15-Step Interview Training for Hiring Managers

Don’t think you need to provide interview training to your hiring managers? Over half of candidates decline job offers due to a poor candidate experience, with nearly 20% stating that their experience was poor due to a bad interviewer or interview process.

And sure, the market may be saturated with job seekers at the moment, but first impressions are still everything. An untrained interviewer not only risks losing top talent but can also tarnish your company’s reputation (at a time when employer branding is perhaps more important than ever).

To help prevent any interviewing mishaps, we’ve developed a comprehensive 15-step interview training program designed to improve your hiring managers’ skills. This guide will ensure they conduct interviews that leave a positive, lasting impression on every candidate, ultimately attracting the best and brightest to your team.

TL;DR – Key Takeaways

• Interview training is a form of education that helps hiring managers improve their interviewing skills. The goal is to make sure that both the hiring manager and the candidate have a positive experience.
• Interviewing skills training is especially beneficial for those who have never handled interviews before, those who have experience but no formal training, and those who have had training but whose knowledge is outdated.
• Undertaking interview training for hiring managers can help your organization become more effective when speaking to job seekers for the first time.
• You might need to persuade managers to attend interview training by explaining how a better interviewing process will make their jobs easier and save the company money.
• Time-to-hire is one of the main KPIs for measuring the effectiveness of a manager’s hiring efforts. Most of the recruitment time is spent briefing hiring managers for interviews, interviewing candidates, and debriefing afterwards. Failing to screen candidates at the initial pre-interview stage derails the entire process. That’s why recruiting teams are shifting towards skills-first hiring and interviewing job candidates only after their technical fit has been confirmed.

So, what is interview training for hiring managers?

This hiring strategy includes various forms of training, all geared towards helping your hiring teams and managers (and others in the company) improve their interviewing skills and outcomes.

It doesn’t matter if your hiring committee consists of new joiners or veteran employees—everyone, including experienced recruiters, can benefit from training designed for different levels to keep up with the evolving job market and hiring trends.

Who needs interview training (and why)?

As mentioned above, almost everyone stands to benefit from a bit of interviewer training. However, there are a few specific groups who will gain the most value from interview training, namely:

• People who have never conducted interviews or never had interview training before: These individuals, often inexperienced hiring managers, may not be familiar with the different types of interview structures, questions, or how to respond to candidate answers effectively.

• People who have completed loads of interviews but had no formal training: Even though they may have a lot of experience with interviews, they may not be aware of the latest trends in interviewing. Additionally, like a singer with no formal vocal training, they might have picked up some bad interviewing habits over the years that need some shaking off.

• People who have experience in interviews and training but not recently: These individuals may be a little rusty on what they learned if it was too long ago. Moreover, the advice and best practice methods they learned might be outdated.

Of course, there are also a few other factors to consider, such as setting aside time for training, the cost to the company, and staff members who may feel they don’t need it.

As for the latter, let’s look at how to change their minds.

How to persuade managers that they need training?

Raise your hand if you think the saying “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” needs to be thrown out of the window entirely. 🙋

We can all (and should) learn new skills as the job market and world evolve. Candidates now are looking for entirely different benefits, working environments, and interview experiences than they were five years ago, and we’re sure things will be entirely different again in another five years.

However, seeing as we’ve all got a lot of things on our plate, it is sometimes difficult to convince your hiring managers to take time out of their already busy days to “learn new tricks.” Here’s where to start:

• Just ask: Start here, seriously. Don’t be afraid to ask your team if they want any specific training. Training comes in all shapes and sizes. Maybe a refresher course is just what they’re after.
• Tell them how it’ll make their jobs easier: Lead with the benefits to explain what’s in it for them. Namely, explain to them how interview training can help them reach their recruitment KPIs much more easily. For example, asking the right questions in a job interview and following up with candidates in a timely manner will help the hiring department find the perfect candidates while maintaining a good candidate experience.
• Show them the bigger picture: A bad hire can cost the company between $17,000 to $240,000. If they’re still hesitant, ask the CFO to explain how losing that much per bad hire is not a great idea.

How do we expect any success when Interviewers are getting thrown in front of candidates with little to no training? It’s no wonder – most Interviewers are unprepared, anxious/checked out, or simply burnt out. But so are recruiters! They’re busy dealing with the challenges of their own roles, which means no one has the bandwidth to create an impactful training. So the cycle continues.

Jennifer Kim, CEO @ Workflow | Source

Now that you’ve at least piqued their interest, it’s time to focus on training ideas and setting up knowledge sessions. If you’re still with us, you’re only 15 steps away from seeing real improvements in those interview feedback surveys!

15-step interview skills training to help find, attract and hire the best talent

By providing hiring managers with the skills and knowledge needed to conduct effective interviews, you can make quality hiring decisions, increase their chances of hiring the right talent, and get that yes from their top picks.

Follow the advice in these 15 steps and start transforming your interview skills.

1. Secure hiring manager buy-in

Just grabbing the interest of the higher-ups and the HR team isn’t enough to sell them on hiring manager training. Set up a meeting to discuss how you would like to approach interview training and which areas they feel they might be lacking.

For example, some of the team might struggle with assessing soft skills, while others could say that the time between interviewing candidates and making a job offer is too long (it currently takes most companies an average of 44 days!).

2. Determine job skills and competencies

In preparation for an interview, it’s good practice to first determine the job skills and competencies that are essential for success in the role you are hiring for. Once you have the information, it’s much easier to prep the hiring team for the upcoming interview process, particularly regarding the skills, traits, and talents they should be looking out for during an interview.

3. Create an ideal candidate profile

Another name for an ICP is personas, and there’s a good chance you’ve already had to go through this process when dealing with clients. The question is, what does your ideal candidate look like?

To help determine which candidates should continue to the next round, use an ideal candidate profile to guide the interview process and evaluate candidates against.

4. Focus on the candidate experience and engagement

The candidate experience refers to the total interactions that take place between an organization and a job seeker during the hiring process.

Multiple studies, including CareerPlug’s 2024 Candidate Experience Report, have shown that a favorable candidate experience can increase the quality of hire and the likelihood of attracting and retaining top talent.

To improve the candidate experience, there are various actions you and your team can take. These include offering timely and transparent communication, valuing candidates’ time, and streamlining the interview process to make it more effective.

5. Train hiring managers to combat biases

Unconscious bias is partiality or prejudice toward or against certain individuals or groups, often operating at a subconscious level. Raising awareness of our unconscious biases is crucial for addressing them, especially in the hiring process, where they can lead to discrimination claims and the selection of less qualified candidates.

Overcoming unconscious bias requires a concerted effort to expose ourselves to various perspectives and opinions. Hiring managers can receive training on recognizing and mitigating unconscious bias by understanding its different forms, how it can affect the hiring process, and ways to overcome it.

6. Learn about body language

Body language can be a valuable tool for hiring managers, as it can provide insights into candidates’ thoughts, feelings, and reactions. Hiring managers can be trained to interpret body language by learning about the different types of body language, how to interpret it, and how to use it to their advantage in the hiring process.

A few examples to look out for:

• If the candidate has crossed their arms and is leaning back in the chair, they are in a defensive position.
• Elbows on the desk and chins in their hands mean they may be bored during the interview.
• Excessive blinking can indicate that the job seeker is nervous.
• Twitching neck muscles can be a sign of stress, and the candidate doesn’t want to reveal any information to you.

7. Give hiring managers an interview preparation checklist

By creating a robust checklist, hiring managers can quickly familiarize themselves with the entire interviewing process, from making initial contact with the candidate to presenting them with an offer, as well as important tips, do’s, and don’ts.

The checklist should include items such as reviewing the job description, resources for developing interview questions, example answers to common interview questions, using an interview scorecard, taking notes, being mindful of body language, etc.

8. Equip hiring managers with different types of interview tools and structures

There are a variety of interview tools and structures that can be used to assess candidates. Ask your hiring managers how familiar they are with the most common interview types, and organize training where relevant for any knowledge gaps.

Different types of interviews:

• Structured interviews use a predetermined set of questions and evaluation criteria for consistency. This is a standard interview.
• Unstructured interviews are flexible and conversational, allowing for a more organic conversation.
• Video interviews can be conducted remotely using video conferencing platforms and replicate other interview types’ structures.
• Asynchronous interviews use technology (see our async interviews) to interview multiple candidates simultaneously as candidates send in their pre-recorded video answers.
• Mock interviews simulate a real interview scenario to help candidates practice and gain feedback.
• Role-playing interviews help assess the candidate’s ability to handle specific job-related situations.
• Panel interviews involve multiple interviewers simultaneously interviewing a candidate.
• Peer interviews involve the job seeker’s potential colleagues or team members interviewing the candidate to assess fit within the team and culture.
• Blind interviews conceal certain identifying information to reduce bias, increase the diversity of the candidate pool, and score candidates consistently.
• Group interviews save time when there are many applications for only a few job vacancies, but they are not ideal because you cannot focus on a specific candidate.
• Depth interviews are semi-structured interviews to assess a candidate’s expertise.
• Informal interviews are more like a friendly conversation without formal procedures, generally held at a coffee shop.

9. Offer training courses and seminars

In addition to one-on-one training for hiring stakeholders, organizations can also offer a training program with a talent acquisition leader. These courses and seminars can provide hiring managers with the opportunity to learn from experts and network with other hiring managers.

10. Make use of the latest technology

Pre-employment assessment tools are software used to screen and evaluate potential job candidates based on their skill set and cultural fit for a specific role.

11. Ask relevant questions (avoid small talk)

It’s easy to confuse small talk with icebreakers during interviews.

Questions such as, “Where do you live?” “Have you seen the latest season of The Bear?” “Which restaurant has the best pizza?” are useful to break the ice and help make the candidate feel more relaxed, but won’t help you drill down and uncover the skills that the candidate has (unless you’re hiring a food or pop-culture blogger).

Help your hiring team to understand that while some small talk is great as an icebreaker, it’s mostly unnecessary and not the best use of everyone’s time.

12. Be aware of interview red flags

Red flags in recruitment are warning signs that indicate potential problems with a candidate and can help you predict whether they’ll be a good fit. These warning signs can be obvious, such as unprofessional or disrespectful behaviour, but they can also be more discreet, such as microaggressions or evading certain topics.

An experienced hiring team can quickly spot red flags in an interview. This saves time and helps avoid hiring unsuitable candidates.

13. Use a candidate interview scorecard

A candidate scorecard is a rating system used by interviewers to evaluate how well a candidate fits the criteria for a role. The scorecard includes categories for hard and soft skills that each interviewer rates. Here’s what ours looks like (which you can grab for free here).

Using the same scorecard for every candidate and having the entire panel rate them on the same categories promotes a more objective and fair hiring process. Creating an easily replicable scorecard across roles helps to deliver fast, fair interviews.

14. How to best end an interview

Many hiring managers seem to take the end of an interview for granted (we’ve all been through this, right?). Hiring managers should thank the candidate for their time and provide clear next steps, such as when the decision will be made and, if it’s positive, what’s next.

Using interviewing techniques only ends when the interview does. Stay away from generic, vague answers like “We still have a lot of people to see,” “We’ll get back to you,” or “Don’t call us; we’ll call you.” Candidates want answers fast so they can move on.

15. How to follow up—timeliness and techniques

Last but not least, following up with candidates promptly (and using personalized communications) is really important. It’s essential to provide an update on the decision-making process and offer to answer any candidate’s questions.

Now that you’re ready to start bolstering the interviewing skills of your organization, you’ll need software that can streamline and simplify the process.

Select the best candidates for interview with Toggl Hire

With so many candidates to choose from, it’s important to have a method that allows you to effectively and efficiently screen them. Automating this step is a huge time-saver, and with the right software, you can filter the best from the rest in no time.

Depending on your hiring process, with Toggl Hire, you can screen candidates using different tools:

• Skills tests from our library of 180+ skills
• Integrated video interviews for asynchronous interviews
• Homework assignments for late-stage interviews

Once you’ve got candidates in your pipeline, use our applicant tracking system, collaborative hiring, and candidate management system to funnel them through the process quickly and efficiently. Sign up for your free account now to get started.

Ultimately, regardless of which hiring platform you use, the most important thing to remember is that interviews have a notoriously low chance of predicting a candidate’s future job performance. Combining them with competence-based assessments is the only reliable way to hire!