RALEIGH – The number of high-tech job openings across North Carolina rebounded in August, and with statewide unemployment well under 5 percent talent recruiters continue to face challenges in hiring talent.

Jason deFreitas, Vice President of Recruiting Solutions at Greene Resources, a talent management firm, offers the following advice to recruiters who have jobs to fill:

“Interviews are a key tool in the hiring process, and the best interviews are those with structure. Definining and structuring your organization’s interview process allows your hiring managers to efficiently find the right fit for the role. Communicating this structure to candidates allows them to better prepare for interviews and ensures they have a better experience overall, something that is critical in today’s tight market.

Good news for tech job seekers: Openings surge across NC with 13,000 in Triangle

“Follow these tips to optimizing your interviews :

  1. Define the Role: This should be done before you ever post a job or start collecting resumes. Make sure everyone involved has a clear picture of what the job entails, how it fits into the organizational structure, and what goals the person in this role will be expected to reach.
  2. Define the Candidate: Based on the role, what skills and qualifications does a candidate need to be successful and how will you evaluate that? Look beyond technical skills to take into consideration things like the ability to communicate across the organization. Use the job description to help set this criteria.
  3. Outline the Process: Each step of the interview process should be tied to the criteria set previously. What will each stage consist of and what will you learn about the candidates at each step? With whom will they be meeting at each stage and why? Keep this consistent so each candidate is evaluated against similar benchmarks.

DeFreitas’ comments were included in the latest IT Job Trends report from the NC Technology Association.