Interviewing Skills Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Hiring Managers, HR Business Partners and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-HM-124

Before you join: Participants should have basic familiarity with recruitment terminology and have observed, supported, or conducted at least one employment interview.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Hiring managers and HR professionals often make selection decisions from incomplete evidence, inconsistent questioning, or unstructured panel discussions. These practices can produce poor hiring decisions, frustrate candidates, extend recruitment timelines, and create difficulty when decisions are challenged. A well-designed interview process gives every candidate a fair opportunity to demonstrate job-related evidence while helping assessors distinguish confidence, familiarity, and personal preference from actual capability.

This five-day Interviewing Skills Training Course develops the practical judgement required to plan, conduct, score, and document effective interviews. Participants define measurable selection criteria, convert competencies into behavioural and situational questions, and use STAR probing to obtain relevant evidence. They practise active listening, neutral questioning, panel coordination, evidence-based scoring, and constructive candidate communication. The course addresses common interviewer biases, reasonable adjustments, internal candidate interviews, virtual formats, sensitive disclosures, and defensible decision-making.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with realistic recruitment cases, group analysis, interview simulations, assessor calibration, and guided application planning. Cases can reflect public-sector recruitment, banking roles, technical vacancies, customer-facing roles, management appointments, or NGO programme positions. Participants leave with a structured interview pack for a live or forthcoming vacancy, including selection criteria, question sets, probes, rating anchors, note-taking prompts, and a 30-day application plan. The course is particularly useful for managers who interview occasionally, HR practitioners responsible for selection quality, and panel members who need a consistent method for reaching hiring decisions.

What you will be able to do

  • Design structured interview plans from job analysis, selection criteria, and assessment stages
  • Construct behavioural and situational questions using competency-based interviewing methods
  • Apply STAR probing to obtain specific, job-related candidate evidence
  • Conduct fair interviews using active listening, neutral prompts, and effective time control
  • Score candidate evidence using behaviourally anchored rating scales and independent judgement
  • Recognise and reduce halo, similarity, confirmation, and other interviewer biases
  • Lead evidence-based panel debriefs and document defensible selection decisions
  • Produce a reusable structured interview pack and 30-day implementation plan

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater confidence leading structured interviews and managing interview time
  • Clearer judgement when separating evidence from first impressions
  • Reusable questions and probes for competency-based recruitment
  • Stronger contribution to panel discussions and hiring recommendations
  • Practical methods for giving appropriate post-interview candidate feedback

For your organisation

  • More consistent assessment of candidates against job-related criteria
  • Better documented selection decisions for audit and challenge
  • Reduced influence of interviewer bias and unstructured judgement
  • Improved candidate experience through clear and professional interview processes
  • More reliable recruitment decisions and reduced risk of costly mis-hires

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define job-related selection criteria and plan an interview around required evidence.

  • Business need analysis linked to vacancy outcomes and team priorities
  • Job analysis using task, competency, and critical-incident evidence
  • Essential versus desirable criteria separated before candidate sourcing begins
  • Selection criteria converted into observable behavioural indicators and evidence
  • Person specification risks: inflated requirements, proxy criteria, and bias
  • Interview plan aligned with recruitment stages, assessors, and decisions

Participants can apply fair selection principles and maintain appropriate interview records.

  • Structured interview principles: identical core questions, probes, and rating anchors
  • Equality, discrimination, privacy, and record-retention obligations in selection
  • Job-relatedness test applied to questions, evidence, and scoring criteria
  • Reasonable adjustment requests handled without changing essential job requirements
  • Protected-characteristic questions replaced with lawful, role-relevant alternatives
  • Conflicts of interest, confidentiality, and assessor declarations documented
  • Candidate data notes distinguished from unsupported personal impressions

Participants can create structured questions that test required competencies and technical requirements.

  • Competency framework translated into behavioural, situational, and technical question types
  • Behavioural questions constructed using past-action and outcome prompts
  • Situational questions anchored to realistic job dilemmas and constraints
  • STAR probing sequence obtains situation, task, action, and result evidence
  • Open, closed, funnel, and clarifying questions used purposefully
  • Leading, double-barrelled, hypothetical, and discriminatory questions removed
  • Question order planned from rapport building to role-specific assessment

Participants can prepare candidates, panels, and interview conditions for an orderly assessment process.

  • Candidate-facing information prepared: agenda, format, timings, and accessibility
  • Panel roles allocated for chairing, questioning, observing, and note-taking
  • Pre-interview calibration aligns interpretation of criteria and rating anchors
  • Opening script establishes purpose, consent, confidentiality, and interview structure
  • Active listening demonstrates attention without coaching candidate responses
  • Rapport established through professional courtesy, clarity, and neutral language
  • Virtual interview checks cover platform access, privacy, audio, and contingency

Participants can obtain detailed, comparable evidence while maintaining a neutral interview style.

  • Behavioural evidence elicited through STAR follow-up questions and silence
  • Probing distinguishes individual contribution from team, supervisor, or circumstance
  • Clarification techniques test scope, sequence, judgement, and measurable results
  • Neutral prompts prevent candidates receiving hints, assumptions, or unequal assistance
  • Listening for inconsistencies without confrontation or premature credibility judgements
  • Technical questions kept job-related, proportionate, and consistently administered
  • Time control preserves evidence collection across every assessed criterion

Participants can rate evidence consistently and reduce bias during individual assessment.

  • Common interviewer biases identified: halo, horn, similarity, and confirmation
  • Evidence notes separated from interpretations, labels, and assumptions
  • BARS rating scales applied against pre-defined behavioural descriptors
  • Independent scoring completed before panel discussion and consensus
  • Calibration conversations reconcile evidence differences without score averaging
  • Candidate comparison avoided until each person meets role criteria
  • Reliability checks identify inconsistent questioning, scoring, and assessor drift

Participants can respond professionally to challenging interview behaviours and sensitive issues.

  • Anxious, verbose, defensive, and unprepared candidates managed professionally
  • Sensitive disclosures acknowledged while boundaries and role relevance are maintained
  • Requests for feedback, accommodations, or process changes handled consistently
  • Interruptions, technology failures, and late arrivals addressed through agreed protocols
  • Safeguarding concerns escalated using organisational policy and documented facts
  • Internal candidates assessed fairly despite prior knowledge and relationships
  • Cross-cultural communication differences considered without stereotyping candidate behaviour

Participants can lead panel discussions that produce documented, evidence-based hiring decisions.

  • Panel interviews coordinated through question ownership, handovers, and observation roles
  • Note-taking captures quotations, examples, and criterion-linked evidence
  • Debrief sequence reviews evidence before recommendations, rankings, or hiring decisions
  • Consensus decisions justified through ratings, documented evidence, and job requirements
  • Reference-check questions aligned with verified interview evidence and consent
  • Candidate feedback framed constructively without disclosing other applicants' information
  • Selection records organised for audit, challenge, and future recruitment learning

Participants can adapt structured interviewing methods for remote and accessible selection processes.

  • Video interview formats compared: live, asynchronous, panel, and recorded
  • Digital accessibility needs accommodated through format, timing, and communication adjustments
  • Camera, eye contact, and connection issues interpreted cautiously as evidence
  • Remote identity verification balanced against privacy and candidate experience
  • Asynchronous responses scored using identical criteria and reviewer controls
  • AI transcription and interview technology risks assessed for fairness and confidentiality
  • Candidate experience measured through clear communication, timeliness, and respect

Participants can assemble a reusable interview pack and plan its introduction into recruitment practice.

  • End-to-end structured interview pack assembled for a live vacancy
  • Question bank mapped to essential criteria, probes, and rating anchors
  • Personal interviewer development goals set from observed strengths and gaps
  • Manager escalation routes identified for legal, safeguarding, and conflict concerns
  • Recruitment metrics reviewed: completion rates, candidate feedback, and selection quality
  • Thirty-day application plan schedules calibration, practice, and process improvements

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Structured interview planning template
  2. Competency-based question bank
  3. STAR probing guide
  4. Behaviourally anchored rating scale
  5. Panel debrief checklist
  6. 30-day interviewer application plan

Who should attend

  • Hiring Managers — need consistent methods for selecting candidates against role requirements
  • HR Business Partners — advise managers on fair, documented, and effective selection processes
  • Talent Acquisition Specialists — design interview stages, assessor guidance, and candidate communications
  • Interview Panel Members — need a shared approach to questioning, note-taking, and scoring
  • Line Managers — conduct recruitment interviews alongside operational responsibilities
  • Internal Recruiters — improve candidate experience and decision quality across vacancies

Skills and tools covered

Structured interviewingCompetency-based questioningSTAR probingEvidence-based scoringPanel facilitationBias reduction

Tools and standards

STAR interview technique, Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS), Critical Incident Technique, Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce structured interviewing principles, followed by recruitment cases, question-design work, small-group analysis, and interview simulations. Participants work with job descriptions, competency frameworks, candidate responses, and rating evidence. Panel debrief simulations develop calibration and consensus-building skills. Facilitated feedback focuses on questioning, listening, note-taking, bias, scoring, and decision records. Each participant builds an interview pack for a relevant role and prepares a practical plan for applying the method after the course.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have basic familiarity with recruitment terminology and have observed, supported, or conducted at least one employment interview. Experience of supervising staff, contributing to a recruitment panel, or preparing job descriptions is useful. Participants should be able to read a job description and person specification critically. No HR qualification, legal qualification, psychometric assessment training, or previous formal interviewer training is required. The course focuses on employment selection interviews rather than investigative, disciplinary, media, or research interviews.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should have basic familiarity with recruitment and ideally have observed or participated in an interview. No HR qualification or prior formal interviewer training is required.

Bring a current or forthcoming job description, person specification, or competency framework if you can. These documents help you build a relevant interview pack during the course.

The course is designed for hiring managers, HR practitioners, talent acquisition specialists, and panel members. It is especially useful for people who interview occasionally and need a reliable structure.

This course focuses on the practical skill of planning, conducting, scoring, and documenting employment interviews. It addresses fair selection principles, but it is not a substitute for jurisdiction-specific legal advice or a full recruitment strategy course.

Participants leave with a structured interview pack for a relevant vacancy, including questions, probes, scoring criteria, and panel guidance. The 30-day plan identifies practical actions for introducing the approach into future recruitment.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided between instructor input, cases, question design, interview simulations, assessor calibration, panel debriefs, and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

More courses in HR Management

HR Management Human Resource Auditing Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov HR Management Human Resource Management Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov HR Management Human Resources Business Partner Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov HR Management Human Resources Professional Development Training Course 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov HR Management Managing Generational Diversity Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov HR Management Neurodiversity and Inclusive Workplace Training Course 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov HR Management People Strategy Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov HR Management Recruitment and Selection Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov