As a manager, you’ve got a lot on your plate. So many meetings, people, and responsibilities… all for the sake of making your team the best it can be. Recruiting and hiring the best people is essential to your team’s success.

As a manager conducting interviews to search for those great people, it’s important to lead interviews as effectively as possible. Interviews help you learn about your candidates to identify who is the best fit for your organization. Have you ever wondered how to lead better interviews? Well, you’re in luck because Cloverleaf is here to help!

Did you know that employees perceive interviews to be more fair if there are more interviewers in the room (Tran & Blackman, 2006)? Fairness perceptions are closely tied to interviewees’ views of your organization, and perceptions of your organization can make or break your connection with your interviewee.

If you’re thinking, “So, panel interviews are better than one-on-one interviews?” you’re right — congratulations, you can take the pressure off yourself to be the sole interviewer!

Getting other managers or executives to take part in panel interviews not only makes your life easier but it also allows you to benefit from other interviewers’ unique strengths. People’s unique gifts really shine when everyone works together.

Many of the assessments on our platform, like CliftonStrengths® or 16 Types, call out areas in which your coworkers are gifted. You want to be wise about who is joining you as an interviewer.

For example, it’s helpful to know what Interviewer Shonda’s communication style is like so that you can have her facilitate certain sections of your structured interview. Maybe Shonda prefers to talk about nitty-gritty facts like the interviewee’s work experience, while you enjoy making expectations clear for the interviewee by talking them through a typical week at the office.
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You can also use our Candidate Profiles feature to learn about your interviewees before they even step into the conference room! You can send out an “application link” to prospective recruits, enabling them to create a free Cloverleaf profile and start taking assessments.

You can use candidates’ assessment results to learn about their work style and conflict triggers — this can help you put your interviewee at ease during the interview!

Candidate profiles can also be paired with profiles of your team members so that you’re able to see which of your teammates' behavioral traits would complement the candidate. This can help you select who to help you interview and give you a glimpse into the cognitive diversity the candidate would bring to your team.

If an interviewee tends to be more introverted, make a note of this so that you can work to bring out their personality and set them at ease in the interview! If an interviewee’s Enneagram results point out specific areas that cause stress, use this insight to make the interview as stress-free as possible!