Are you about to begin interviewing people for one or more open positions with your company? If so, it’s a good time for you to learn about behavioral interviewing techniques. If you’ve hired people in the past, you know that it can certainly be difficult to get an accurate perception about the kind of worker a person will be just from reviewing his or her resume and asking some of the most common interview questions.

As an interviewer, it’s up to you to structure the process that you use for interviewing candidates to increase your chances of getting the most important information from applicants so that you can make the best possible decision about who you should hire. Follow three these tips for successful hiring interviews and you’ll be on your way to gathering the information you need to make a wise decision.

1. Let the Interviewee Talk – Too many business owners and managers make the mistake of talking too much when interviewing potential employees. Remember that the interview is your time to learn about the individuals who want to work for your company. While it’s appropriate for you to provide some information about your organization and the job that is open, the primary focus of the interview should be on gathering information from the candidate. Ask questions rather than making declarative statements and really listen to the answers.

2. Ask Open Ended Questions – Don’t ask questions that applicants can answer with simple yes or no responses. Doing so greatly increases the chances that the people who are interviewing will just tell you what you want to hear rather than allowing you to get a glimpse of who they really are and how they are likely to conduct themselves as employees. Don’t ask, “Do you think you’d be good at this job?” Who’s going to say no to that? Instead, say, “Please describe the skills and traits you have that will allow you to excel in this position”. A person’s response to this question can allow you to determine if the individual has a good idea of what is involved with the job and whether or not he or she is prepared.

3. Utilize Behavioral Questions – Incorporate a few behavior based interview questions into your interviewing strategy. This technique is based on the belief that past behavior is the most accurate predictor of how a person will behave in the future. Structure your open ended questions so that interviewees have to give you examples of how they have handled situations in the past. Start by asking interviewees to describe a situation they have dealt with previously, and then ask for information about how they handled it. Once the interview has explained, inquire about the outcome or consequences of the situation and the way it was handled. This can be very telling.