Interview blog week 5

Interviews have always been a part of acquiring a job in any sector you’re in. Historically, hiring managers use interviews to assess candidates to verify that they align with the company culture and worker values. This can be very beneficial and accurate if done correctly, but it is debated whether other methods should be implemented to conduct a more accurate and successful interview process. In “The Perfect Hire”, Research consistently shows that unstructured interviews where questions vary from candidate to candidate are bad predictors of performance (Chamorro-Premuzic & Steinmetz, 2013). This is because a lot of the time, different conclusions can come from the same candidate with every individual interview. Additionally, there is a chance you might hire someone who might not be as qualified due to confidence and/or charm, which makes the interviewer overlook the validity of the actual interview results. 

Factors that can make interviews invalid are possible mistakes hiring managers can make by being biased, even when they are not trying to be. In “7 Practical Ways to Reduce Bias in Your Hiring Process,” Rebecca Knight discusses how unconscious bias can skew hiring decisions and offers evidence-based steps to make recruiting fairer for everyone. As a hiring manager, you can create a more general, broader job description that can attract different kinds of people with different backgrounds. Managers could also aim to redact a candidate’s demographic information. This can help reviewers look at actual experience and knowledge, rather than where a candidate comes from. 

Sources:

Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Steinmetz, C. (2013). The perfect hire. Scientific American Mind

Knight, R. (2017, June 12). 7 practical ways to reduce bias in your hiring process. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2017/06/7-practical-ways-to-reduce-bias-in-your-hiring-process