Introduction
According to Matt Davies Stockton, when you’re trying to recruit capable developers for your company, you don’t want to miss out on those talented introverts. That’s why it’s important to level the playing field and make them comfortable during interviews. Let’s figure out how you can do that.
The Details
- Walk with the interviewee – Before you start the interview in a closed and gloomy box, have a walk with the interviewee to make them relaxed and comfortable. Walk them to the coat rack to hang your jacket and ask them to hang their hoodie. Next, walk with them to the coffee machine to cook up espressos and start sharing fun things about the office. It may be about video game lunch breaks, coffee machine queues, or anything else apart from work. Keep the small talk, light and short to set a friendly tone for the interview.
- Be transparent – When you get to the interviewing room or your office with your coffee, sit on a chair beside the interviewee instead of sitting across them. Sitting across puts you in a dominating and competitive position against the interviewee. After that, take out your laptop and keep it at an angle where the candidate is able to watch what you’re doing. Be open and transparent about it to put the interviewee at ease.
- Start the interview from the interviewee’s comfort zone – From the start of the interview, set your expectations and share your interview plan. Ask the candidate about their experience with team sizes, types of projects, technology stacks, and their roles in different projects. After that, you can use practical exercises to gauge their skills when you need to get into details.
Throughout the whole process, allow the candidate to talk about their experience and if they have been comfortable so far, they would be very confident. On the other hand, you can gauge whether the candidate was involved in decision-making, mentorship roles, and whether they have had experience directly dealing with customers.
- Be dumb – While it sounds counterintuitive, playing dumb helps you immensely during an interview. For instance, if the candidate talks about their experience working on a niche project for an up-and-coming company, you should play dumb. Make sure that the candidate thinks that you don’t know about such projects and that company.
Playing dumb increases their confidence and as they explain their roles, you have a wider view of evaluating their argumentation and reasoning skills. Even if they do a good job at explaining certain tools, play dumb and ask why those tools are preferred over others. This helps you create an environment where the candidate thinks that he or she is teaching you instead of being evaluated.
Conclusion
Matt Davies Stockton suggests that you use the above-mentioned tips to recruit talented individuals for your company, whether they are introverts or extroverts. Making them comfortable during the interviews allows them to solve problems, think critically, and fully display how they may fit into your company.