3 Common Interview Mistakes – Why Interviews Aren’t Enough

One of the more difficult things any of us must do is interview people.  Whether you’re looking for a new virtual assistant, a truck driver for your warehouse, a medical technician for your lab, or someone to work on your ad campaigns, interviewing people can be tough, time consuming, and expensive.  However, it goes without saying that organizations serious about improving their profitability and long-term viability in an increasingly competitive economy need to hire the best candidates.

Unfortunately, many of their hiring managers are making these 3 common interviewing mistakes.

Unconscious Bias.  I know it’s hard to believe, but all of us have a smidgen (or more) of unconscious bias when it comes to people.   Even when its unintentional, interviews are bias since they are too often based on “good” first impressions which means the most poised, charming, and attractive candidates are more likely to be selected by the interviewer.  This phenomenon is beautifully described in chapter three (“The Warren Harding Error: Why We Fall for Tall, Dark, and Handsome Men”) of Malcom Gladwell’s book, Blink.  He wrote, “Many who looked at Warren Harding saw how extraordinarily handsome and distinguished-looking he was and jumped to the immediate – and entirely unwarranted – conclusion that he was a man of courage and intelligence and integrity.  They didn’t dig below the surface.  The way he looked carried so many powerful connotations that it stopped the normal process of thinking dead in its tracks.”  Malcom calls this “The Dark Side of Thin-Slicing”; i.e., how a little bit of knowledge goes a long way (fascinating book).  By the way, history shows Harding possessed none of those desirable qualities and was arguably the worst president this country ever elected.

Overconfidence. Managers tend to be overconfident when it comes to hiring.  Everyone wants to believe they are experts at judging character. However, that sole confident judgment based on what transpired in an interview is simply not enough to predict successful job performance.  Instead of relying only on gut instincts from an interview, it’s better to base hiring decisions on evidence which can then be used to validate or disprove that gut instinct so there are no surprises once the candidate is onboard.

Shortsightedness.  Hiring managers can be notoriously shortsighted. They frequently interview and hire candidates based on their own or their department’s short-term needs.  Companies should evaluate and hire individuals for both the current job opening and potential opportunities in the future.  Unfortunately, most interview questions are not designed to assess “future” competencies that will be needed in the candidate’s next job in the company.

If you want to learn how we can help you minimize these 3 common interviewing mistakes, give me a call.