Interviewing

Ask your friends and family whether they encountered a situation in which they were maltreated in a recruitment process. Almost everyone recalls at least one such situation. Some have applied for a position and never received any response. Others have gone through endless interview rounds and eventually hear that the role is no longer available. It's unacceptable yet common practice.

According to Glassdoor (2022), 80% of job applicants drop off during an application process. One of the reasons is how businesses go about interviewing. Interviewing is a crucial part of the recruitment process. Hence, it's key that business leaders get this part right.?

Time spent on interviews

How companies go about their interviewing process depends on the type of role, the candidate's seniority, the company's processes and culture, the availability of talent and the state of the talent market, and the urgency of the vacancy. On top, the competencies of and access to stakeholders involved in the interview process play important roles. Glassdoor (2022) reports that the average length of the job interview process is 23.8 days. The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that it takes companies an average of 48 days to fill a role. Hence, interviewing accounts for nearly 50% of the time spent in the recruitment process.

The time spent on interviewing is not necessarily a bad indicator. Indeed (2022) found that more time spent on interviewing could be a positive indicator of successful hiring. That said, there is a sweet spot of 45-90 minutes per interview round. Google is famously known for exposing candidates and interviewers to excessively long interview rounds. Frequent and lengthy interviews have a negative impact known as interview fatigue, causing high levels of stress. The optimal number of interview rounds is between 2 and 3.?

Structure of interviews

Lengthy interview processes are not the only reason talent taps out of recruitment processes.? The structure and steps taken before, during, and after each interview round can frustrate talent.?

62% of candidates receive no more information than a time and location (Recruiting Daily). Knowing what will be discussed throughout the interview impacts the ability of candidates to prepare and conduct research. However, 47% of recruiters are quick to reject a candidate due to a lack of knowledge about the company. Leaders must ensure candidates receive information about the agenda and stakeholders. Ensuring a clear agenda sets both the candidate and interviewer up for success.?

On January 12th (2023), Emily Stewart - Senior Correspondent at Vox - wrote an excellent piece on the state of job interviews. She highlighted the issues often experienced by candidates related to the moment when the hiring manager is first introduced and the skills put on display by interviewers. She is specific in her examples such as having to wait until the final interview round to finally meet your (potential) new boss or having the company CEO interview candidates on their SAT score from high school. Over the years, interviewing has become needlessly complex resulting in poorer candidate experiences. 83% of talent shares a poor experience with relatives and friends and 54% take their feedback online (Aspire Cambridge, 2022). Thus, executive managers must push back on irrelevant conversation topics, ensure consistency, and concentrate on only and timely engaging stakeholders key to the hiring decision.?

Research by Talent Board (2022) indicates that 56% of candidates - more than half - do not receive feedback following their interview. It's mind-blowing that businesses can commit to hour-long interviews but don't communicate feedback. Forbes (2022) indicated that the average role attracts 118 applicants of which 20% get invited to an interview. That means 23-24 first interviews take place consuming. Communicating feedback protects the company's employer brand and consumes no more than 5-10 minutes per candidate. Concluding interviewing with a phone call in which talent receives open and honest feedback is the right thing to do.

Fixing the time and structure of interviews directly impacts the success of talent acquisition. The following 5 takeaways increase the talent pool, decrease the time-to-hire, and improve the experience of talent:

1. Limit interviewing to 2 rounds (60 minutes max. per round)
2. Have an agenda and communicate who will participate
3. Stick to relevant interview topics (not SAT scores from 15+ years ago)
4. Introduce the hiring manager early and only engage relevant stakeholders
5. Always communicate feedback

What is the worst interviewing experience you ever had? Leave your comments below. If you liked this article, give it a thumbs up ?? and don't forget to subscribe ??