The report was implemented

The interview is the first interaction of the candidates with the company. The company should put its best foot forward so that even unsuccessful candidates will have good things to say about the company. The entrepreneur and the employees already on board should appear to be professional and confident in all their activities.

Candidates are to be selected for interview based on their С Vs submitted. Candidates should be invited for interviews by a written letter on the company letterhead specifying location, time, and supporting documents to be brought.

The interview can take place in your own office or a space can be hired in a hotel. Employing a placement agency gives the added advantage of being able to use their office for conducting interviews. If it is early in the life of the venture when your office is not yet ready, this can be an added bonus.

Having the interview conducted in your own office place also serves to educate the candidates about their future workplace. While going to the interview, the candidate will have an idea of the kind of organization he/she is going to work for.

At the interview location, there should be a waiting room and someone to get them seated and to direct them as necessary. Often a standard CV does not give all the information you desire; in such case, it may be useful to have a formatted sheet designed to capture the particular information desired. For example, for employing a driver, you wish to know the make and model of vehicles driven.

There are many companies who use psychometric tests and group discussions, but the results they yield are not entirely reliable and may unnecessarily bias your selection. For testing technical skills, practical tests can be designed or a written examination can be resorted to.

The interview itself should be long enough to satisfy you that the candidate is suitable or unsuitable for the company and the job. It is helpful to have an interview panel, which includes some senior employees or may be even others from outside the firm.

The interview should aim to bring out the strengths and weaknesses of the candidate vis-a-vis the job requirements. This is also a good opportunity to inform the candidate about the job and what is required of him/her. The interviewer should invest some effort in painting a good picture of the venture by mentioning the good reputation of the entrepreneur, the growth prospects of the company, and the exciting challenges ahead.

The latter half of a fruitful interview should concentrate on negotiating a satisfactory pay and benefits package. You should be careful to avoid employees who choose to come on only for a higher pay packet. Employees ‘bought’ by a higher salary will be mercenary and will leave soon when offered an even more attractive package by some other organization.

On being selected, an appointment letter should be issued on a company letter­head. The appointment letter should mention date of joining, designation, and salary. Some important service conditions should also be mentioned.