It’s back-to-school September, an ideal time to brush up on your interview skills.
No, not as a job candidate — as the interviewer. Think back to the worst interviews you’ve ever gone on as a candidate. Probably a big part of what made them so bad was the manner in which the hiring manager, HR person or other associates posed questions to you as well as the content of the questions themselves.
What’s more, as a communication professional, you have higher standards than most job candidates and are more attuned to interviewer gaffes. From a recruiter’s perspective, here are some of the most common mistakes I see well-meaning interviewers make every day:
1) Not focusing. Candidates notice right away when interviewers appear hurried, distracted and even disengaged. It’s a real turn-off. Think about the candidate who has taken a chunk of valuable time off from work — or personal time – only to find that “no one is home” at his potential next employer. As the hiring manager, it’s your ultimate responsibility to make sure that everyone on the interview agenda is prepared to invest in the process of talking with candidates. Eliminate the weakest links.
2) Asking repetitive questions. Not only does this frustrate candidates, but it also does your fact-finding process a disservice. Instead of leaving the interview process wide open, consider asking each member of the interviewing team (including your boss) to focus on a specific area with each candidate. Perhaps one veteran colleague excels at sussing out cultural fit, while another has an exceptional ear for evaluating communication planning. Play to the strengths of your interview team members and you’ll instantly find them more engaged and therefore valuable to you in the process.
3) Sounding like an interrogator. An interview, by definition, is an exchange. While you want to manage risk by ruling out undesirable candidates, making the candidate feel like he is on the witness stand is both daunting and counterproductive. The best information comes out when everyone is as relaxed as possible in what is already a high-stakes and often uncomfortable process.
4) Not giving the candidate a turn. While there is no need to cede control of the interview to the candidate, it is important to strike the right balance between asking and answering questions. A good rule of thumb is that the candidate should do 80 percent of the talking and the interviewer 20 percent. Be sure to make the most of your 20 percent – this is where you can demonstrate to the candidate your own grasp of your organization’s challenges, your managerial approach, and perhaps most important, who you are as a human being.
5) Giving fuzzy answers. Just as candidates who dodge your questions or speak in fluent jargonese frustrate you endlessly, your responses to candidate questions can be confusing or off-putting. Common candidate complaints include glaring inconsistencies in how interviewers describe the role and its priorities; a seeming inability to describe with any specificity the nuts and bolts of what the role requires on a day-to-day basis and interviewers who defer questions for follow-up and then do not make themselves available.
In truth, for all the self-help books out there about how to interview better as a candidate, the interviewer has the harder job. The interviewer must serve as part ambassador, part journalist and even part psychologist in an effort to make the most informed assessment and decision possible. The best way to get better at it? Seek out candidate feedback, whether through your internal recruiting representative or an outside recruiter helping with the process. Think of your candidate base as a key constituency; the more you listen, the more you win.
By Janet Long, founder and president of Integrity Search, Inc
