You're navigating an interview. How can you steer clear of common decision-making pitfalls?

Let’s face it—human bias is a natural part of interviews. We’re all prone to making snap judgments or getting swayed by emotions. While we can’t get rid of these biases entirely, we can definitely try to keep them in check. One way to do that is by sticking to a structured interview process. That means documenting everything—questions, answers, and using tools to assess candidates fairly. But even with all the techniques in the world, the real trick is training ourselves to catch and curb our biases. It’s about staying aware and making a conscious effort to be fair.

It's really crucial to be remained un-biased during the interview, ensure that you are there to listen to candidate and don't expect the answer that you would like to listen which you have in your mind already. Stay focussed and open and not too many counter questions. Emphasis on their idea, approach and demonstration

To avoid decision-making pitfalls in an interview, stay genuine and adaptable in your responses, avoiding over-rehearsed answers. Keep an open mind to prevent confirmation bias and listen actively to tailor your answers effectively. Focus on providing relevant, specific responses instead of generic ones. Finally, evaluate the interview as a whole rather than fixating on individual moments.

1) Understand the company's values and the role's requirements to ensure alignment with your career goals. 2) Practice responses to typical and behavioral questions using the STAR method, enabling clear and confident answers. 3)Know your strengths, weaknesses, and personal values to make informed decisions during the interview process. 4) Listen carefully to engage effectively with interviewers. 5) Be realistic about your skills and manage expectations to build trust and credibility. 6) Prepare thoughtful questions that demonstrate genuine interest and clarify any doubts you might have about the role or company. 7) Evaluate how the position aligns with your long-term career goals and work-life balance needs. 8) Seek Feedback

To avoid common decision-making pitfalls in an interview, gather all relevant information before making judgments, stay aware of biases, and consider multiple perspectives. Take your time to think critically about each option, and don't hesitate to ask clarifying questions to ensure you fully understand the situation before responding.

During my career, I used to combine between two approaches: I start the interview by Structure questions, then use situational Competency questions. This combination between the two approaches give me mapping for the interview and also let the candidate express more details. And the more the interviewer can get from the candidate the more the decision could be accurate and effective.

As a staffing professional, I have always had the philosophy that interviewing is a two-way street. Ensuring that the company and opportunity are the right fit for the candidate as well as the company equally important. As such, I always encourage candidates to ask questions throughout the interview process, so when decision time comes, they will have as many data points as possible to make an informed decision.

Behavior-based job interview questions are not a new concept. The hypothesis is, that if a candidate has successfully demonstrated a particular competence in the past, they will also be able to apply that competence in a similar future situation. One should also guide the applicant to answer in a strucutred way like STAR, STARL, STARI, SOAR, or PAR.

Good to be curious to ask sound questions like starting to understand what is the culture of the company, more details on understanding more of the role requirements, how to be successful and expectations of the role from line managers. This will build an alignment between your own skillsets and the expectations or gaps or new skills to be acquired

Onboarding talent that does not value the spirit of the organization can create a bottleneck in production. Frame culture interview questions based on the pain points of the organization to vet whether talent will be engaged and prepared to navigate challenges, while also considering how their KSAs will add value rather than align. New talent should push the culture forward rather than stunt it.

Ask sound questions more on the job. Flag out areas which you lack but complement with ability and willingness to learn. Culture fit and quick ability to learn make a difference that makes you stand out as well

The interview questions should cover the following areas: 1) technical fit, 2) interdisciplinary fit, and 3) cultural- or organizational-fit.

Evaluate options of if suitable in terms of culture fit, expectations of the role, especially if it require hands-on and strategic approach. Ask yourself what will be the 3-6 months goals that you will set if you are onboarded with the company

I feel instinct and gut feel is very important for me. Although we cannot 100% assess this properly before entering the company, the excitement and enthusiasm shows your interest and at least be excited before you join the new company.

There is a fine line between instinct and bias. I like Susan David's view on it: Emotions provide a data point. Nothing more nothing less.