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James Colino

Welcome to the "Interview Essentials" Course.

Becoming known for having an “eye for talent” is one of the most sought after management skills in any industry today. But don’t be fooled managers who hire the best people aren’t born with the ability to spot talent.

They just know the secrets of great interviewing.

Learning Essential Interviewing Skills Will Improve Your Hiring Accuracy

Read more

Welcome to the "Interview Essentials" Course.

Becoming known for having an “eye for talent” is one of the most sought after management skills in any industry today. But don’t be fooled managers who hire the best people aren’t born with the ability to spot talent.

They just know the secrets of great interviewing.

Learning Essential Interviewing Skills Will Improve Your Hiring Accuracy

  • You will be able to spot liars and fakes in your hiring process.
  • You will Impress your coworkers with insightful post-interview insights.
  • You will rest easy knowing that you hired the best person for the job.

Interviewing Skills Can Be Learned

Hiring the right people is the most important job that a manager has so why do most managers simply “wing it” when it comes to conducting an interview?

The truth is, there aren’t many resources available for interviewers to help them learn interviewing techniques.

That’s why we built this course.

To help new and experienced managers to gain an edge during the hiring process by learning the latest interviewing techniques used by some of the most progressive companies in the world.

Don’t Let Job Applicants Outsmart You.

Every job applicant today is more prepared than ever. They come to the interview well-rehearsed to answer the easy questions that every manager asks. “What are your strengths?”. “What are your weaknesses?”. “Why should I hire you?”.

And while there are hundreds of thousands of articles and courses on the Internet aimed at helping candidates “beat the interview”, there are only a handful of resources available to help managers learn the skills that they need to make smart hiring decisions.

Contents and Overview

This course contains over 1.5 hours of video instruction. It is designed for anyone who is responsible for interviewing job candidates at their company. While there are some advanced interviewing topics, it is ideally suited for both experienced and inexperienced interviewers.

The course starts by making you aware of how the modern job applicant today is preparing to outsmart you during the interview. We also talk about the hidden costs of making the wrong hire. You’ll be shocked at how much it really costs.

Following the introduction, you’ll learn how to properly greet a candidate and then quickly transition into setting expectations and gaining control of the interview. This section will give you the confidence you need manage even the most difficult candidates.

After you learn how to take control of the interview, you’ll learn the difference between a great interview question and a bad one. Unfortunately, most of the questions that are asked in interviews today, around the world, are really bad. We’ll teach you how to avoid them.

Once you have a foundation in proper questioning techniques, you’ll learn the most important interviewing skill you’ll need – probing skills. We devote two sections to this critical topic and provide examples of some common tactics that candidates use to try to avoid telling you the full story. With these skills you’ll never be fooled by a candidate who sounds great on the surface, but can’t back up their answers with facts.

At the end of the course you’ll learn some advanced techniques used by some progressive hiring organizations to add more structure to their hiring decision process. This section will ensure that you eliminate “gut decisions” and focus on “data driven hiring”.

And across all of these lectures, we provide you with free tools and templates that will help you implement all of these best practices immediately.

Who Is This Course For?

Anyone who is responsible for interviewing job candidates at their company.

What Will You Get Out of This Course?

  • Over 1.5 hours of expert level content put together by recruiting leaders, hiring managers and PhD-level I/O psychologists.
  • Tools and templates you can use immediately to make better hiring decisions.
  • Practical exercises to help you identify common interviewing challenges.
  • Great questions that you can start asking candidates immediately.
  • Probing techniques to uncover more details from your candidates.

Our overall goal is that you will be more confident and make better hiring decisions after taking this course.

And who knows…maybe you’ll get that big promotion because your hiring skills helped you build an amazing team of high performing employees.

Enroll now

What's inside

Learning objectives

  • Understand the cost & impact of a bad hiring decision.
  • Learn to ask better interview questions.
  • Eliminate first impression "interviewer bias".
  • Properly greet a candidate.
  • Effectively take control of an interview.
  • Use an interview guide to increase hiring accuracy.
  • Use advanced probing techniques to uncover details.
  • Use a 5 point rating scale to rate their candidates.
  • Use a candidate feedback form to make better decisions.
  • Run an effective post-interview debrief meeting.
  • Tactfully inform candidates of their final status.
  • Show more
  • Show less

Syllabus

The Importance of Structured Interviewing

In this lecture, you'll learn the true cost of a bad hire, how scarce top talent actually is and a few ways that candidates are preparing to ace your interview process.

Read more

In this lecture, you'll learn some best practice techniques that you can use to better prepare for your interviews and some sure-fire ways to start your interviews off correctly to ensure that you establish control and put your candidate at ease.

In this lecture, you'll learn the difference between a bad or ineffective interview question and a great interview question. You'll see examples of different types of bad questions and learn how to change them to make them better.

In this lecture, you'll learn to identify what a vague response sounds like and how to get your candidate back on track to give you a more specific response.

In this lecture, you'll learn to identify when a candidate is giving you their opinion in response to a question and how to get them back on course to give you a specific example.

In this lecture, you'll learn to identify when a candidate is giving you a theoretical response to a question and how to get them back on course to give you a specific example.

In this lecture, you'll learn to identify when a candidate is not giving you the beginning, middle or the end of a story and how to ask specific probing questions to get the answers you need.

Sometimes a candidate is intentionally evasive or simply can't come up with a good example to your question. In this lecture, you'll learn how to politely probe for more information without being confrontational.

In this lecture, you'll learn how to use a simple "frequency" questioning tactic to uncover more truthful responses as well as some default probing techniques that you can use when you're not sure what else to ask.

In this lecture, you'll learn some ground rules for running an effective post-interview debrief meeting. This meeting is a critical step that all companies should integrate into their hiring process. A helpful template is included in this section.

Traffic lights

Read about what's good
what should give you pause
and possible dealbreakers
Teaches techniques to identify vague, theoretical, or evasive responses, enabling data-driven hiring decisions and reducing reliance on gut feelings
Explores the high costs associated with bad hiring decisions, highlighting the importance of structured interviewing and effective candidate evaluation
Develops skills in asking effective interview questions and using probing techniques, which are essential for uncovering candidate details and assessing their suitability
Includes tools and templates for immediate implementation, which helps streamline the hiring process and improve decision-making
Emphasizes the importance of post-interview debrief meetings, which are critical for integrating structured processes into the hiring workflow
Requires learners to tactfully inform candidates of their final status, which may be difficult for some learners to execute

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Reviews summary

Mastering structured interviewing skills

According to learners, this course provides a highly practical and actionable guide to interviewing. Students appreciate the focus on asking better questions and using effective probing techniques to uncover candidate details beyond prepared answers. Many find the content, including discussions on the cost of bad hires and candidate preparation tactics, to be very insightful and relevant for both new and experienced interviewers. The course offers useful tools and templates, although some reviewers mention needing to adapt them slightly. Overall, it's described as a concise yet comprehensive overview that builds confidence in hiring decisions.
Feel more prepared and confident conducting interviews.
"I feel much more confident in my interviewing abilities after this course."
"It provided the structure and knowledge I needed to feel prepared."
"Helped me overcome nervousness about conducting difficult interviews."
Helpful for both new and experienced interviewers.
"Even with some experience, I learned new things and reinforced best practices."
"As a new manager, this course gave me the confidence to conduct interviews."
"Useful whether you are new to interviewing or have been doing it for years."
Get essential information effectively in a short time.
"The course is concise and gets straight to the point, which I appreciate."
"Great content delivered efficiently, perfect for busy professionals."
"At just over 1.5 hours, it packs a lot of value without being too long."
Provides valuable resources like interview guides and feedback forms.
"The included templates were a great bonus and helped streamline my process."
"I appreciated the interview guide and candidate feedback form examples."
"The tools and templates are useful, though I needed to customize them slightly."
Emphasizes asking effective questions and deeper probing.
"The section on asking effective questions really opened my eyes."
"Learning the probing techniques was essential for getting beyond canned answers."
"How to improve common interview questions was a standout module for me."
Learn immediately applicable strategies for better hiring.
"This course is full of practical tips and techniques that I can use immediately."
"I found the techniques for asking better questions and probing very useful."
"The advice on structuring the interview and probing is particularly helpful."
"Provides practical tools and strategies I could apply immediately to my work."

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in INTERVIEW TRAINING: Ask Better Questions, Hire Better People with these activities:
Review Common Interview Questions
Familiarize yourself with common interview questions and think about how you would answer them. This will help you understand the candidate's perspective and anticipate their responses.
Show steps
  • Find a list of common interview questions online.
  • Consider why each question is asked.
  • Reflect on how candidates might prepare for these questions.
Read 'Who: The A Method for Hiring'
Learn a structured method for hiring top talent. This book provides a comprehensive approach to talent acquisition.
Show steps
  • Obtain a copy of 'Who: The A Method for Hiring'.
  • Read the book, focusing on the four-step method.
  • Consider how to implement this method in your organization.
Read 'Hiring for Attitude'
Understand the importance of attitude and cultural fit in hiring. This book provides a framework for assessing these qualities in candidates.
Show steps
  • Obtain a copy of 'Hiring for Attitude'.
  • Read the book, focusing on the assessment techniques.
  • Consider how to integrate these techniques into your interview process.
Four other activities
Expand to see all activities and additional details
Show all seven activities
Conduct Mock Interviews
Practice your interviewing skills by conducting mock interviews with colleagues or friends. This will help you refine your questioning techniques and improve your ability to probe for details.
Show steps
  • Find a volunteer to be the candidate.
  • Prepare a set of interview questions based on the course material.
  • Conduct the mock interview, focusing on probing techniques.
  • Get feedback from the volunteer on your interviewing style.
Watch Behavioral Interviewing Tutorials
Refine your understanding of behavioral interviewing by watching online tutorials. This will expose you to different perspectives and techniques.
Show steps
  • Search for behavioral interviewing tutorials on YouTube or LinkedIn Learning.
  • Watch several tutorials, focusing on questioning and probing techniques.
  • Take notes on key takeaways and best practices.
Develop an Interview Guide
Create a structured interview guide for a specific role. This will help you apply the course's principles and develop your own effective questioning techniques.
Show steps
  • Choose a specific role to create an interview guide for.
  • Define the key skills and qualities needed for the role.
  • Develop a set of structured interview questions to assess these skills and qualities.
  • Create a rating scale to evaluate candidate responses.
Write a Post-Interview Debrief Template
Solidify your understanding of post-interview debriefing by creating a template. This will help you structure your debrief meetings and ensure that you make data-driven hiring decisions.
Show steps
  • Review the course material on post-interview debriefing.
  • Identify the key elements to include in a debrief template.
  • Create a template that includes sections for candidate strengths, weaknesses, and overall rating.

Career center

Learners who complete INTERVIEW TRAINING: Ask Better Questions, Hire Better People will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:
Recruiter
A recruiter is responsible for sourcing, screening, and interviewing candidates to fill open positions. This course is directly applicable to the daily responsibilities of a recruiter. The course's focus on asking effective interview questions, probing for detailed answers, and identifying evasive responses helps recruiters make more informed hiring decisions. Using the techniques taught in this course, a recruiter will be better equipped to find candidates who are not just impressive on the surface, but who are a good fit for a role. The course's emphasis on data-driven hiring also allows a recruiter to evaluate candidates more objectively. The material on post-interview debriefs can also help a recruiter coordinate with the hiring team.
Hiring Manager
A hiring manager leads the process of finding and selecting new employees for their team. This course is essential for a hiring manager, as it focuses on improving the skills necessary to interview candidates effectively. A hiring manager that uses the techniques taught in this course can ask better questions, probe for deeper insights, and avoid being misled by well-rehearsed answers. This course's modules on structuring interviews, and using a rating scale for candidates help create a more objective and data-driven approach to hiring, which a hiring manager can definitely benefit from. The course also covers the importance of post-interview debrief meetings which helps a hiring manager make sure everyone is on the same page.
Human Resources Specialist
A human resources specialist often supports the hiring process, and this course aids them greatly. By learning how to spot fakes and liars, a human resources specialist ensures that the company builds an ethical and high-performing team. The course also teaches advanced probing techniques, which are essential for getting to the truth of a candidate's experiences. A human resources specialist often coaches hiring managers and using this expertise, they can help to ensure that the correct procedures and high standards are employed. They can also use the post-interview debrief models to make sure that the team discusses candidates in a productive manner.
Talent Acquisition Specialist
A talent acquisition specialist focuses on finding the best candidates for an organization and can greatly benefit from this course. A talent acquisition specialist will use the techniques taught in the course to prepare for and conduct more effective interviews and therefore hire more talented employees. This course will help a talent acquisition specialist avoid common pitfalls of interviewing, like relying on gut feelings or falling for well-rehearsed answers. The course's section on structured interviewing and data-driven hiring helps a talent acquisition specialist make more objective hiring decisions. The course content will help this specialist better understand candidate preparation tactics and how to navigate them.
Team Lead
Often a team lead will be involved in the interview process, and this course’s methods can help. This course can help a team lead be more effective at evaluating candidates. By learning how to ask the right questions and effectively probe for details, a team lead can make more informed decisions when recommending a new hire. The course also emphasizes the importance of post-interview debriefs, which are especially important for a team lead who benefits from input from colleagues. This course will help a team lead understand how to gather information about a candidate to determine if they will be a good fit for the team.
Management Consultant
A management consultant often advises organizations on how to improve their processes, including hiring. This course will help a management consultant gain the practical skills necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the client's hiring process. A management consultant, after taking this course, will be able to identify areas for improvement and suggest best practices, including those related to interviewing, questioning, and probing. The consultant can also use the material of this course to provide guidance to a client on how to create data-driven hiring decisions. The tools and templates provided in this course will be useful to help implement changes quickly and efficiently.
Training and Development Specialist
A training and development specialist focuses on helping employees grow, and this course can help them coach managers on hiring. A training and development specialist will use the course's focus on interviewing techniques to improve the skills of managers and other employees who conduct interviews. The training and development specialist will be able to use the material of the course to create training programs for effective hiring practices. This training professional will be able to use information in the course to ensure that employees interviewing new candidates are prepared to ask effective questions, and use structured interview practices. The course also discusses the importance of post-interview debrief meetings which helps ensure alignment across the team.
Operations Manager
An operations manager is often involved in hiring and team building, and the content of this course will be useful. An operations manager will use the material of this course to implement effective interviewing strategies and better evaluate candidates. The course's focus on structuring the interviews and the importance of specific, probing questions will help an operations manager build a strong team. Using the practices of the course, the operations manager will be able to identify and eliminate first impression bias and make data driven hiring decisions. The tools and models will be helpful for standardization across the team.
Project Manager
A project manager often needs to build teams and interview candidates, and this course will help them accomplish this task more effectively. This course will help the project manager learn how to ask better questions, probe for deeper insights and avoid being misled by well rehearsed answers. This is particularly important for a project manager who needs reliable and accurate information during an interview. The section on post interview debriefs is also important because the project manager will want all stakeholders on the project to be aligned on the new hire. The frameworks and methods of this course will be helpful for selecting the best candidate.
Business Owner
A business owner often handles hiring decisions for their company, and this course will help them make better decisions. The course will provide a business owner with a framework for interviewing candidates more thoughtfully. Instead of making gut decisions, this business owner will be equipped with the knowledge of how to ask effective questions, probe for detailed answers, and identify evasive responses. This course will make their hiring process more effective. The business owner will also be able to use the lessons of the course to train other employees to perform interviews.
Sales Manager
A sales manager is often involved in hiring and on-boarding new sales representatives. This course will help a sales manager conduct better interviews and select the ideal candidates for their sales team. The methods taught in this course will help the sales manager quickly determine if a candidate has the correct attributes of a successful salesperson. The modules on asking effective questions and probing for details from candidates are particularly useful. This course will help a sales manager make data driven hiring decisions, and select a high-performing sales team.
Startup Founder
A startup founder is often the first person to hire for a new company, and this course will help them make strategic hiring decisions. The course will help a startup founder avoid common pitfalls related to interviewing and selection. The course will teach key methods for structuring the interview, asking good questions, and probing for more details. Taking this course gives a startup founder a systematic approach to hiring which will reduce risk. The modules on post interview debriefs are also helpful for smaller teams to ensure alignment and buy-in to new employees.
Career Counselor
A career counselor helps individuals with their career paths, and this course may be useful. A career counselor could use this course to understand how employers approach the interview process. The career counselor can then use this knowledge to better coach clients on how to present themselves in an interview. A career counselor can also use the modules of the course to understand common interview questions, and other methods that can help clients prepare. Although this course is for the interviewer and not the interviewee, it may be valuable for a career counselor to be aware of the strategies presented.
Academic Advisor
An academic advisor guides students in their academic and career paths, and may find this course useful. The course content could give an academic advisor greater insight into how employers evaluate candidates. The advisor could then use this information to help students prepare for job interviews. Although this course is designed for interviewers, it may provide an academic advisor with a helpful lens into some of the issues students experience during a job search. The tools and models of the course may not be directly applicable to the academic advisor role, but may still be valuable.
Executive Coach
An executive coach provides guidance and support to leaders, and this course may help them. An executive coach can use the content of the course to help leaders improve their interviewing skills. The sections on asking effective questions, probing for details, and avoiding bias can be especially helpful for an executive coach. Although the role of executive coach does not typically involve interviewing, it may be helpful for the coach to be familiar with the elements of the hiring process that impact their clients. The coach can then provide better advice to their clients around hiring related issues.

Reading list

We've selected two books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in INTERVIEW TRAINING: Ask Better Questions, Hire Better People.
Presents a structured approach to hiring top talent. It outlines a four-step method for identifying, attracting, and selecting high-performing individuals. This book is commonly used by industry professionals and provides a useful reference tool for improving hiring accuracy. It adds depth to the course by providing a comprehensive methodology for talent acquisition.
Emphasizes the importance of attitude in hiring decisions. It provides a framework for assessing a candidate's attitude and predicting their future performance. This book adds breadth to the course by providing a different perspective on hiring, focusing on personality traits and cultural fit.

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