Do you interview prospective employees at your nonprofit organization?
This post is for you!
Many a time, NPO interviewers don’t have any formal interviewing experience.
You might wonder just how to “do it right” and get the insights you need.
Good question!
The truth is, traditional interviewing is broken.
Many people who interview well do poorly at the job and vice versa.
There is no correlation between good interviewing and good job performance!
Luckily, you work for an NPO—you don’t have to do things “the old-fashioned way.”
My advice: Break with the interviewing conventions built on for-profit expectations.
Here’s how to get started:
1. BUILD RAPPORT
Before you get down to business, take ten minutes to build rapport with your interviewee. Introduce yourself and discuss what you like about your organization and how you started there. Ask open-ended questions that help you get some insight into their personality while remaining professional.
2. BEWARE OF IMPLICIT BIAS
Implicit bias comes in many forms. For instance, interviewers should remember the person across the table may have social anxiety, sensory sensitivities, or other considerations that make eye contact difficult. If you notice signs of “untrustworthiness,” evaluate them with care. Are there other explanations?
3. STRUCTURE INTERVIEWS CAREFULLY
The first and last interviews of the day are more memorable than the rest; candidates can get an unfair advantage as a result. Consider structuring interviews in sets of 2-3 daily and candidates are discussed in detail soon after they leave.