5.5 Closing and deciding

Drawing the interview to a close

Up to now we have been considering how to control and conduct the main body of an interview. There remains, however, the need to draw it to a satisfactory close. You should remember that, while you are trying to select the best candidate, the candidates are also ‘selecting’ you. You need to remember that you as an interviewer are being assessed and selected, and you need to ensure your presentational and interpersonal skills are up to the job.
When you are satisfied that you have all the information you require, it is important that you give the candidate two invitations:

· first, to tell you about anything that has not been covered, or to expand on anything that has not been adequately covered (for example, a relevant accomplishment that the candidate wants you to know about)

· second, to ask you questions in order to clarify any features of the job or the terms and conditions associated with it.

Only when the candidate has had this opportunity should you begin concluding the interview. It is good practice to summarise any agreements or understandings that may have been reached and to give a clear indication of what is likely to happen next, and when.

Reaching a final decision

Having seen all the candidates, you can now start to pull together your notes and impressions and make a final decision. It is probably worth allowing a little time to gather your thoughts and/or discuss initial observations with colleagues or the interview panel after every interview so that your memory is not confused. The person specification should again play a major role in your final decision. Your questions should have been geared to elicit the necessary information from each applicant to enable you to ascertain their suitability against the agreed criteria. Example 3 shows the importance of meeting the person specification.

Example 3: Meeting the criteria

In the city hospital, the Personnel Manager was called upon by the Outpatients supervisor to help in a case of poor performance – the individual concerned was generally offhand with staff and patients and was only meeting minimum standards in her written work. She had been in post for about six months.
The Personnel Manager asked about the appointment. The supervisor admitted that the individual's references had not been all that impressive. She also admitted later: ‘No one on the panel wanted to appoint her but she met all the criteria so we felt we had to – we can never recruit to these posts anyway.’
The Personnel Manager was worried by this and made a mental note to talk to her colleagues about it. She was aware that it was extremely difficult to fill advertised posts in certain departments in the hospital. However, she felt strongly that this should not result in the appointment of staff who did not meet the person specification. More thought was required in terms of where the posts were advertised and the shortlisting and interviewing skills of staff in the hospital.
The planning of the selection process will help you to reach an objective decision, but intuition cannot be completely ignored. What is important is that you can explain objectively – preferably to colleagues and not just to yourself – the basis of your intuition. If you feel that one candidate would fit perfectly into your team, what is it – precisely – that gives you that impression?

Activity 4

10 minutes
Think back to the most recent interview you have participated in, either as an interviewer or as an interviewee. With the models and suggestions of this session in mind:

1.                      Identify and explain at least one positive aspect of the way the interview was conducted.

2.                      Identify and explain at least one weak aspect of it.

3.                      Make a note of three things from this session that you will try to apply when next conducting an interview.

There is no universal formula for conducting interviews successfully. Your own style and your panel's self-confidence in pursuing what they want to ascertain are important ingredients of an effective interview. However, the discussion of common pitfalls and proven techniques may help you to increase your confidence and effectiveness in this important selection medium.