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Faculty Recruitment

Preparing for the Interview

At the search committee meeting where members of the committee discuss which candidates meet the qualifications based upon the paper screening process, it is strongly recommended that the search committee develop a general set of questions to ask the candidates in the interview process.

In doing this, please refer to two (2) sections in this manual which will assist you in developing appropriate questions to ask the candidates. Please refer to "Questions to Ask and Not ask during the Interview" (section xi) and "Interviewing and Selection Guidelines Under the Americans With Disabilities Act" (section xiv). These two sections will help you as you develop substantive questions to ask each of the applicants you will bring in for interview.

While whatever set of questions you develop should not be viewed as a "script" which must be strictly followed, it should be used as a general guideline in order to assist the committee in developing comparative information about the candidates.

Interviewing is very difficult especially if you don't do it a great deal. It is easy to venture into aspects of the applicant's experiences or educational preparation or research interests which may not be relevant for the position. It is also difficult to remember the questions that you asked the previous candidates when interviewing a new candidate. Remember the hiring process is a comparative process. Collect the same essential information for all candidates in the interview process.

Remember to develop one general set of questions to be used for all candidates because the hiring process is a comparative process. Collect the same essential material for all candidates.