidate’s application form and note any specific questions you may need to ask about such as gaps in employment history or anything that is unclear.
- Avoid discrimination. Avoid asking questions either directly, or indirectly relating to protected characteristics that could be perceived as discriminatory. For example, sex, age, marital status, religion, disability, pregnancy, race, sexual orientation and gender reassignment).
Candidates may request reasonable adjustments for their interview on account of a disability. This may be a request for a lift or accessible room or additional time for any set tests or assessments, however it is becoming more common for candidates to now ask for sight of the interview questions in advance to ease anxiety or to support candidates who may be neurodiverse.
Hiring managers may choose to share interview questions in advance with all candidates as standard for all interviews, and if so, this is supported by LJMU.
Reasonable adjustments must be made where this is possible to do so. If in doubt whether a request is ‘reasonable’, please contact your HR Business Partner.
Managers should be aware that unsuccessful applicants might wish to receive feedback after their interview, and this must be offered in all circumstances.
When providing feedback to unsuccessful candidates:
Do
- Provide this over the telephone so the conversation can be two-way – the candidate may have feedback for us that we can use to improve our processes.
- Deliver feedback constructively, be factual and provide specific examples that they can use in the future.
- Offer helpful resources and tips (where appropriate) i.e. encouraging them to follow the STAR method to structure their responses (the ‘Situation’ they were in, the ‘Task’ they were given, the ‘Action’ they took and the ‘Result’ of their efforts.
- Finally, thank them for their application and interest in the role.
Don’t
- Tell candidates that it was a close call without providing any constructive feedback as this isn’t helpful to them – instead let them know specifically what they could have said in the interview to help increase their interview score.
- Provide any information about the successful candidate or their answers to the questions.
Remember
If a candidate has a good experience with LJMU, even if they were not the successful candidate, it will ensure that they remain interested in any future opportunities that may arise.
