Second Interview question

[waverly]

I've actually never done a second interview when I was hiring.  In this situation, the person interviewed for an open position in November, which was filled by my first choice. 

I had another opening, and that person was my second choice then, so I invited them to interview again.  I can talk about all the same things that we do in the first interview such as the schedule and the job description.  But what additional information would you want if you were doing a second interview?  

The only thing I could think of was maybe a copy of what they would be training on?  However, it is kind of extensive, and I wouldn't want them overwhelmed.  I feel like our training at the beginning is very overwhelming, and we are most likely to lose people after the first day. 

I plan to put the new person with our best trainer, and I encourage them to do easier more fun tasks for the first day. 

How would you ease them into onboarding/ training during a second interview?  I can't 100% say that I will hire this person, but if they are interested I think it is likely I would choose them.  So without telling them you are 100% hired during the meeting, how do I give them what they need to be successful in say their first 4 hours on the job?  Or their first week on the job? 

After one applicant expressing confusion, I would like to make it written down for them when possible rather than verbal.  That way they can refer back to it.  

Another way that I make onboarding easier for them is I send them the paperwork beforehand.  You won't believe how many people I get who don't know how to fill out their tax forms or who forget to bring their social security card (hello, you have to be legal) or teenagers who don't have bank account for direct deposit and they have to go open an account (first job).  But if you have any great onboarding tips, let me know that as well.  

[CrazyLucky]

I just got a new job so this is pretty fresh in my mind. My first question is, what type of job is it? And is it the exact same job they interviewed for the first time? Assuming you want to hire this person, is it the kind of job where you send an offer letter, allow time for negotiation and response? If so, I would wait until the offer is officially accepted before giving the person any kind of training schedule or anything in writing. Definitely talk about it though. Talk about your expectations, and how long training typically lasts, the review/raise/promotion methods your workplace follows. I don't think I've ever been successful in my first four hours on the job. LOL. Usually we're still working out computer issues at that point.
Is it possible to have them meet with people they will be working with so they can get a better idea of their team and the culture?

[waverly]

It is the exact same job they applied for before. However the hours are slightly different. Yes, I would send an offer letter and allow time for a response.

Good point to talk about how long training lasts. Yes, as a new hire I would have very low expectations on the first day, but people are different from me and sometimes they have very high expectations. One of them turned out to be kind of nuts, so I guess we dodged a bullet there.

The other one quit because her commute was too long. However, it didn't help that everyone was like wow that's a long commute which I said don't say that. I'm sure she would have quit anyway though.

Only a few people will be here that day, but I can definitely introduce the applicant to them.

[mommyatty]

So are you doing a second interview? If so, I would concentrate on asking questions around why others didn’t work out. Like “have you ever been in a position where you had to follow a lot of different protocols? How did you handle a situation where you got an amount of information that seemed overwhelming? How long was your commute today and did it seem manageable?” Ive done a lot of second round interviews. They are an utter pain to me.

[waverly]

mommyatty , yes since I interviewed this person for the same position in November, I would consider this a 2nd interview. I want to make it different from the first interview while also giving more information on the scope of the job and what to expect.

ETA- I've never done 2nd interviews before typically.  Even though they are pain, did you find them useful or did you usually have all you needed in the first interview? mommyatty,

The only reason I am doing this as a 2nd interview rather than just hiring is because of the time gap.  

[k3am]

waverly , I personally wouldn't bring them in for a second interview. I would probably do a phone conversation to find out if they're still interested (maybe you've already done this), let them know a new role with the same responsibilities came up, and discuss any details there. Unless I thought there really was something meaningful both parties would get out of an actual interview, I'd skip it.

If the onboarding process is so cumbersome they need tips on how to be successful in the first 4 hours of the job, I'd take that as a sign that the onboarding process needs a revamp. A list of items to have on hand for HR paperwork, acceptable. But if you're losing people after a day of training, there's something wrong. In any case, any "hints" they need wouldn't be part of the interview, I think they would be part of a "now that you've accepted the offer, here's some things to be prepared for" conversation.

In my world, we bring candidates in for a second round only if they're interviewing for an entirely different position, or if we're on the fence and want to have them meet with someone else. ETA: or if they are a very senior position and would interface with multiple departments, in which case they'd often be interveiwing with enough people that it would either be too long for one day, scheduling was cumbersome, or they need to be vetted before a meeting with a c-level exec. 

[waverly]

k3am , After we lost those 2 people after a day of training, we did revamp the process. This was several years ago, but it definitely stuck out in my memory.

Valid concerns were addressed. Some of the concerns were personal on their part, which obviously we couldn't address.

In terms of the one person that left due to the commute, I made sure to eliminate candidates over a certain period of drive time. I know when I asked before people said they wouldn't do that, but TBH the job does not pay well enough for someone to drive more than 45 minutes. It just doesn't IMO. I also try to consolidate their schedule to accommodate the commute times.  So we definitely try to work with them there.  

[k3am]

waverly, I feel you there. I don't do much hiring any more (YAY, but also I have a very small team) but I generally tried to exclude anyone who would have a long commute for the same reasons - we don't pay enough for most folks to be okay with commuting that far. It would either be a short tenure, or someone quickly asking for a transfer to our city office. Do not want to spend months of my time training someone only for someone else to get all the benefit. (I'm a total team player, obviously.)

[mommyatty]

waverly- the only times I found second interviews helpful were when we had specific follow up questions related to that person or their answers the first time around. I agree you could just do a quick phone screen to find out if they’re interested and if they have any questions. Good luck!

[waverly]

I'm glad I did the second interview rather than hire. The job requires attention to detail, but the decided in their head that the interview was at a totally different time and arrived later with no clue on why they were late.

Ultimately, I think their transportation situation is too unstable given the long commute. It's a bummer, because I really didn't want to do a whole bunch of interviews again.