Interview tips?

I assume you mean if you are the interviewer. In that case, I would have a script of questions AND go with the flow. There will be answers that lead to other questions, once these are answered you go back to your script.

Preparation is key.

Get some background information on the person so that you
can give them a strong introduction at the start of the interview.
Build up the case for why people should listen to them on the
subject area.

Decide on the main objectives for your interview. E.g. Is
it to inform people, to sell them on a product or service, etc?

Then structure your interview to move towards the achievement
of the objectives.

As for questions, here's some you may want to consider...

Tell us a bit about your background.

How did you get started in the __________ business?

What were the 3 biggest mistakes you made in your
business so far?

What are the top 3 tips you'd give to people just starting
out in this industry?

When interviewing, it's important to give the interviewee
time and space to answer the questions thoroughly. Your
main role is as a facilitator to extract the most useful
information from the person in front of you that will help
the people who listen to the interview.

Try and ask questions that you think your listeners would
want to ask if they were interviewing the person. In fact,
you could even survey your list for questions beforehand
(if you have one).

Also, listen to the answers that the interviewee gives and
then see if they lead to a natural follow-on question.

Good luck.

Dedicated to mutual success,

Shaun

@Shaun - Thank you I will take your advise on board with me when I build my idea's up this week.

I interview quite a lot, I find its helpful to ask the interviewee to talk through the last project they worked on. You find a lot of additional questions can come out of their answer to this, and you also get a good idea of candidate's strengths/weaknesses.

Make sure you give them space to answer, and don't interrupt. It sucks when the interviewer is always interjecting with his opinions or ideas. But remember they're the ones being interviewed, so always always let them have enough space and time to say what they want to say.

I also interview quite a bit. You can not ask enough questions. Don't feel obligated to stick to your list. Each applicant is different and different questions will be needed to get certain answers out of each one.

Be super polite, respectful and put them at ease. Remember how stressful it is (was) to go to these things. I like to make them feel as comfortable as possible.

Have a second party in the room with you to observe and take notes as well as ask their own questions if they're qualified.

Test, test, test. I guarantee you if you don't, you'll regret it later. They'll tell you anything to get the job.

Choose several top candidates to pick from and take your time, fully checking all provided references.

Most importantly, remember this: Hire Slow, Fire Fast - Hiring is an art form and it usually takes quite some time to learn it well.

- Good luck!

I've never been in charge of hiring, however I have helped out with the process in several businesses I have been involved with.

I usually like them to complete some sort of test or pop quiz with material they should know for the job. For example, I've asked people to write simple PHP scripts, webpages and stylesheets. Some people are good at BSing vague interview questions - it's hard to BS a test!

it's crazy... half of the applicants for a web development job weren't able to create a simple PHP based site with a stylesheet after being given an hour... even though the qualifications/requirements were very clear in the craigslist ads!

test 'em

Thanks for all the feed back so far, I am taken it on board and make sure I learn from it