Job seekers may spend hours preparing for a job interview, from researching the company to studying commonly asked interview questions — but how do interviewers prepare themselves before speaking to a candidate?
The National Association of Colleges and Employers estimates that employers will hire 31.6% more college graduates in 2022 than they did in 2021. This means many hiring managers and company leaders have numerous interviews ahead of them, and without certain considerations, they may unconsciously bring bias and discrimination into the
Even the most routine aspects of interviews, like using small talk to start the conversation, can cause interviewers to get off on the wrong foot, says Maggie Smith, the vice president of HR at Traliant, a compliance training provider.
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“As an interviewer, you want to put the candidate at ease, so you’ll initiate a small talk with the person,” says Smith. “If you don't really think about it before you begin the interview, that’s where you could get in trouble.”
For example, an interviewer may ask about the candidate’s family or where they went to college, without realizing that the candidate’s answer may unfairly inform the employer’s view of them. If a candidate has children, especially if she is a woman, hiring managers could see her as a liability, while name-dropping colleges may incite bias if the interviewer is an alum, explains Smith. Instead, Smith suggests starting an interview by asking candidates why they are interested in this opportunity.
“It’s a great way to check in to really see if your candidate did their homework,” she says. “And that gets the conversation flowing without stepping into troubling territory.”
Generally, interviews should avoid asking questions that expose the candidate’s personal life, and make sure every question is relevant to the role they’re interviewing for. Smith lists asking candidates for their graduation dates or inquiring bout someone’s ethnicity or national origin are big questions to avoid, as they can lead to racial or age-based discrimination even if the interviewer does not believe they have said biases.
As for graduates just entering the workforce, interviewers need to be aware of how their experience will differ from seasoned professionals, explains Smith. Graduates may not have several years of experience, and the experience they have is likely from work-study programs, internships and volunteer opportunities. Interview questions should be adapted to highlight what they have learned, and skills they gained from their experience.
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Smith also reminds interviewers to not pass judgments on a candidate’s surroundings during a virtual interview — this includes commenting on a family photo or other personal items that may be in their background.
“If your candidate is interviewing in their bedroom, remember that might be the only private space that they have in their home to interview,” says Smith. “Not everybody is familiar with different technologies, such as Zoom or Teams to be able to blur their background. You can’t make judgments just based on their physical surroundings, because this is a new world for people.”
This tip extends to things going wrong during a virtual interview, be it dogs barking, cats jumping in front of the computer, children interrupting or the doorbell ringing. Smith advises leaders to politely acknowledge the interruption and allow the interviewee to handle it, without docking points.
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Interviewers can guarantee a more unbiased experience for themselves and the candidate by even asking the recruiter to remove personal information from a resume, like the candidate’s location or the college they graduated from, suggests Smith. As a good rule of thumb, interviewers should try to mainly stick to behavioral-type questions, such as asking for an example of a goal they failed to meet and how they proceeded, or asking for a time when they solved a problem in the workplace.
“These questions give candidates the opportunity to respond with what they’ve done in the past, which is a great predictor of future results,” says Smith. “Get the answer that you need in order to make an informed professional decision.”
Smith stresses balancing compassion and professionalism in every job interview. Keep the interview focused on whether the candidate can best fill the role, rather than critiquing the personal aspects of their lives that have no bearing on the job at hand, regardless of whether it’s their age, family or a riled-up dog in the other room.
“As much as someone may plan, recognize that not everything is in the control of the person,” says Smith. “Consider how you would want to be treated in this situation and respond accordingly.”
