Why Interviewers Make Mistakes in Interviewing
Lack of proper preparation.
From the article it is evident that lack of proper preparation is one of the main mistakes that interviewers make. From recent trends in the job market, candidates have perfected interviews and they are aware of the right things to say and ask. They also receive cautious instructions from the recruiting firms that send them to an interviewer. This means that the interviewees have become smarter than the interviewers. Lack of proper preparation means that the interviewer will be caught off guard and hence conduct the interview poorly. The interviewer may either hire an individual who is not qualified or reject a candidate who has potential. Therefore, the interviewer must be able identify the qualities required of the candidate to fill the position and must be able to spot such qualities.
The interviewer may be biased.
The personal characteristics of the interviewer may affect the interview, for instance the interviewer might be aggressive in nature and this will limit him/her in the interview process. An aggressive interviewer may make the candidates uncomfortable and this may affect how they will respond to interview questions. Bias can also arise in the sense that the interviewer might judge a candidate from his/her appearance and this will subsequently distort the interviewer’s perception of the interviewee.
Lack of proper communication skills.
Good communication skills are very crucial in interviews. The interviewer should know that the interview process involves more of watching and listening as opposed to talking. The interviewer should learn to watch, listen and ask questions and should not lead a candidate. Most interviewers lead the interviewee by guiding them in their responses, leading may be verbal by using the tone or pitch of voice or in some cases it might be non verbal by using gestures or nods and this will impact on the response a candidate gives.
How to prepare for interviews
For an interviewer to conduct an effective interview it is important that he/she be well prepared for it. This means that the interviewer should come up with a job profile that is pegged on the job description. This is used in translating the responsibilities and duties into the individual characteristics which are required by the candidate to fill the given position. The interviewer should write an interview guide which should take into consideration a number of aspects:-The interviewer should study the application for the job and the resume for the candidate and look for the candidate’s experience, past accomplishments that relate to the requirements of the job.
-The interviewer should structure questions which are relevant to the qualities that are required; the questions should be straightforward and clear so as to avoid ambiguity in responses.
-The interviewer should prepare a procedural scenario of how he/she will present the position, company, department and division to a candidate.
– the interviewer should seek to identify the examples that illustrate what the interviewee has achieved and not what he/she can do in future.
The interview guide is crucial as it helps the interviewer to become more focused and consistent in the interview questions. This gives the candidate a fair chance to answer question and it also eliminates the possibility of asking in appropriate questions. Such a guide is also important as prevents the candidates from being defensive and help the interviewer to take charge of the conversation.
Insights about interviewing
This article has enlightened me a lot about interviewing and specifically on the importance of preparing for interviewing. For an interviewer, it is crucial that he/she is well prepared for the interview. This entails writing an interview guide and be able to structure relevant questions. Another important lesson learnt is that the hiring practices should conform to legal requirement and the interviewer should be cautious of the questions they ask. The risky questions are not only those which reflect blatant discrimination but also those which are irrelevant and which are wrongly structured. Law enforcers are more focused with the impact of the actions of employers than with their intentions.
Another lesson is that, in identifying a suitable candidate for a position, the past behavior of an individual is a good indicator of future performance. This means that an interviewer should be more focused on uncovering the personality of the individual so as to know whether he/she will fit into the company well. In addition, it is crucial that the interviewer remains in control of the process and should learn to listen, ask questions and watch the candidate as opposed to leading the applicant.
In conclusion, the achievement of a company depends on the employee that works for it. This means that interviewing of applicants has a bearing on the company’s performance in future. The interviewer should therefore be properly prepared, ask questions that are performance oriented and study the behavior of a candidate. This will give the company the best candidate and will help it in achieving exceptional results.
Reference:
Thompson, C.B. (2002): Interviewing techniques for managers. McGraw-hill, Inc. New York, NY.
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