Over the past year we've all seen countless articles and news reports about the do's and don'ts of job interviews. You know the kind - they advise you what to wear, what to say, and what not to do during an interview.
But I've yet to see something advising companies about what to do or not do when interviewing candidates.
So, based on my own experiences and those of my close acquaintances (you know who you are), here is an incomplete list of ways to turn off an interviewee. See how many look familiar:
Forget you scheduled an interview with someone. Nothing says "I respect you and your time as much as I want you to respect mine" like this. Better still? Come across with a I-can't-believe-I-have-to-do-this attitude that makes the prospect feel welcome. Once you've done that, you're ready to -
Keep the candidate waiting for at least a half hour if not forty-five minutes in the lobby. Nothing says, "I love playing mind games and want to let you know just how much more important my time is than yours" than this, especially if someone has already made an effort to be punctual for you.
Don't cancel the interview in advance, wait until the candidates arrives! I once interviewed with a Fortune 500 company - since defunct - where I successfully managed the delicate task of getting out of work for an afternoon without raising too many suspicions at my then-current job only to be told at the front desk when I arrived that, "Due to some unforeseen emergencies, we're going to have to reschedule the interview. We're very sorry." Now, admittedly, this sort of thing can happen, but bear in mind just how difficult it often is for candidates to repeat a disappearing act at their current jobs without raising any eyebrows. If you can't do that, then at least give some consideration to letting them know in advance rather than at the door after blocking out an afternoon to talk with you.
When you conduct the rescheduled interview, do it in the lobby instead of an office. This lets the candidate know just how well you treat your employees. Want to earn bonus points? Wave to your coworkers as they pass by so you can let the candidate know just how much s/he doesn't have your full attention. If this isn't enough -
Cancel the interview repeatedly. My wife once interviewed with a large consulting firm where she received a call on her cell phone as she was in the parking lot walking up to the entrance telling her they needed to postpone the interview for an hour. An hour later? They called her to say that they needed to reschedule for another date. Despite the less-than-respectful treatment, she actually agreed to another interview. (Yes, the unemployed can be desperate, and no, it's not nice to take advantage of this.) Guess what? The exact same thing happened again. On the plus side, she got an immense feeling of satisfaction when the firm called her back twice to plead for yet another chance. "I'm sorry," she told the placement firm trying to set up the interview. "That place showed no respect for my time and did me wrong not just once but twice. I'm not interested." Either the company in question couldn't manage its time effectively or was simply too disorganized and chaotic to pull off something as simple as scheduling a meeting. Either way, she knew it wasn't a place she wanted to work.
If you forget about the interview, put the blame on the candidate. I once showed up for an interview with a placement firm where the interviewer wasn't content to simply forget he had scheduled an interview with me, he tried to put the responsibility on me as the candidate for his oversight. "Did anyone call you to confirm this interview?" he asked me in the lobby. "No," I remember replying. "But nobody called me to say we had to reschedule, either." We met in his office forty-five minutes later, and afterward I e-mailed him twice to thank him nonetheless for his time and assistance. In retrospect, it was probably not too surprising that I received zero replies. Like my wife, however, I did get some sense of eventual justice: A year later this same fellow reached out to me to see if we could connect on Linked In. Apparently, his business partner had left him, and he was now struggling to make it on his own with his placement business. Needless to say, I declined his offer.
Use the candidate for free labor. I've heard of several firms that ask prospects to come up with a proposed business plan - a marketing initiative, product launch schedule, you name it. Before you block off several nights or an entire weekend to put some enormous PowerPoint deck together, ask yourself if the company is really looking for your input or if they're simply trying to use the job interview as a way of getting some fresh ideas. Remember, if you go to great lengths to put something together and they don't hire you, you've just given away the keys to the store; they can then take your ideas and those of other candidates and implement them without even bothering to hire anyone. (Yes, this happened to me, but no, I was not naive enough to give them everything I knew nor did I leave any soft or hard copies behind of what I produced, but the memory still haunts me.)
Everyone knows the job interview is not a level playing field - the employer has what you need (the job), and your job is to try and convince him/her that you have what they want (skills and competence). In plainspeak, this means they've got leverage and you, well, don't. That said, however, I think it's readily apparent that many firms forget just how much of a two-way street the entire interview process is; candidates are shoring you up just as much as you're looking them up and down to try and find a weakness or a flaw.
But I've yet to see something advising companies about what to do or not do when interviewing candidates.
So, based on my own experiences and those of my close acquaintances (you know who you are), here is an incomplete list of ways to turn off an interviewee. See how many look familiar:
Forget you scheduled an interview with someone. Nothing says "I respect you and your time as much as I want you to respect mine" like this. Better still? Come across with a I-can't-believe-I-have-to-do-this attitude that makes the prospect feel welcome. Once you've done that, you're ready to -
Keep the candidate waiting for at least a half hour if not forty-five minutes in the lobby. Nothing says, "I love playing mind games and want to let you know just how much more important my time is than yours" than this, especially if someone has already made an effort to be punctual for you.
Don't cancel the interview in advance, wait until the candidates arrives! I once interviewed with a Fortune 500 company - since defunct - where I successfully managed the delicate task of getting out of work for an afternoon without raising too many suspicions at my then-current job only to be told at the front desk when I arrived that, "Due to some unforeseen emergencies, we're going to have to reschedule the interview. We're very sorry." Now, admittedly, this sort of thing can happen, but bear in mind just how difficult it often is for candidates to repeat a disappearing act at their current jobs without raising any eyebrows. If you can't do that, then at least give some consideration to letting them know in advance rather than at the door after blocking out an afternoon to talk with you.
When you conduct the rescheduled interview, do it in the lobby instead of an office. This lets the candidate know just how well you treat your employees. Want to earn bonus points? Wave to your coworkers as they pass by so you can let the candidate know just how much s/he doesn't have your full attention. If this isn't enough -
Cancel the interview repeatedly. My wife once interviewed with a large consulting firm where she received a call on her cell phone as she was in the parking lot walking up to the entrance telling her they needed to postpone the interview for an hour. An hour later? They called her to say that they needed to reschedule for another date. Despite the less-than-respectful treatment, she actually agreed to another interview. (Yes, the unemployed can be desperate, and no, it's not nice to take advantage of this.) Guess what? The exact same thing happened again. On the plus side, she got an immense feeling of satisfaction when the firm called her back twice to plead for yet another chance. "I'm sorry," she told the placement firm trying to set up the interview. "That place showed no respect for my time and did me wrong not just once but twice. I'm not interested." Either the company in question couldn't manage its time effectively or was simply too disorganized and chaotic to pull off something as simple as scheduling a meeting. Either way, she knew it wasn't a place she wanted to work.
If you forget about the interview, put the blame on the candidate. I once showed up for an interview with a placement firm where the interviewer wasn't content to simply forget he had scheduled an interview with me, he tried to put the responsibility on me as the candidate for his oversight. "Did anyone call you to confirm this interview?" he asked me in the lobby. "No," I remember replying. "But nobody called me to say we had to reschedule, either." We met in his office forty-five minutes later, and afterward I e-mailed him twice to thank him nonetheless for his time and assistance. In retrospect, it was probably not too surprising that I received zero replies. Like my wife, however, I did get some sense of eventual justice: A year later this same fellow reached out to me to see if we could connect on Linked In. Apparently, his business partner had left him, and he was now struggling to make it on his own with his placement business. Needless to say, I declined his offer.
Use the candidate for free labor. I've heard of several firms that ask prospects to come up with a proposed business plan - a marketing initiative, product launch schedule, you name it. Before you block off several nights or an entire weekend to put some enormous PowerPoint deck together, ask yourself if the company is really looking for your input or if they're simply trying to use the job interview as a way of getting some fresh ideas. Remember, if you go to great lengths to put something together and they don't hire you, you've just given away the keys to the store; they can then take your ideas and those of other candidates and implement them without even bothering to hire anyone. (Yes, this happened to me, but no, I was not naive enough to give them everything I knew nor did I leave any soft or hard copies behind of what I produced, but the memory still haunts me.)
Everyone knows the job interview is not a level playing field - the employer has what you need (the job), and your job is to try and convince him/her that you have what they want (skills and competence). In plainspeak, this means they've got leverage and you, well, don't. That said, however, I think it's readily apparent that many firms forget just how much of a two-way street the entire interview process is; candidates are shoring you up just as much as you're looking them up and down to try and find a weakness or a flaw.
So if you're a manager who's always complaining about just how "difficult it is to find good talent these days," take a moment to stop and think what you might be doing wrong in addition to your candidates. You might be surprised to learn just how many things your company may be doing to turn off the very people you're supposedly trying to attract...
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