1. Establish your interview goals and evaluation criteria: Instead of using a set of standard interview questions, determine what you want to learn about the candidate and tailor your questions so they’re specific to your hiring goals for the open position. In addition, review the candidate’s resume/CV and make note of any points that you’d like to ask about to understand in more detail.
2. Introduce yourself and establish a rapport: Taking a few minutes to introduce yourself and connect with your interviewee is a very important step to ease everyone into the interview. This is a great time to give an overview of your role at the company and why you’re hiring. Then you can have the interviewee introduce themselves and discuss why they’re interested in the available position.
3. Be methodical: It’s important to maintain some structure during the interview so that you have all of your necessary questions answered. This structure provides each candidate with a similar experience, so it’s easier to compare them after the interviews are complete. If the conversation is becoming sidetracked, gently bring it back by returning to your list of questions.
4. Listen and take notes: Really focus on the answers your candidate gives to your questions, as well as to the questions they ask you during the interview. Taking notes can be very helpful when comparing candidates after all interviews are complete. The notes should be a record of what the candidate said, not how you interpreted what they said.

By incorporating these steps into your interview process, you’ll be able to make the most of the time you spend with candidates before determining which candidate is the best fit for your company.