Why run walk-in interviews?

Walk-in interviews are a useful tool for employers who need to interview several people in a short period of time. If you’re hiring a large team to fill roles where training is provided, walk-in interviews give you the opportunity to assess the softer skills, such as the applicant’s attitude and whether they’re likely to be a cultural fit.

Walk-in interviews are less likely to be used if you’re hiring a single person to fill a role that requires extensive skills and experience. In these scenarios, you’re more likely to want to use a panel interview or have a skills assessment to confirm the applicant’s credentials.

Many employers hire people directly from walk-in interviews at career fairs or after a round of interviews of applicants referred to them by an agency. However, walk-in interviews can be used as an initial screening round for jobs that are likely to attract a huge number of applicants. Those who are the poorest fit for the job can usually be screened out through this early stage of the interview process, reducing the number of people who need to be called back for a more thorough interview.

One final situation in which walk-in interviews may be useful is for jobs that have a very high turnover. If a company has a constant need for new staff, such as casual laborers, running ongoing walk-in interviews provides them with a steady pool of eligible candidates. When the company needs new people to cover shifts, it can simply call one of the successful applicants to see if they’re available to work.

Related: How to Hire and Recruit Great Employees

The challenges associated with walk-in interviews

Traditional interviews that include a panel or a skills assessment give the interviewers and candidates more time to get to know each other and truly assess the applicants’ competencies. With walk-in interviews, the pace of the interview is much faster, and the interviewer must make rapid decisions with limited information. They may see so many people in a day that they struggle to recall details about each applicant once the interviews are done.

In this kind of environment, it’s easy for unconscious biases to creep in. Taking some precautions when structuring the interview process can be helpful:

• Where possible, include a short skills-based test to qualify applicants.

• Have interviewers undergo unconscious bias training.

• Remove names, ages and genders from applications when vetting them.

• Don’t use gendered wording in documentation about the position.

• Use standardized questions for all interviewees.

• Have a clear grading rubric for vetting candidates.

• Assess applicants based on critical job skills only.

If there are vastly more applicants than open positions, there may still be an element of emotion in selecting candidates. Using quantifiable metrics to make data-driven decisions when vetting makes the hiring process as fair as possible.

Remind interviewers to base their decisions on the requirements of the job role rather than first impressions. For example, if you’re hiring someone to work in a customer service position that primarily involves talking to people, how they speak and carry themselves may be more important than the quality of the grammar in their cover letter. In contrast, someone working in a warehouse or back-of-house position may need to be assessed on those skills rather than how friendly they are. 

Related: How to Write a Job Description

How walk-in interviews benefit applicants

Walk-in interviews can save time for employees and give them a chance to get an understanding of the company they’re applying to work for without requiring them to invest a lot of time in the application process.

Most walk-in interview jobs are either seasonal or require a lot of people to fill positions. For example: 

• A contact center may hire a large group of people to fill tech support roles for a new client.

• An event coordinator might need a team of people to serve as stewards for a sports event.

• Farms use seasonal workers for picking fruit or vegetables.

• Hospitality companies might take on additional staff during the busiest periods of the year.

Walk-in interviews fit this type of role quite well:

• The interview is less formal and provides more of a chance for the employee and employer to get to know each other.

• Applicants have already been screened via their resumes, and the interview is more about whether the applicant is a good culture add.

• The interview itself is usually quite short, and the applicant will learn quickly whether they have got the job.

• Applicants don’t have to worry about application deadlines or rounds if the company is running a steady stream of interviews.

• In many cases, the applicant receives feedback from the interview immediately, so they don’t have to go through the stress of waiting to find out if they were successful.

How does a walk-in interview work?

The process of conducting a walk-in interview is slightly different from a more traditional job interview. With walk-in interviews, there may be several applicants for each job opening, with multiple short interviews scheduled back-to-back.

In some cases, a walk-in interview may be an informal thing that takes place at a career fair, with recruiters setting up desks and quickly assessing candidates who express an interest in the available work. Those who pass the initial screening at the career fair may be invited into a separate room for a slightly more in-depth discussion, then either offered a job immediately or put forward for a longer interview.

It’s becoming increasingly common for walk-in interviews to be conducted virtually, reducing expenses for both the company and the applicant and allowing an even larger pool of applicants to be screened efficiently.

Related: How to Conduct a Successful Virtual Interview on Indeed

What is asked during a walk-in interview?

Because walk-in interviews are relatively short and used when a company needs to fill several vacancies, there isn’t time to assess each applicant’s skills in depth. Rather, interviewers base their decisions on other information, such as:

• The contents of the applicant’s resume

• Punctuality (if appropriate)

• How the applicant presents themselves

• Politeness

• Whether the applicant seems interested during the interview

• The applicant’s attitude toward the job

• Whether the applicant’s work experience or extracurricular activities suggest they’re a match for the job

Walk-in interview questions are intended to give the interviewer a chance to assess the interviewee’s personality and for the interviewee to ask any questions they may have about the role. Personality and attitude matter for walk-in interview jobs because many of these jobs require people to deal with members of the public or work in fast-paced environments.

The company is probably going to offer training for the role, so the interview isn’t assessing the qualifications of the candidate. Instead, the purpose is to see if the applicant is likely to fit in with the team they’ll be working with, learn the required skills quickly and be a productive member of the team from the start.

See More: How to Be Transparent in Hiring and Managing Employees