Bad Interviews is a common occurrence to many great candidates. In the research, conducted by HRBS (HR Business Solutions) 79% of the respondents said to have found themselves with a toxic/Bad interviewer.
Adding to this, studies also suggest that eight three (83%) percent of talent claims that a negative interview experience could change their choice about a role in a company that they once liked.
Hence, a bad interviewer can put both parties in lose-lose situation- Interviewee is unable to truly make a case for his candidacy and the company, eventually, incurs the cost of time and money by making a bad hire.
Let’s take a dig further!
Some questions can be distasteful/illegal; ultimately turning into scenarios that are likely to show up as a red flag in the minds of a candidate. Not to forget, these red flags are taken as warning signs of a toxic work environment- And no company ever wanted to leave that impression to their potential talent!
Has your interview sounded more of a lecture than a conversation?
The interviewer would go on and on about how the organization has grown in stature; talking endlessly of the organizational culture. Followed by endless babbling to mask their inexperience as you struggle to get a word in – Half an hour has passed and the interview is at its closing note and you hardly got the opportunity to get your vocal cords working.
And you think, that was an easy one? I hardly had to say anything- But they ended up choosing someone else. Why? Because you never paused them to tell how you can add value? For e.g. in
such a scenario, politely interrupt to say, “Ummm, I noticed the work role you are offering is quite similar to the project I worked on in my last job”- And here you are off to a right start to keep the balance of the interview going.
From interviewers perspective; if you find yourself talking more than a candidate, stop, and ask your next question. An amazing candidate will WOW you with his fantastic responses and render you speechless anyway.
Inexperienced interviewers often pose questions at you that can be totally uncalled for. For example, how old are you? Do you have kids? Your religion? These questions call for some careful reframing without annoying the interviewer.
Case 1: Let’s suppose, you are a middle age guy being asked this question- Interviewer: How old are you?
An intelligent reply would be, “Not so old enough to be not excited about the job role and your company’s vision”
Case 2: Quite often women get asked this question, where the Interviewer inquires, “Do you have kids?
A befitting reply to such a question would be
be “Well, if your concern is if I can sit long hours when required, I guess it would not be a problem”
Be aware of the hidden intention of the interviewer; feed him the information that he is seeking from you indirectly.
However, people are people, and interviewers can be tempted to ask such questions to feed their curiosity, nevertheless, they must not be asked as they are regarded as illegal in most developed economies.
Some interviewers enjoy taking the old fashioned interview technique of throwing hard questions and snapping at the candidate in an attempt to see ‘how they handle pressure situations’
Getting you to wonder- is intimidating them going to reveal the ‘real them’ so you see the right fit? Absolutely Not!
What you do is bring out an even frightened version of the already nervous interviewee. Refrain from using such techniques as they bear no fruit
The interviewer, unapologetically, gets late or keeps postponing the interview-You already have your answer here. When this happens (especially more than once), you know how the company ethos are likely to be. Perhaps thank them for taking out their valuable time and move on with your next option.
Interviewing can be tough; often draining. But luckily, there are two easy fixes; practice and preparation.
Good luck interviewing!
Thanks for reading and should you require any further help finding that next big move, or if you are looking to recruit, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at https://hrbs.com.pk/