5 tips to restructure the boring interview process for better hiring 

A typical interview process consists of posting about a job opening, reviewing resumes, checking references, conducting unstructured interviews and going out on a limb to hire employees based on your gut feeling. However, this might not be the only, or the most efficient, methodof recruiting. There are a number of unconventional methods you can employ to make hiring interesting.

Sifting through seemingly talented aspirants for a job position can be a testing task.But, if done right, this can do true wonders for your company. Here are some ways to tweak your interview process to get the best of the lot:

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Start slow and keep it personal

Humanise your interactions as much as possible and try to keep the interview personal. Don’t start off with the topic at hand; instead, ask more subjective and personal questions. This will help you determine where they are coming from. In turn, this will also help your candidates calm down and be less anxious.

Take your candidate for a test run

This unconventional form of interviewing is gaining popularity in many startups these days. Instead of relying on the same old one-on-one interview, put them to test in a real-life problem and let them face challenges. This will help you determine if they fit your company’s existing work culture or not.

Ask open-ended questions

To get the most interesting replies from your candidates, ask unconventional open-ended questions instead of asking them data-and- fact-based questions. This will clearly indicate the candidate’s mental makeup and thought patterns.

Some unconventional questions you can try asking are:

• What is the toughest decision you had to make in the last few months?
• What book do you think everyone on the team should read?
• What movie, no matter how many times you’ve seen it, do you haveto watch when it’s on?
• What business would you love to start?
• Tell me a joke.
• If you’re the CEO, what are the first three things you check about the business when you wake up?
• What would the name of your first company be and why?

Make a social media sweep

You can get the most amount of information about a person before they appear in person by sweeping their social media accounts. You can know about the person you are interviewing in entirety which will help you form an opinion about them. Also, if you find discrepancies between their resumes and social profiles or if they display serious prejudices, you will be warned of the same.

Open up an impromptu debate

A good challenger never goes unnoticed and, hence, striking up an impromptu debate is the best way to pinpoint the star performer out of the lot. This will not only show the candidate’s confidence level but also let you gauge their speaking skills and general knowledge proficiency.

Whatever be the case, make sure that you, as an entrepreneur,are unbiased and impartial while selecting a suitable candidate to fill a particular job position.