Staging Interviews

Even before you advertise the job, you should have an idea about your hiring process schedule -- how long the job should be posted (some states have a requirement about this), how long you have for the overall interview process, how long it might take after a candidate has been identified to get that person on-board.

The level of the vacancy may dictate how much time you have (or should take). More senior and/or specialized positions usually take longer because there's more at stake in terms of responsibility, visibility and salary.

About Tests

A candidate was interviewing at a major game company for a licensing producer position. She had all the qualifications, including having produced products for some pretty big licenses, and an excellent knowledge of the license in question. She was interviewed by a number of people including the vice president of production, two senior producers, other production staff members and various marketing people.

Everything looked good and then... she was told without warning she had to take a timed essay test on which she had to indicate what she would do under different production circumstances. She was surprised, but because she really wanted the job she took the test. She later found out that although the senior producers wanted to hire her, an even more senior staff member had already decided to hire someone with far less experience from his previous company.

There was no question that the test was administered illegally but no one -- including the candidate -- was willing to challenge to the senior staff member. You can't always count on candidates backing down, so be absolutely sure which job-related skill tests you can and cannot administer and under what circumstances, and be sure the candidate knows about it in advance.

There are positions -- more often than not technical ones -- which require some testing as part of the interview process. That information should be included on the job posting. If you're hiring clerical staff and working through an agency or recruiter, the chances are that the candidate has already gone through a battery of tests before the agency agreed to represent them.

If you're comfortable with the agency (and you shouldn't work with an agency you don't trust), you can significantly reduce the stress of the interview process by accepting the results of those preliminary tests. If your company is going to administer tests, be sure to reiterate that in the confirmation correspondence or conversation prior to the actual interview (you know, the one that includes the time, directions to your office, etc.)

About Attire

There is a charming fiction (which is somewhat true) that everyone in the gaming business wears jeans and t-shirts to work. However, an interview is generally regarded as a "formal" encounter (in the professional sense) so you can help the candidate by including a simple statement in the confirmation letter regarding attire, such as "Attire is business casual."

Let the people who will be doing the interviewing know what the candidate was told about attire. Chances are the candidate will overdress anyhow, but there are always those who think that ignoring your instructions will show how well they'll fit into your corporate culture

Once all the preliminary work is done -- placing the ad, reviewing the resumes, scheduling the interviews -- it's time to meet your (potential) new employees.