Has anyone had to "interview" a potential new hire when you aren't the manager?

[michelle08]

My boss is in the process of hiring and he thinks he wants to hire this girl. she has had 2 interviews with him so far and now tomorrow, he wants me and my other co-worker to go to coffee with this girl and "get to know her"

 

I don't know what this means. I know he wants to see if we think she will be a good fit with us...which is great, but can we know this from an hour meeting? Also, should just ask her personal questions about herself or should ask work related type things??

 

Has anyone had to do this??

[Rachelle E.]

We do "peer interviews" at my company for all of the deparments that rely heavily on a team dynamic. Honestly, they're pretty casual. I would say a little chit chat is ok, but I def. wouldn't get too personal. But otherwise just ask a few questions maybe to see what her experience is that pertains to your work/company. And I like seeing if they have any questions about the job etc. IMO you can tell a lot by what kind of info people are looking for. But I think the general idea is just to try and get an initial feel for their personality and how you think it will "gel" with the work enviroment.

[Yari]

Yes, I had to do this and I've had it done to me.

 

This is an informal way of letting the potential new hire to see if she will be a good fit and vice versa.

 

I would not ask any personal questions. I would focus on her position and her past jobs.

 

Good luck!

[Wisco4]

This is also common practice in the company I work for. I think it's great if it's someone that you'll have to work with everyday.

As for what to ask, you cannot ask personal questions in an interview but if the person feels comfortable they often just offer up that information. You could probably say something along the lines of "did you have to drive far to get here today, the traffic has been bad lately..." that usually gets someone to open up about where they're from, why they moved where they did, if they have a family, etc.

[LCBride2007]

I've definitely done this before, and like others have said - they've been pretty casual. Just ask her about past work-related experiences, what she liked/didn't like, etc. But don't make it a formal interview - just getting to know her work ethics and stuff like that, and if she'll be a good fit. I'd strongly suggest asking too many personal questions just to avoid potential HR issues!

[foxytv]

My boss does this anytime he's hiring. We have a small office and have to work together as a team, so it's important that everyone is a good fit (we've seen just HOW important that is when a poor fit has been hired).

 

Usually, he will just give me a heads up that a candidate is coming in and after he's done interviewing them, he'll send them over to me.

 

I use it more as a chance for them to ask me questions about the work culture, environment, job requirements etc -- because I feel you can gain a lot of insight into their work ethic and personailty by seeing what questions they ask and what is important to them.

 

I always give my boss honest feedback, but it's usually little more than whether or not I think they will mesh well with our office culture and team environment.

[michelle08]

Oh...I knew I could get help from you guys...thanks for the advice...I will relax now and just take it in stride and let her talk!

[A10CalGal]

I've been involved in this type of peer interviewing process in the past. I do remember being intimidated & unsure in the begining. I found ultimately that it became my chance to feel out a potential team mate...I usually just like to get them started talking & let 'em run with it. I would get a feel for how egocentric the person is In our set up, if anyone on the team said "no", then the hire would not proceed. Of course, there had to be a reason articulated & supported to go with the no, but overall it gave our team a real sense of ownership over the direction we were heading.

 

Just enjoy it - try to get a feel for the type of person the candidate is. Do they make sense? Are the a thinker? Are they too narrow minded? Can you see working with this person everyday?

[*JillD*]

because I work in sales a lot of times we have to take interviewees out on the road with us and then give our boss feedback on how the day went with them, if they seem really interested in the job, how we think they'll do in the position, etc...

 

I think its good practice both for the company and the potential employee. for the company you don't want to go through the trouble of training someone to have them turnover in a month or two and the potential employee, you don't want to leave a job or turn down another offer, only to find out that you can't stand the people you have to work closely with everyday or that the job is just not for you.

 

Don't sweat it, just relax and be yourself, remember, she's the one being interviewed, she'll probably have a lot of questions for you.

[MikkiStreak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnnR I've definitely done this before, and like others have said - they've been pretty casual. Just ask her about past work-related experiences, what she liked/didn't like, etc. But don't make it a formal interview - just getting to know her work ethics and stuff like that, and if she'll be a good fit. I'd strongly suggest asking too many personal questions just to avoid potential HR issues!

Definitely agree with Ann---- there are some personal questions that are actually illegal to ask because of OFCCP/EEO laws. Age, marital status, etc... avoid. But hobbies, interests are fairly ok subjects.

Our department does group interviews. I loved mine when I was going through the hire process. It was really laid back and we were laughing and joking around the entire time. In fact, when I interviewed I wasn't really that interested in the job. But the group interview completely changed my perspective and I walked out of it really wanting the job.

We do the group interviews to mostly get a feel for how well the person will integrate into our group. But it's also an opportunity for us to get a feel for the person's background/experience to make sure they can "hit the ground running" in the job without needing a lot of hand-holding/training.

When I went to my group interview, I think they asked me maybe 2 questions pertaining to my background/experience. The rest of the time, we talked about art & photography, and the more we talked, the more the group humor came out. It lasted about an hour. Now that I sit in on the group interviews, I see how rare that is---- they usually last 20 minutes and are more awkward and "formal".