Ep. 10
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Interviewing Applicants with Purpose w/ Bryce Ericson
In this episode 10, we talk with Bryce Ericson about interviewing job applicants with purpose.
![Bryce Ericson](https://eddy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Bryce-Ericson.jpeg)
Bryce Ericson
Director of HR
Blue Fire Leads
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Are you interviewing job applicants as efficiently as you can? Are you asking the questions that will ultimately lead you to knowing whether you want to hire someone, or not?
We sat down with Bryce Ericson, Director of HR at Blue Fire Leads, to talk about how to interview applicants with purpose. That is, how to use your interview time efficiently and ask the right interview questions that will establish whether someone is the right candidate for the job.
We also talked about:
- What should impress you about an applicant—and what you shouldn’t hold against them—in an interview
- Why you should iterate on the questions you ask candidates (especially when they’re not helping you narrow down your applicant pool)
- How to assess whether an applicant is a good fit for your company
- How to inject your culture and values into the interview process
- Why it’s important to “sell” your company to the applicant
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“When you’re an HR department of one and an employee asks you a question, it’s up to you to find the answer. If you don’t know the answer, reach out to other HR professionals or do your research. I don’t pretend to know all the answers, but I do know how to find the answers and come up with solutions.”
Bryce Ericson
“Remember that the end goal of interviewing is to determine whether you should hire a candidate or not. So be sure to ask interview questions that help you arrive at that answer—and adjust your approach if you’re not getting to that answer.”
Bryce Ericson
“What I’m really looking for is, can you do the job? Are you going to bring value to the company? Those are the sort of things that matter in a candidate—more than did they have a firm handshake or did they dress business professional.”
Bryce Ericson
“HR helps build the company culture. When you hire someone, it not only impacts the department they’ll work for, it also affects everyone that the department works with, as well.”
Bryce Ericson
“Have your values on your website. That way, candidates can do their research. When they come to the interview knowing your values, and explaining how their values align with yours, you know they’ve done their research and they’re potentially a very good fit.”
Bryce Ericson
“Right now we’re in an employee market. So it’s important to sell your company to candidates, to explain how you’re different from everyone else and the value you can bring to their career, in order to win them over.”
Bryce Ericson
“Have an interview game plan. But be flexible to find what works best and improve over time. It takes practice to establish what works for you and your company.”
Bryce Ericson
“If you build your people, they’re going to build your business. Creating an environment where people feel valued means people will bring their value to the company.”
Bryce Ericson