You may already have a laundry list of ”bad interviews.” The fit may not work or the candidate could turn out to be completely different than you thought (and much worse).
Or it could be your fault. For example:
1. You’re not balanced
Talk, talk, talk or ask, ask, ask. Either way, you’re doing it wrong if you don’t strike a balance between talking and listening.
Make your questions worthwhile by allowing the candidates the opportunity to express themselves.
2. You’re totally one-sided
You’re prying into this person’s life. Have you set the stage by describing yourself, your company and your culture?
Don’t think that just because you’re offering the job, these people should lay before you in reverence.
An interview is a conversation. As ready as you expect the candidate to be for your questions, prepare yourself for their inquiries.
3. You hide the salary/pay
How would you react if your favorite candidate lied about their past experience, and you only realized this fact at the very end of your hiring process?
We’d guess that you wouldn’t be very happy. It’s no different than leading a candidate through your sourcing, screening and interviewing stages, only to reveal that your budget is woefully inadequate.
Communicate the pay scale with your candidate and don’t tiptoe around their questions.
If you don’t have wiggle room, tell them. If they say they can’t settle for less than a price, which is far above your price, accept the probable failure of the relationship. If you ask for their salary requirements or past salary, be prepared to share your budget.
4. You ask the same questions over and over again
Just … just don’t. Very, very rarely are redundancies good in business.
Sure, use multiple people in your interviewing team. Go ahead and have each member interview each candidate. Organize a list of questions that you all want answered and then determine who asks each one.
You can all compare answers with expectations. You can all ask questions with similar motives. Just don’t repeat questions over and over and over again.
5. You’re late
This is just rude.
Yeah, you probably have a lot to do. Well so does this person.
What kind of message do you send by rushing into the room 20 minutes late and completely unprepared?
Can you think if any other interview methods that ruin the hiring process (or maybe you have some firsthand experience)? Let us know with a comment below or express your mind
This article originally appeared on The Resumator Blog.