Once you've taken steps to ensure that the proper flow and type of candidates are coming into your interview process, it's time to fine-tune the entire process. Step one is planning.

Planning the Interview
Planning for the interview includes all of the details and logistics necessary to make the meeting and questioning run smoothly. Good planning and preparation will ensure that you maintain control of the interview and give each candidate the proper attention and consideration.

• Room Preparation:
  Make sure that the room is quiet, clear of distractions (both visual and auditory), and that both you and the candidate will be comfortable. A meeting room with a table and few chairs is preferred. A conference or meeting table allows each of you to spread out if necessary, take notes, share paperwork, review any documentation or work samples, or set a drink of coffee or water.
• The Right Stuff
  Be sure to bring the proper paperwork to the interview. This includes the candidate's resume, a job description with roles and responsibilities for the position, your list of questions, background and information on the company, your business card, and any other materials you wish to share. You should also bring a comparison or rating sheet where you can list the candidates you interview, as well as their strengths, weaknesses, and any other notes you make during the interview.
• The Right People:
  Do you need others from your organization in the interview session? Or, are you having the candidate meet with multiple people during their scheduled time? Often this is the most expedient way to move a candidate through the interview process. If there will be others involved, make sure you have properly communicated the job responsibilities, the candidate's background, the time and place of the meeting, and what you expect of their participation in the meeting. There's nothing worse than having a candidate meet with three or four people in the organization when two of them have no idea what you'd like them to find out from, or share with, the candidate. Lastly, email everyone or call them the morning of the interview to remind them. If interviewing isn't something they do often, it's easy to forget in lieu of regular responsibilities.
  AND don't forget to formerly invite and confirm with the candidate the time, place, and scheduled length and/or agenda of the interview. If you are working with a staffing firm, they will likely handle many of these details and can help streamline the interview preparation process.
• The Right Approach:
  There's nothing wrong with trying new approaches to interviewing. Some organizations treat interviews more as conversations; others treat them as litmus tests. It's up to your organization to determine the style that's right and then infuse it into your culture. Think about how you might steer the direction of the interview toward competencies instead of previous experience. Sometimes abilities, like communication and organization strengths, play as large a role—or even a larger role—than technical aptitude or specific experience. It depends on the position, the organization, and to some degree the candidate you're speaking with. Leave some room to uncover untapped and valuable assets in the individuals you interview.

Types of Interviews
There are as many types of interviews as there are open IT positions. But the goal of each kind of interview—traditional, behavioral, case, or telephone—is to find the right match for the open position. Here are several approaches to interviewing. With time and experience, your organization will find the one that works best for you.

The Traditional Interview
The traditional interview is essentially the Q-and-A session we are all used to. It is the type of interview where the hiring manager or department manager asks what the candidate "would do" in a given situation, and the candidate relates their "ideal" self in a variety of situations. The problem with the traditional interview style is that it elicits rote answers based on the hundreds of basic interviewing books on the market, and often falls short in determining the real abilities, strengths, weaknesses, and skills an individual possesses.

The Behavioral Interview
Behavioral interviews—first made popular in the late 1970s when industrial psychologists determined that traditional hypothetical question-and-answer interviews were not a good gauge of a candidate's abilities—focus on an individual's past behaviors and direct experiences as the best indicator for future performance.

Behavioral interview questions elicit information on past behavior, and specific experiences and skill areas that are most important for the position. Candidates should be encouraged to provide specific examples or instances when they've demonstrated the skill you are inquiring about. And don't just focus on past job experience. Activities outside of work—including academics, hobbies, community activities, volunteer positions and extra-curricular activities—give insight into behaviors and abilities of the individuals you are interviewing.

Types of interactions or follow-up questions that can help a candidate appropriately explain their abilities include: Can you talk a bit more about that? How did you involve co-workers or teammates? Give me a specific example of how you did that. What results can you point to? What happened when things didn't go as planned?

Because questions like this elicit very specific, results-oriented information, many HR managers and IT managers are adopting behavioral interview techniques.

The Case Interview
The case interview gives you a chance to assess the problem solving abilities of the candidate you are interviewing. In this type of interview, you will provide the candidate with complex problems involving unfamiliar issues or situations. Candidates are expected to provide answers within a given timeframe. Although this type of interview demonstrates problem-solving and analytical ability, it is also a good gauge of the candidate's ability to perform under pressure and to effectively communicate thoughts and ideas.

There are two primary types of case interviews: Number Problems and Business Case Problems. With number problems, you are testing the candidate's confidence with numbers and their ability to problem solve. Sometimes there are no right answers; the ability to extrapolate is what's important. With the business case problem, you are trying to gauge the candidate's ability to think on his or her feet. By providing the candidate with a specific, though usually hypothetical, business problem and providing hard numbers, you can test their ability to solve complex problems—and may even uncover some individuals' abilities to "think outside the box."

The Situational Interview
In the situational interview, you provide the candidate with several "situations" in which they find themselves and ask them what their action would be. Hypothetical in nature, Situational Questions can ascertain a candidate's thought process and proficiency in specific skill areas.

Telephone Interview
Telephone interviews are a good approach for a variety of situations:

• Your candidate does not live in your town or city.
• You wish to screen candidates yourself.
• You wish to gather more specific information to formulate follow-up interview questions.

Often, HR managers and department heads conduct phone interviews to "screen" an applicant before investing the time and resources in an in-person interview. If you are working with a staffing firm, the candidate has likely already had a telephone and in-person interview. A telephone interview on your part, however, can further refine your selection of candidates prior to meeting with them.

The first rule of telephone interviews is to schedule the conversation for a time when you can give it your full attention. Prepare the same way you would for an in-person interview. Make the phone call in a quiet room; prepare questions in advance; take notes; and have the applicant's resume in front of you. Otherwise the call is likely to digress into an uncomfortable chat with undesirable results—for both you and the candidate.

While a brief telephone interview—for initial screening—may last 15-20 minutes, a detailed interview might last an hour or more. It takes that long to get to the meat of the individual's past experience and skills as they relate to the job requirements.

Making the Most of Phone Interviews
Before picking up the phone to interview your next applicant, remember the following:

1. If you're uncomfortable calling the candidate, they are tenfold as uncomfortable answering questions for an ear on the other end of the receiver. Anything you can do to put the candidate at ease will be appreciated, and you'll be rewarded with a more productive call.
2. Follow the same rules as you would when introducing yourself in person: be courteous, direct, friendly. AND SMILE.
3. Use the same evaluation criteria for the candidate during the telephone interview as you would in person. You can choose between various interview types—from traditional to behavioral to case or others—and use them just as effectively on the phone as long as you prepare ahead of time.
4. The candidate's ability to speak succinctly about their previous experiences and accomplishments is critical, as is your ability to ask succinct questions—especially on the phone where you can't rely on eye contact and visual clues to "fill in the blanks."
5. LISTEN CAREFULLY. While this is important for in-person interviews, it's especially important during telephone interviews when you don't have close proximity and visual clues to guide you.
6. Try standing up from time to time during the interview. Often we exude more energy over the phone when we are standing and speaking rather than leaning on our desks.
7. Make sure you have a few "spare" questions or thoughts to add during the overwhelming silence of dead air. Many people resort to mindless chatter when they hear an extended period of silence. You can avoid this by preparing for it ahead of time.
8. When ending the call, give the candidate some idea of next steps and timeframes. Also, it's a good idea to reiterate your phone number or email address in case they require information or need to reach you in the mean time.

As with the other types of interviews, the telephone interview can be an effective tool during the recruitment and interview process. Telephone interviews can save valuable time and resources by effectively streamlining the screening process. By preparing, listening, and following up just as you would for an in-person interview, you can make the most out of this type of interview.