In a small business the owner interviews. There is no process, no scorecard, and the decision usually comes down to whether the conversation felt right.
That feeling is genuinely useful information. It is also the reason a lot of bad hires get made, because likeable and capable are not the same thing.
Decide what you are testing before they arrive
Write down the three things this person must be able to do. Not ten. Three.
Everything in the interview should be aimed at those three. Without that, the conversation drifts to whatever the candidate is most comfortable discussing.
Ask about what happened, not what they would do
"How would you handle a difficult customer" tests imagination. Anybody can answer it well.
"Tell me about a difficult customer you actually dealt with. What happened?" is much harder to invent, and the detail in the answer tells you whether they have really been there.
Give them something real to do
Twenty minutes with an actual task beats an hour of conversation. A sample invoice with an error in it. A customer email to reply to. A short call to listen to.
You learn more from watching somebody work than from hearing them describe working.
Let silence sit
Ask a question and wait. Most interviewers fill the pause and answer their own question. The pause is where the honest answers live.
Ask what they want next
Somebody who wants to be doing something completely different in two years is not a bad person to hire, but you should know before rather than after.
Check one reference properly
One real conversation with a previous employer is worth more than three written letters. Ask one question: would you hire them again? The pause before the answer is often the answer.
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