Mistakes Interviewers Make
You’ll see many blogs talking about things to avoid or common mistakes to make whilst being interviewed, but what about for the other side? Interviewers need to also be wary of some common mistakes and things to avoid too, and we’ll go over some here.
Confusing Questions up
One of the musts an interviewer should avoid is confusing themselves, as this will also confuse the interviewee and leave a bad impression for them, that you were unprepared or not caring enough. A simple mistake is nothing to fret over however, but it’s best to avoid, multiple mistakes are something you should definitely avoid.
Not Letting the Interviewee speak
Whilst part of the interview is letting the interviewee learn more about the company through someone who works there, you should avoid turning the interview into a presentation, let the interviewee speak, ask questions and engage, if you go off speaking about how good your company is, you might not learn what you need to know from the interviewee.
Not Knowing about the Interviewee
Similar to the last one, you should learn about the interviewee, and you should know a bit about them beforehand. Reading their CV and cover letters for their qualifications is a good idea, but don’t forget to read about them as well. If you go into an interview without knowing anything about who you’re going to be speaking to, it would make it easier to slip up, or even confuse them with another interviewee! Both of these outcomes look bad on your part, being prepared to interview is just as important as being prepared to be interviewed.
Asking too many Questions
As important as learning about the interviewee is, it is best not to bombard them with questions. Asking too many questions could put off the interviewee and give off the wrong impression about the work environment. Too many might even just overload them with questions, ending up confusing them into giving the wrong answers.
Asking the Wrong Questions
It’s just as important to ask the right questions as it is to ask the right amount. If you ask the wrong questions, you may get some information from the interviewee, but if this info is even useful is another story. Asking unrelated questions could also be seen as the interviewer not being invested in the interview or the interviewee, so make sure the questions are relevant.
Intimidating Interviewees
One thing you might do without realising, is that you could be intimidating the interviewee without even realising. It could be something like being silent for a good few seconds after a clear answer from a candidate, pressuring them into giving more information than what’s needed, and this can intimidate them into giving wrong answers. Interviewees are already nervous, so making them even more nervous won’t give you an accurate view of themselves.
Not Giving Feedback
One thing you should always do after an interview, and something that is usually forgotten about, is giving the interviewee feedback from the interview after said interview. Even if the interviewee is not successful, receiving the feedback can be really helpful for them, seeing where they can improve in future interviews.
Telling the Interviewee they have the Job
Whilst the subtitle sounds like you shouldn’t say it at all, if it is the case then you should mention it as they please. But one thing you should definitely not do, which I have experienced on my own, is tell the interviewee that they have the job in the interview, especially if it’s not concrete, this will definitely look bad for your company.
Whilst these are only a few of the mistakes an interviewer can make and what you should avoid, hopefully some of these will help you improve your interviews.
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