Hiring Basics

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This is an article I originally wrote in 2018. I have updated it in 2019 for a general audience.

Hiring Basics


In 2108 I completed an excellent course on interviewing from the employer perspective on LinkedIn Learning. It is called Hiring Your Team. An account is required but the overview is public.

https://www.linkedin.com/learning/hiring-your-team

I appreciated the way the course emphasized respecting the candidate and treating them fairly. These were some of the key points that stood out for me.

  1. Have an interview plan so the hiring manager knows the questions that are going to be asked.
  2. Make the candidate feel comfortable
  3. Treat all candidates fairly and equally
  4. Recognize common biases in interview processes and how to avoid them.
  5. Wait until all the interviewers have spoken to the candidate before comparing notes.

Comparing the tips in this course to some of my past interview experiences was eye-opening. Here are some examples where employers did not make me feel comfortable during the interview process (Point 2 above):
  • One company I interviewed with once did not provide adequate parking, but I did not find that out until after I arrived. I left my car in the parking lot of a nearby store that was closing, because the guest parking was full. Fortunately I arrived early enough to get a parking space and my car was not towed.
  • Another company I interviewed with was up front about their limited parking, so I arranged to be dropped off and picked up for that one. I felt a lot more comfortable knowing that I did not have to worry about my car being towed.
Parking is perhaps less of a concern for businesses in downtown areas where the expectation is to use public transit anyway. But for employers not close to transit, arranging a place to park for the candidate is essential to making them feel comfortable. At the very least, let the candidate know what to expect, as the second employer did in my case.

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