Preparing for an interview with an IT Candidate ensures a successful interview. There are a few key points that will help approach this matter professionally. What to look out for? Here are some suggestions…
Understand the role and needs of the Employer
Conducting an interview with the Hiring Manager is a starting point. It allows us to know the meaning and purpose of the recruitment we are doing. We also learn on it who we are looking for and why. Questions to ask at such a meeting include:
- why are we starting recruitment? Is someone leaving and we are looking for a replacement, expanding the team, etc.?
- What will the new person’s work consist of and what does the project involve?
- How is the team structured?
- What does a typical work day/week look like?
- What are the benefits, forms of employment, and salary?
These are just a handful of questions we ask at the initial stage. The more information we get from the Hiring Manager, the better we will understand who we are actually looking for. It is good to take the time to do this, because understanding is the most important thing.
Reviewing the Candidate’s CV and profile
Before even interviewing the Candidate, it is necessary to get acquainted with his professional profile. At this stage you should also supplement your technical knowledge – read about the technologies that the Candidate knows. Gather the knowledge necessary to verify the basic technical requirements. This makes us a better conversation partner for the IT Candidate.
Sources such as:
- A glossary of IT terms for beginning programmers and more!
- IT Dictionary
- A Handy Glossary for the IT Recruiter
Writing down key questions
Each role has key requirements. Writing down the questions and key points will help the interview with the Candidate go smoothly. Specific questions are written down in advance help to collect the necessary information efficiently and in detail.
An example of such questions might be:
- When we require openness to change, the ability to work on multiple projects at the same time → How many projects are you working on at the same time and what number is right for you?
- When we require knowledge of design patterns and good practices of the software development process → What design patterns do you know and what good practices do you use when developing software?
Preparation of the interview template
If you do not want to forget anything and not get lost in the questions – it is necessary to prepare an interview template. The idea here is to write out step by step what we will ask the Candidate. At Talent Place, we have a standard template for creating recommendations. This template also serves as a “map” of the recruitment interview. The posted information indicates what we should ask about.
The simplest conversation template consists of:
- Contact information.
- Candidate’s motivations and conditions that determine acceptance of an offer.
- Known foreign languages.
- Familiar with programming languages, technologies and tools.
- Financial expectations and the form of cooperation.
- Candidate Availability.
- Implemented projects and responsibilities.
- Summaries.
When preparing for an interview with an IT Candidate, it is a good idea to pay attention to the issues mentioned above. Being prepared makes us professional and confident, and the interview goes smoothly.
Be sure to also check how to create a good recruiter’s image.
