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We have an opening for a new position in my department and one of my current employees has applied. He is a very strong candidate. Our hiring process shows no favoritism and everyone goes through the same process. Thus, this employee will be interviewed.

I have used interviews as a way to gauge skill set, experience, and cultural fit. My questions are geared towards that. However, in this case, I know their experience, skill set, and fit already! How do I conduct myself in this interview?

Related to What possible questions should I ask the interviewer if I have already worked with them and know them? However, this time it's from the interviewer side.

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  • We ask each interviewee the same questions to avoid favoritism and discrimination complaints. HR won't allow us to prepare different questions for different candidates based on their perceived ability or any other factor. Everybody gets the same questions.
    – Lumberjack
    Jul 21, 2016 at 20:47
  • To avoid this in future, you might want to internally advertise the position first. You can approach selection and interviews differently.
    – HorusKol
    Jul 21, 2016 at 22:58

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If you have a process you follow the same process and ask the same questions you would any other candidate. It may even be better to have someone who is not on your team sit in and ask the questions so that you are not inadvertently steering the interview with your knowledge of the candidates skills.

However when it comes time to do the evaluations, unless your process forbids it, it is permissible to take into account your knowledge and relationship with the candidate. A big part of the hiring process is finding a candidate that not only has the skills you need but that can use them effectively in the role they are applying for. Therefore you prior relationship helps to impact that assessment.

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    I would also make sure that the employee is aware that you will be treating it the same as the interview you would give anyone else. So not be surprised if you ask about things you already know about, but want to get their take on.
    – JasonJ
    Jul 21, 2016 at 21:10

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