7 ways to foster authenticity in a job interview

The job interview is a particularly stressful time for the person seeking employment with an organization. But this is also true for the person conducting the interview. Before making a tempting job offer, you want to make sure that you hire the right resource, who will be able to do their job well, but also to integrate easily into their work team and collaborate with their manager. To find this gem, the job interview is the best tool at your disposal.

The job interview allows you to meet the candidates and learn more about them than the information available on their resume. Fostering authenticity in the job interview is the best way to get valuable information about a candidate. Here are 7 things to consider to get the most out of your job interviews.

1. Explain the interview process

Be upfront about the interview process and be transparent about the type of questions you will be asking and the type of information you are seeking. This allows candidates to be a little more relaxed and turns the job interview into a more fluid discussion where important information can be passed back and forth.

During this interview, we will be interested in your whole person, in order to have a complete picture and to make a good decision. This means that there will be questions that refer to personal aspects as well as professional ones.

2. Talk about the inner journey

Go beyond the experience listed on the resume and ask questions about the motivations that helped shape the individual’s background. You can ask questions about their choice of education, what they liked about past jobs or organizations, or what they learned about themselves from their experience.

Let's take a look at your resume. Could you tell me about the common thread of your career?

3. Inquire about sources of pride

A resume lists the experiences and tasks a person has accomplished in the past, but not necessarily the accomplishments that are a source of pride for the individual. Don’t be afraid to ask questions about what the individual is most proud of having accomplished. This may well be a personal accomplishment. This type of question has the advantage of highlighting the person’s strengths while exposing what matters most to them.

Tell me about an achievement, professional or personal, that you are particularly proud of, and why that achievement is so important to you.

4. Explore self-awareness

It’s easy for a candidate to talk about their sales stats, or their ability to put together a pivot table in the blink of an eye, but it can be a little more difficult for them to identify and talk about the characteristics and values that make them unique. Introspection, emotional regulation, adaptability, and assertiveness are some of the elements of self-awareness that are crucial to explore in order to be able to offer the job to the right person.

Can you tell me about a situation where you had to deal with a major unforeseen event, and how you managed to adapt?

5. Address areas of concern

Areas of concern are the things that make up an individual’s weaknesses, their Achilles heel. Everyone has areas of concern, and it is very important to find out if your candidates are aware of theirs and able to discuss them with humility. Talking about your areas of concern is the first step to being able to work on improving them.

Are you able to tell me about your areas of concern and how they affect your work? And what do you plan to do to improve them?

6. Ask to summarize talents

Ask candidates to summarize what sets them apart from others and what makes them the right person for the job. The choice of words and examples a person uses can be very revealing.

If I only have 30 seconds to get to know you, what are the most important things I need to know about you?

7. Debrief the job interview

Schedule a time at the end of the interview to do a quick debrief and give the candidate the opportunity to express their satisfaction with the interview. This is also a good time for them to mention important points that were not covered during the interview.