Interviews can be very intimidating, and because of that, it is important for the interviewers to have an open mind, be compassionate, and listen. In the last interview that I had a chance to participate in, the interview panel all got notebooks of the three candidates that we would be interviewing. When looking at the candidates on paper, it can be very misleading and can lead to an early bias of the candidates before the interview even begins. When we conducted the three interviews, the gentleman who had the most experience and appeared he have the best chance to get the position, interviewed poorly and displayed a few red flags that were concerning. In contrast, the candidate with the least amount of experience did not stand out well on paper, but through their responses, it was evident that they would be a great fit for the position and the company. Although they occasionally stuttered and got a little too deep into the weeds of some of the questions, it was evident that this individual was very nervous during the interview.
The lesson here is to remain unbiased and make a good decision based on the facts, what they said, and how they presented themselves. It is helpful to keep a structured interview so that each candidate has a fair chance to answer the same question. Even though unstructured interviews give the hiring manager the opportunity to get to know each candidate better and to get a better understanding of each person in a unique way. However, according to the article How to Take the Bias Out of Interviews, “while unstructured interviews consistently receive the highest ratings for perceived effectiveness from hiring managers, dozens of studies have found them to be among the worst predictors of actual on-the-job performance — far less reliable than general mental ability tests, aptitude tests, or personality tests” (Bohet).
Sources
Bohnet, I. (2016, April 18). How to take the bias out of interviews. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2016/04/how-to-take-the-bias-out-of-interviews
The lesson here is to remain unbiased and make a good decision based on the facts, what they said, and how they presented themselves. It is helpful to keep a structured interview so that each candidate has a fair chance to answer the same question. Even though unstructured interviews give the hiring manager the opportunity to get to know each candidate better and to get a better understanding of each person in a unique way. However, according to the article How to Take the Bias Out of Interviews, “while unstructured interviews consistently receive the highest ratings for perceived effectiveness from hiring managers, dozens of studies have found them to be among the worst predictors of actual on-the-job performance — far less reliable than general mental ability tests, aptitude tests, or personality tests” (Bohet).
Sources
Bohnet, I. (2016, April 18). How to take the bias out of interviews. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2016/04/how-to-take-the-bias-out-of-interviews