When Interviewers Get It Wrong

After my last blog post, I was flooded with comments and emails bemoaning the current state of interviewing. Many people reached out to me to point out that there is just as much, if not more, bad behavior on the part of the interviewers as there is on the part of those being interviewed. In the spirit of fairness, this week’s post will focus on Bad Interviewer Behavior.

I have a client who recently went for a face to face interview with a major player in her industry. She wore her suit, practiced her interview skills, styled her hair, and drove to the company’s office. Here’s what she told me about the whole experience:

Deb, it was awful. First of all, the office had no receptionist, just two chairs and a phone from which I was supposed to call the hiring manager. I tried for about 15 minutes, but he didn’t pick up his phone. Finally, someone came out and told me that he had “stepped out for a few minutes.” Who does that when they have someone coming in for an interview? I also noticed that most of the people in the office were sloppily dressed. I’m not expecting everyone to wear a suit all the time, but I don’t think sweatpants and leggings are appropriate office attire. There were no offices either; it was a cubicle farm, and everyone was working in total silence, with their noise-canceling earphones in. I knew right away that I did not want to work in this type of environment, but what really confirmed it was meeting the hiring manager. Deb, this guy gave a limp handshake. He did not make eye contact with me, he clearly had not looked at my resume before I got there, and he droned on and on about his products, and never got around to what problems he was facing and why he was hiring. The kicker was when he announced he had a ‘hard stop,’ after being fifteen minutes late! I’m looking forward to NOT hearing back from them.

There is so much wrong here that I’m almost at a loss as to where to begin. In addition to having the experience, industry knowledge, education, and certifications that this position required, my client did everything right. She was polished, poised, and prepared. And that was met with blatant disregard.

Employers, you do not get to whine about your “talent shortage” if you continue to treat your candidates this way. You have a talent shortage because you do not know how to hire people. Let me be clear: employees generate profits.  If you want to attract top talent, talent that helps you make money, you need to woo candidates. You need to treat candidates as you would treat prospective clients or customers. Show respect. Keep the lines of communication open. If someone interviews with you, do them the minimal professional courtesy of letting them know where you are in your hiring process, and if their candidacy is being pursued. Be on time. Be sure that your work environment reflects the talent you wish to recruit.

Most importantly, invest in training all your hiring managers in the art of interviewing. Poor interview skills on the part of the interviewer turn candidates off, and bad hires cost employers money. Understand that hiring is not a tangential thing that you do—it is critical to the success of your business.