Master the Interview: Interview Training for Hiring Managers

Most hiring managers were never taught to interview. They ask whatever comes to mind, trust their gut, and now and then ask about a candidate’s age or kids. Then the candidate who interviewed best turns out to be the wrong hire.

Master the Interview teaches hiring managers how to land the ideal candidate while avoiding legal pitfalls. In this three-hour workshop, participants learn behavioral interviewing, consistent evaluation, and the federal and New England rules on what interviewers can and can’t ask.

What hiring managers learn

By the end of the workshop, participants can:

• Tell legal questions from illegal ones. What the law says about questions touching age, disability, family status, religion, national origin, and other protected characteristics, and how to get the job-related information they need without crossing the line.
• Write behavioral-based interview questions tied to the competencies the job requires. Participants write them for open roles during the session.
• Probe for real answers. Follow-up questions that get past rehearsed responses to what the candidate did, what happened, and what they learned.
• Evaluate candidates objectively with a standardized evaluation tool that every interviewer fills out the same way.
• Interview consistently across a panel, so different interviewers aren’t asking different questions and filling the gaps with opinion.

What hiring managers can and can’t ask in New England

Hiring managers usually break interview rules by accident, often during small talk.

• Salary history. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, and Vermont all prohibit asking about a candidate’s pay history. New Hampshire has no statewide ban. You can ask about pay expectations in every state.
• Pay ranges. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, and Vermont require pay ranges in job postings, and Rhode Island requires employers to give a range to applicants who ask. Interviewers need to know the range before a candidate asks.
• Criminal history. Most New England states limit when and how employers can ask about criminal records. Massachusetts adds limits on older misdemeanors and sealed records.
• Health and disability. Federal law bars disability and medical questions before a conditional job offer. Interviewers can ask whether a candidate can perform the essential functions of the job.
• Age and family. Questions about graduation year, retirement plans, children, or childcare invite discrimination claims even when the interviewer is only being friendly.

Why behavioral interviewing works

Behavioral questions ask candidates to describe what they did in a real situation: “Tell me about a time you had to deliver bad news to a customer. What did you do, and how did it turn out?” The answer is evidence of what the candidate has done. Hypothetical questions (“What would you do if…”) mostly test how well someone talks.

Training your whole hiring team

A private session puts your supervisors and managers on the same interview approach. Private sessions can use your real job descriptions and evaluation forms, so participants leave with questions they’ll use in their next interview. We deliver them live virtual or onsite anywhere in New England. Massachusetts employers may be able to offset training costs through the state’s Workforce Training Fund, and our grant team can tell you which program fits.

If you’d rather hand off part of the hiring process, EANE’s recruiting services take on the steps you choose.