Recruiting can often be a hard and drawn-out process, and choosing the ideal candidate for a role in your company can be a challenge. It is so important it is to fully understand what you want from the vacant role before embarking on the interview process. Having a full recruitment strategy in place eliminates any potential risk when deciding who to employ and bring into your professional life.

Good interviewing is about being really focused, listening and verifying your thoughts. To get to this stage, you need to engage the candidate or they may let their nerves get the better of them. It is important to get to know the candidate before making any employment offer. It is often good to meet a prospective employee three times before deciding whether they are right for your company.

When meeting a candidate for the first time, it is helpful to have a member of your team sit in on the interview. Encourage your colleague to ask questions and consult them after the interview to see if they have picked up on anything you may have not. During the first interview, it is good to get the interviewee to ask lots of questions too, and it is always impressive when someone turns the questioning on you, turning an often formal and difficult process into more of a conversation.

Start the interview with the less demanding questions and build up to the more complex ones. This will help put the interviewee at ease, and will help you ask more probing questions later, which bear far more significance that any anxious answers. Studying a CV is integral to the whole interviewing process. It allows you to engage with the candidate in a more personal way, perhaps by discussing their hobbies and interest.

After shortlisting the final candidates, get them to carry out a practical task, such as doing a presentation or preparing a report. This is a great way to show whether their bark is bigger than their bite, or if they really do have the goods to deliver on their interviews. Although the style of their presentation may not fit your company, and they may not exhibit perfect knowledge, it will indicate whether they have the attributes to cope in a high pressure situation.