Nobody is perfect. Even the best of us will make the odd mistake when interviewing. Here are some examples:-

Being Too Reasonable

Have you ever had that nagging feeling at the end of an interview that something was "not totally right"? But you could not quite put your finger on it.

There's nothing wrong with having such feelings. Some people are very perceptive. The error occurs when you do not take heed of these indicators. If, instead of digging deeper to understand them, you try to explain the "wrong feelings" by looking at all the positive things you saw in the interview, you may be in for a nasty surprise.

Comments like...

"I knew something was wrong when I first

I didn’t take any notice at the time."

...are probably the most common "explanations" given by interviewers for mistakes in interviewing. And this is because we all tend to be reasonable at times — we add things into the picture which are not actually there, in an effort to make it all seem "right".

When interviewing job applicants, you have to remain very objective. You have to see what you see, and not add anything into the scene that you did not hear or see — or which you could not actually verify.

Example:

You: "What happened then?"

Applicant: "I got promoted to Sales Manager."

You: "How did it go?" (Thinking to yourself: 'he must have been successful')

Applicant: "Great. After just three years I was offered the job of Area Manager."

You: "Who could verify that?" (Oops! You forget to check actual results)

Applicant: "You can call....."

What really happened was that the applicant was a sales rep and was about to be fired, when a new product was introduced. All the best reps were busy, so someone suggested "Why not use Mr. Slumber. We don’t get much mileage out of him anyway?"

So they decided to give him another chance. They gave him the prestigious title of ‘Sales Manager’ (but only for this new product — not for the company). After three years of emergencies and low production, however, the executives gave up and moved him off to a small unimportant sales district, and called him an ‘Area Manager’.

A non-performer is relatively unaware of their real performance, so they often create a career (in their own mind) out of such experiences. And, if they are really good at talking, they might even get others to "see" this great "career" they have created in their own minds.

So, let us take another look at the previous example:

You: "What happened then?"

Applicant: "I got promoted to Sales Manager."

You: "What was your responsibility then?"

Applicant: "We got a new product and I became the Sales Manager for it."

You: "OK, I get it. Can you describe what you were supposed to produce in that position?"

Applicant: "I had to introduce this new product into the market. It was a very new concept and it was a very hard job. It took a long time to penetrate the market because many customers were very suspicious. They were used to the old methods."

You: "I see, but what was the basic reason they wanted you to do this job?"

Applicant: "They wanted me to introduce the product to the market."

You: "Did you sell it?"

Applicant: "Yes, but in the beginning it was very hard. No one really thought there would be a lot of sales until the product had been more established."

You: "Can you give me your sales figures?"

Applicant: "I'm not sure. They were not very high, due to the circumstances but…"

By this time you should know you are talking to a non-performer. And the reason you know this is because you are unable to get a real production record established or verified.

Why Be On Guard?

Some of the most "dangerous" non-performers are exceptionally good at making a favourable impression in a job interview. Why? Because they normally have a lot of experience at being interviewed. They may also have read every book on the subject. On top of that, they can be quite skilled verbally. They can simulate a performer, almost to perfection. But, thankfully, it is only "almost". And the missing ingredient in their facade is the presence of a verifiable production record.

If there are some things the applicant says which do not make sense, do not try to "fix them" in your own mind. Do not be reasonable and "explain" how this strange thing that you see a glimpse of, is not so strange after all. Ask the person to clarify anything that does not seem to make sense to you. If you don't, you may finish up with a lot more of those "I knew it! Why didn’t I listen to myself?" situations.

Look, Don't Listen!

This is actually very good advice for a manager in any area of business. What you want to find out is often right in front of you, if you take the time to really look for yourself. However, if you start mixing what you know with what you hear (i.e. what you think you know), you may become too "reasonable" about what you have actually seen.

In a recruitment interview it is only natural to listen. The secret behind an effective interview, however, is that you listen for things that can be seen! Was Mr. Nice a very active person who always worked hard? The verbal answer to that question will be an opinion. What is "active"? What is "hard"? The answer to that depends on what you think.

The speed and activity you require may be half (or perhaps double) what someone else thinks. This, then, could be classed as a "listening question", because all you can do with the answer is to go into your frame of reference to guess the meaning.

In contrast, consider this question: "Did Mr. Grumble sell five boxes per day on average?" Now, this is a "see" question. The answer is out there. It can be verified by looking. A "Yes" answer means that it did happen. You then only have to make sure you get the proof of it. Where can Isee that? OK, here we have the sales records of all the sales people. And here we see that Mr. Grumble was the only one who had an average sales level above five. That proves it Now weknow, because we can see it.

"Helpful" Answers

Another typical "weakness" a lot of us suffer from is that we really want others to succeed in what they are trying to do. This is not really a weakness in itself, of course, but it could become a liability if not well controlled whilst interviewing job candidates. As a recruiter, you are there to make sure the person can get results, or has the potential to do so. You are not there to guide the applicant by helping them answer the questions. If you do, the process will take you more time, and you will open the door to failure.

It is only natural to want to "help" the person who does not seem to really understand what a top class candidate would have figured out within the first few minutes of the interview. It can sometimes be a bit embarrassing not to help such people. But remember, it would be even more embarrassing to put the wrong person into the job.

Conclusion

We can all make mistakes. Interviewing mistakes, however, can have a far reaching impact on the overall success of your team.