Imagine you find the perfect candidate with just the right high-performer skills and attitude for your organization. But when you make them an offer they say, “Thanks, but no thanks.” And the reason why has nothing to do with salary and everything to do with the bad impression they took away from the interview. It happens all the time. Organizations become so focused on screening for the right talent that they forget that the best people are screening them back.
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Just like you, high performers have high expectations. They aren’t just looking for a job; they are looking for the right job. And they are willing to take some risks and say no to a good offer in order to go find a better one. Remember the research that hiring is much more about finding the right fit for attitudes than it is about skills.
So if the interview experience suggests to them that their expectations aren’t going to be met, they just might walk. If you want to attract, engage and retain the best people, everything, from your recruitment efforts to how you choose to prep for and conduct your interviews — to how you follow up after your interviews, must promote a positive reflection of your organizational culture.
Here are 4 tips to get you started.
Tip #1 Treat the candidate’s arrival as a recruitment opportunity
Those first moments when a candidate walks through your door to interview make a deep and lasting impression. Few things are more disheartening than immediately facing a roadblock of “Who are you and why are you here?” Plus it conveys a terrible message about what working for the organization might be like.
Everybody in the organization with whom the candidate will interact during the interview, including security or a receptionist, needs to be prepared. How much different an impression it makes when a receptionist says, “Glad to have you here. It’s great to meet you. Have a seat and I’ll let them know you're here.” Turn those first moments into a great recruitment experience by prepping your people so they know who is coming and where they need to go.
Tip #2 Help your candidates feel a sense of control
Hammering candidates with questions, especially when they sound like orders — "Tell me about situation A, then you will tell me about situation B…"— reinforces that they’re in a powerless position where they’re getting judged on everything they say. It makes them guarded and reticent in what they’re willing to share. Adept interviewers remove that powerless feeling and make candidates feel more like they’re in a conversation with a new friend.
A simple fix is in how you preface your questions. “Tell me about a time” is how most commonly asked behavioral interview questions begin. But "Tell me about . . ." isn’t a question; it's an order that requires a response, and it puts people on guard. But preface your question with "Could you” to ask “Could you tell me about a time . . ." and the candidate immediately feels some sense of control. Of course, no one is going to refuse to answer the question (unless they really don't want the job). But just suggesting they have a choice in the matter plants a psychological seed that they do have more control. As a result, just like they would in a friendly conversation, candidates will act more open and honest. You can see example questions with this format in the online test "Could You Pass This Job Interview?" You'll notice that even though they're incredibly tough questions, they still feel psychologically welcoming.
Tip #3 Sit next to (and not across from) the candidate
Who is supposed to sit where in an interview? The answer is always sit next to the candidate and never across from them. Sitting across a table or desk creates a barrier that can make the interview feel like an interrogation. Your job is to make the person feel sufficiently relaxed so that they loosen up and lower their walls of defensiveness.
If you're in a meeting room with a conference table, invite the candidate to sit on the same side of the table as you. Tilt your chair away from the table, facing the candidate, and they will likely follow suit. Now you are comfortably looking at each with no table barrier between you. Plus you’ve still got the table on one side where you can put a drink, your notes, or even your elbow. This helps keeps the atmosphere more friendly and casual.
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Tip #4 Transition smoothly from recruiting into interviewing
When the candidate enters the room to interview, it marks the shift from recruiting to interviewing. This means no more pitching the organization and selling the job and moving into full-blown interviewing mode. It’s best to start with an agenda.
Once you've offered them a drink and invited them to sit down (next to you and not across), move right into an agenda script, for example:
“I read your resume and I’m really excited to learn more about you. I'd like to take the next 40 minutes learn all about you, your history, the things you've done, and all the experiences you’ve had. I’m really excited to hear all about that. And then, what I'd like to do is to save the last 10 minutes for you to ask any questions you have for me. Does that sound okay?”
If you make this person an offer of a job, you do want them to actually accept it. So it’s important to establish control in a subtle way that makes clear the structure of the interview while still providing a welcoming environment.
Mark Murphy is the author of Truth At Work: The Science Of Delivering Tough Messages, Hiring For Attitude and Hundred Percenters.
