COMMON INTERVIEWING PITFALLS

Interviewing is an art and a skill. You need to have an approach and game plan for the interview and at the same time be flexible enough to allow conversation to expand. To create a consistent, unbiased interviewing process, consider the following when you move into hiring mode at your organization.

PREPARATION - Going in prepared is important to conducting a successful interview.

Consider:

• Clearly understanding the requirements, skills and behaviors needed for the position
• Be able to concisely communicate details about the role and related responsibilities
• Stay on course and do not drift too far into non job-related discussion
• Staying on track demonstrates how organized and professional you are as an interviewer

FIRST IMPRESSION – Although first impressions should be taken into account, they are not the only aspect of decision making when interviewing. Your perspective may change with subsequent interviews. If you are on the fence about a candidate, figure out what it is that he or she might be missing to perform the job well. Possibly giving them another brief interview or meeting might clear up some unanswered questions and help you find that clarity.

CONVERSATION – As an interviewer, you should never dominate the conversation. Careful listening is just as important as the applicant’s personality, desires and areas of further development. This cannot be identified if you are doing all of the talking. And vice versa, if the candidate is doing all the talking and not asking many or substantial questions about the position, this could indicate they do not possess the skillset to listen.

STRESS – Be mindful that your applicants are likely to be feeling stress and anxiety about the interview process so treat them kindly. To ease the tension, start off by asking "getting to know them" questions so they start feeling comfortable talking about themselves. This will also help ease them into the interview process.

CONSISTENCY – Be consistent from one applicant to the next. This provides for a fair assessment across all candidates and helps reduce and eliminate bias. If the candidate says something of interest that you want to know more about, you can allow a couple more minutes of talk time but watch the clock to make sure you don't get too far off track. You can always write down certain points the candidate brought up and go back to it later if there is time. This makes sure the most important interview questions are answered first.

QUESTIONS – When asking questions, make sure they remain relevant to the organization and/or position. Have your questions written down and ready for the interview. Combine open and closed ended questions along with behavioral based questions. To help you create effective interview questions, ask yourself what type of questions do I need to ask to receive the type of information I am looking for? Or what questions would indicate how the candidate would perform or handle a certain situation or job responsibility? The deeper you can dig into understanding what is required for stellar performance for a position, the easier it will be to come up with targeted questions.

HALO EFFECT – Don’t overlook the candidate’s overall ability because one trait or skill is outstanding. The other skill sets they have could be just as valuable.

HORN EFFECT – Conversely, don’t assume that one weak trait or skill is representative of all their traits or skills. If the candidate lacks one trait, you must determine if it is a deal breaker, or decide if that skill is something that can be developed.

HUNCH – Although having a ‘hunch’ or feeling in your ‘gut’ is fine, this shouldn’t be the sole decision making point. Be fair in your assessment and make sure you are not hiring a candidate just based on a likeability factor and other appealing traits. Taking a look at the whole picture will help avoid that bias.

CONTROL – Having control over the interview doesn’t mean you are not allowing the applicant to talk, but you also want to ensure that the interview doesn’t turn into the applicant interviewing you!

With thorough interviewing techniques and tips, a candidate you initially thought was your least desired person can end up being your best hire. You also provide for a more balanced and fair evaluation of all candidates for the position.