Maytum Hall administration building on the Fredonia campus.

Obstacles to Effective Interviewing

Unfortunately, it is easy for an interviewer to make a mistake in an employment interview. Some of the common mistakes in poorly conducted interviews are as follows:

Mistakes

Comments
Failing to establish rapport with the applicant. As a result, the interview never gets off the ground.
Not knowing what information is needed. Consequently, the interviewer does not know what questions to ask the applicant.
Concentrating exclusively on the applicant as a person. The perceptive interviewer specifically attempts to compare an applicant's demonstrated abilities and experience with the actual job requirements.
Not remaining silent, or listening, long enough. The interviewer does too much talking and fails to obtain meaningful information from the applicant.
Not allowing sufficient time to observe the applicant's responses and behavior. The interview should not be too short and superficial. The longer the interview, the better the chances of gaining meaningful information from the applicant.
Incorrectly interpreting information obtained from the applicant. The interviewer draws the wrong conclusion about the applicant's ability to perform.
Being unaware of or not dealing directly with biases for or against certain types of applicants (stereotyping). This includes how you feel about hair styles, clothing, educational background, etc. (I have never hired a good secretary from that business college.)
Being overly influenced (either favorably or unfavorably) by one characteristic or trait of that particular applicant. This includes physical appearances, style or dress, personality, etc. (I can't stand men who have mustaches, or I'd hire her for this job no matter what her previous experience.)
Making a decision based only on intuition or first impression, rather than careful insight and analytical judgment. no comment
Using stress techniques designed to trap or fluster the applicant. no comment
Conducting a poorly structured or an unstructured interview. no comment
Looking to see how an applicants past life compares with the interviewer's. This results in substantial loss of time because more effort is spent on the halo effect comparison than on obtaining information relevant to the job.
Failure to control or direct the interview. Whether out of a desire to be courteous or because the applicant is particularly dominant, the interviewer can lose control of an interview. The interviewer must regain control skillfully -- not abruptly.
Asking questions answerable by a simple yes or no. People do this because their daily business conversations are often short, but in interviewing, the interviewer must endeavor to do just the opposite -- draw the candidate out. This requires minimizing yes and no answers.
Making judgment or leading statements. These telegraph to the candidate desired responses. Applicants can read the interviewer's mind without direct guidance.