Today’s job seeking veterans often breeze through interviews, because they prepare by studying effective techniques and tips on the Internet. In fact, they’re so well-schooled on the fundamentals that their decision to accept an offer may ultimately hinge on their evaluation of the interviewer’s preparation and performance. Unfortunately, interviewers often fail to impress by committing one of these critical mistakes.
Interviewers need to read the candidate’s resume, prepare a list of questions and coordinate with other interviewers, because candidates notice when an interviewer seems harried or asks questions off the cuff.
Managers should base their
hiring decisions on facts and the candidate’s core competencies instead of a
superficial review of their appearance, interviewing skills or previous work history. So ask job-related, competency-based questions that dive beneath the surface because candidates will feel better about accepting an offer when the manager asks deeper questions than: Tell me about yourself.
- Talking Instead of Listening
Interviewers should spend 80 percent of their time listening and save their sales pitch for the end of the meeting, so the candidate has a chance to tell their side of the story.
- Screening Out Instead of Screening In
You would think that employers would be clamoring over an IT professional, who was promoted four times during a 15-year span at an e-commerce company. Instead,
many claim that his longevity means he’s not motivated to learn new technology. You won’t hire the best talent by looking for
reasons why they might fail.
