Most of us will have attended job interviews from time to time, some good, some bad.
When we reflect on the bad ones we naturally assume we were at fault. We said the wrong thing, we forgot to say something, or we failed to impress.
It rarely occurs to people that the interviewer might not have been up to the job. Yet it’s probably more common than you’d think.
There are a lot of businesses out there who thrust senior staff into the “interviewer” role without a scrap of training. Maybe you’re one of them. You’ve worked up the ranks, you’ve done the job you’re interviewing for yourself – so why shouldn’t you be the one to conduct the interview?
Quite simply, you might be skilled at the job but that doesn’t mean you have the skills to conduct a good and effective interview. And that’s not fair on you, or the candidate.
At a time when many companies are struggling to attract and retain talent, this crucial part of the recruitment process is something they can’t afford to get wrong. I mean that literally.
According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, if you employ the wrong person, it can cost your company at least twice the annual salary for the job.
Jeff Grout, a business consultant and coach who specialises in recruitment excellence, believes the purpose of an interview can be misunderstood.
He says the biggest misconception is that an interview is a “chat” designed to get to know the candidate. He points out that it should be a structured tool to assess if the skills, experience and behaviours of the candidate match the job competencies.
I couldn’t agree more. There are too many managers out there who regard interviews as “chemistry meetings” to find a candidate they get along with.
I’ve experienced this first-hand. I once landed a job because the managing director and I got on exceptionally well and she saw someone who would make a good ally. I was flattered to land a great role, but on reflection I wasn’t the right fit and eventually I moved on to a job where my skills were better suited.
Jeff is on a mission to improve the skills of interviewers, who he says are often under-prepared, talk too much, lack structure and can make premature decisions based on first impressions.
He runs courses in competency-based interviewing and invites people to take an honest look at their confidence and abilities in this area.
Seeking training might never have occurred to you, but if you’re responsible for recruitment you’re missing a golden opportunity to attract more suitable candidates.
I’d also strongly recommend training on inclusion and diversity if you haven’t undertaken any. I read a shock statistic before lockdown revealing 96 per cent of recruiters believed unconscious bias was a problem. Unconscious bias (or implicit bias as it is often known) is often defined as preconceived ideas or judgments in favour of or against one thing, person, or group as compared to another, in a way that is usually considered unfair.
More companies than ever are educating their staff on this issue, including the BBC. It revealed its diversity plan earlier this year which set a target of having 95% of staff completing unconscious bias training.
If you have a hand in the recruitment process, make sure you’re open to the idea of learning, growing, innovating, and constructively challenging yourself.
There’s a war for talent right now, it’s hard to find great people, so make that task easier by equipping yourself with the right skills to recruit well.
Laura Gordon is a CEO coach and group chair with Vistage International, a global leadership development network for CEOs
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