How Do I Achieve a Good Interviewer Experience?

In today’s dynamic work environment, interviews have become more critical than ever. With the shift toward hybrid workplaces, we must adapt our methods—now leveraging technology to meet and assess talent where they are. This evolution is about more than convenience. It is about identifying those who can manage their time and excel in communication and productivity outside the conventional office setting. Whether it is a digital meeting or a face-to-face interaction, the ability to evaluate a candidate’s true potential through interviews remains indispensable in securing the right talent for high-impact jobs.

In the landscape of modern hiring, effective interviewing is foundational. However, this process’s success hinges on the interviewer’s preparedness. When interviewers lack training, they face increased anxiety, which can lead to significant decision-making errors and compromise the integrity of an evidence-based hiring approach. Interviewers have a dual responsibility: they must make judicious hiring decisions and serve as ambassadors for their company, all while navigating the complexities of unconscious bias. Without investment in proper training and structured interviewing methods, we place undue pressure on our interviewers to perform without a net, undermining the effectiveness and fairness of the hiring process.

We’ve heard plenty about the importance of the candidate’s experience—critical, without question. But let’s not overlook the other half of the equation: the interviewer’s experience. How do we empower everyone involved, ensuring a balanced and positive encounter for both parties? In this section, we delve into the essentials of supporting our interviewers. By fully understanding and addressing their needs, we enhance their effectiveness and directly boost the overall hiring quality, benefiting candidates and outcomes.

Structured interviews are a proven method to streamline the hiring process, ensuring consistency and fairness across all candidate evaluations. This approach minimizes the need for interviewers to devise questions on the fly, allowing them to focus entirely on the candidate’s responses. Organizations can simplify processes by adopting structured interviews, sharpening their focus, and ultimately making more informed hiring decisions.

To further empower interviewers, it is essential to provide them with candidate evaluation materials well before the interviews. Early distribution of these materials helps interviewers prepare thoroughly, enabling them to engage more effectively during interviews. This proactive preparation allows interviewers to get comfortable with the materials, recommend changes, and ask clarifying questions.

Common sense dictates that every part of the candidate evaluation must directly connect to essential job requirements—be it specific skills, personality traits, decision-making prowess, or experience. When interview questions clearly match the job’s demands, both candidates and interviewers gain confidence in the process. However, misunderstandings can occur when interviewers are handed a list of questions without understanding their purpose, leading to inaccurate assessments. To enhance clarity and guide candidates effectively, each question should come with a clear indicator of the job requirement it addresses.

Interviewing goes beyond merely asking questions. It starts with a warm welcome that sets the tone, followed by a clear explanation of the session to ensure candidates fully understand what to expect. It’s about crafting a thoughtful conclusion that leaves a lasting, positive impression. By scripting these key moments, we can prepare candidates for every aspect of the interview process, allowing interviewers to focus on what truly matters—assessing the right fit for the job.

During interviews, it’s common to encounter candidates displaying signs of nervousness. As human beings, interviewers might instinctively want to assist a struggling candidate. However, intervening can compromise the fairness of the evaluation, particularly because not every candidate may receive the same level of guidance during the interview. It’s crucial for interviewers to remain objective, even though this might mean watching a candidate work through difficult questions.

Nevertheless, there are ways to support candidates without skewing the results. For instance, if a candidate misunderstands and answers the wrong question, the interviewer could clarify by restating or rephrasing the question. This approach ensures that all candidates are evaluated equally and that their true capabilities are accurately assessed.

Digital tools can transform your interview process, making it smoother and more efficient. On one hand, we have universal tools like spreadsheets, document templates, and forms. On the other, specialized tools like Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) equipped with interview modules cater specifically to recruitment needs.

Not all tools offer the same advantages. For instance, while spreadsheets can manage interview ratings, many find them clunky and distracting during interviews. As you choose a digital tool, prioritize how easily you can read questions, score responses, take notes, and submit recommendations.

Opt for tools that automatically integrate data into scorecards. This streamlines the candidate comparison process and saves valuable time later on. By selecting the right tools, you can focus more on the candidate and less on the process, leading to better hiring decisions.

Preparing your interview team with a mock interview is a powerful step toward mastering your question set. This exercise allows new interviewers to familiarize themselves with the interview’s content and flow before they meet actual candidates. Since interviewing can be daunting, practicing in a simulated environment is an invaluable way to build confidence and competence.

Mock interviews also serve a critical function in refining your questions. They provide a safe space for interviewers to suggest enhancements or clarify confusing elements, ensuring the questions are as effective as possible. Additionally, these sessions offer hiring managers a clear view of each interviewer’s readiness, helping to determine if further training is needed or if another interviewer might be a better fit.

Cognitive biases can dramatically and unpredictably influence hiring decisions. While candidates may react differently to the concept of bias—some with apprehension, others with a lack of understanding—even those committed to progressive values can have blind spots. To address this, it’s essential to provide targeted training on unconscious bias. This training should go beyond assumed themes of race and gender, covering a broader spectrum of cognitive biases like confirmation bias, halo and horn effects, and recency bias.

By expanding their understanding, interviewers can approach each interview with a clearer, more consistent mindset. Armed with this knowledge and guided by a detailed evaluation rubric, interviewers are better equipped to assess each candidate—and each response—fairly and thoughtfully.

Experienced interviewers are often familiar with the need to avoid certain legally sensitive topics during interviews. However, it’s crucial to establish which topics are off-limits well before the interview process begins as part of developing structured evaluation content. The likelihood of an interviewer inadvertently straying into inappropriate areas increases significantly when they depart from a structured script.

By committing to a structured interview approach, interviewers can focus on the task at hand without the added burden of monitoring their speech for legal compliance. This reduces the risk of error and enhances the overall quality of their evaluations and recommendations. A clear, planned approach ensures that all interviewers can concentrate fully on assessing candidates fairly and accurately without unnecessary distractions.

Interviewing, while crucial, is an additional responsibility that takes team members away from their regular duties. Often, this means rushing between interviews and other commitments, which can lead to delays in submitting candidate feedback. It’s all too common for interviewers to wait until just before a decision-making roundtable to review several candidates at once. This hurried approach can mix up candidate performances, magnify recent interactions, and overshadow earlier ones.

To combat this, it’s essential to implement and enforce a policy that requires interviewers to submit their feedback promptly—ideally immediately after each interview or, at the very least, by the end of the day. This practice will ensure that all candidates are evaluated fairly and remembered clearly, enhancing the integrity and effectiveness of the hiring process.

Given the inherent power dynamics at play, interviews not only assess candidates but also reflect the company’s values. Interviewers act as the face of your organization, influencing how all candidates—whether they get hired or not—view your company. This perception can extend beyond the interview, as candidates can also be customers or key stakeholders.

Therefore, it is vital that every candidate leaves with a positive impression of how the company conducts its interviews. For instance, if an interviewer encounters a response they find lacking, it’s crucial that this opinion does not impact their demeanor. Remembering that they, too, have been—or will be—in the candidate’s position, interviewers must always conduct themselves with the highest level of respect and dignity.

By ensuring all interactions within the interview process are conducted with professionalism and empathy, we foster a positive view of our organization and uphold our commitment to fair and respectful treatment of all individuals.

Engage with your interviewers to understand their perspectives on participating in interviews and their satisfaction with the training and resources provided. If an interviewer expresses significant discomfort with the process, this could indicate they might not be well-suited to evaluating candidates effectively. Gathering feedback from interviewers before they conduct interviews offers valuable insights into the overall quality of the interviewer experience. This proactive approach helps identify areas for improvement and uncovers opportunities—both minor and major—to enhance the interview process.

By actively listening to and addressing interviewer concerns, we ensure that our recruitment process is efficient and reflective of our organizational values of inclusivity and continuous improvement.

FirstWho began as a groundbreaking tool designed to enhance the effectiveness and accuracy of structured interviewing. Over time, it has evolved into a comprehensive applicant tracking system, distinguished by its ability to identify top talent distinctly better than common approaches. Through continuous improvements, particularly in our Interview Studio component, we have significantly enhanced the interviewing experience.

As experts in candidate assessment, we have refined FirstWho by actively incorporating feedback from numerous organizations that rely on it daily for their hiring needs. Today, FirstWho is a leading solution in hiring innovation—arguably the most advanced digital tool for optimizing structured interviews. It prioritizes the interviewer’s experience and streamlines the process of generating detailed candidate scorecards, making it an essential tool for any organization committed to effective and efficient hiring.