Respect the Interview...ee!

That would be the interviewee, the person that has come to you to be interviewed.

If you look at job boards all over the internet, you will see tons of open positions.  So, when you bring that candidate in for the interview, you are telling them in no uncertain terms that you are considering them for a position for your company.  I was laid off earlier this year and went straight to reaching out to my network, enhancing my resume, and applying for any and all positions I could do.  And when I got a chance to get that invitation to that elusive interview, sometimes some not great things happened:

• I had one interview where the interviewer took 3 minutes to tell me about his company, then asked if I had any questions.  Literally didn’t ask me one question.
• One interviewer told me that she was only required to ask me questions for 15 minutes, then I would have 15 minutes to ask her questions.  Immediately at the end of the 30-minute interview, she logged off after a quick goodbye.
• An interview was reduced in time, right before the start of the interview, from 45 minutes to 30.
• An in-person interview cancelled the day before because they found a candidate with EXACTLY the requirements they were looking for.

I had some good interview experiences as well, but I sure don’t remember those as much as the bad experiences.

If you are interviewing a candidate, keep a few things in mind.  They may want:

• A change of careers.
• A change of companies.
• More pay.
• Better benefits.
• Or they just need a job, period.

And when someone representing your company called/emailed them to set up that interview, that interviewee most likely:

• Rehearsed behavioral based questions.
• Researched the company.
• Selected just the right outfit to wear to the interview.
• Did everything possible to keep their nerves at bay, while at the same time mentally trying to get as ready as they could for this chance.

Then they meet with the candidate, and you, the interviewer:

• Haven’t even read their resume.
• Didn’t prep for the interview.
• Don’t know their name.
• Showed through their behavior that they weren’t paying attention.
• And probably told the candidate they always hire from their “gut instinct.”

And in such a small amount of time you have destroyed your credibility, your company’s reputation, and believe it, nothing good will be said about either.  You’ve also destroyed the interview process in a little way for this and other candidates.  This is an interview process.  There is a certain amount of respect on both sides of the interview.  The candidate needs to respect your time, and you need to respect their time.  If you don’t respect this process, I promise you will lose that candidate and others.  Word gets around fast.