The first priority of the interview process is to find the best candidate for a certain position, and hire them. During a structured interview, therefore, it is important to find out about the candidate, their qualifications, social skills, previous employers, and other aspects of their character that are important in finding the best candidate. One of the major mistakes made while interviewing a candidate is that an unstructured format is used, and early judgments are made on the candidates. If these judgments are positive, more often than not interviewers will provide an easier interview for them. This is where selling a company comes into play and is why this type of behavior is a common mistake amongst interviewers:
“If the interviewer’s first impression is positive in an unstructured interview process, the interviewer usually asks fewer questions of the candidate and quickly switches into a “selling mode” in which the interviewer now tries to “sell” the applicant on the organization.
RECOMMENDATION: Use a structure interview format, which creates a more legally defensible interviewing process because it asks all the candidates the same questions. Also be sure to separate the process of gathering information about the candidate from the processes of promoting (selling) the company, making a decision, and negotiating an offer. Each of these processes, as you will see below, is different.
This type of behavior in an interview will not allow for the proper filling out of employee evaluation forms, and could lead to an inaccurate performance evaluation process. With this also will come lower rates of hiring success, inevitably, and a skewed job evaluation process for a company. While the interviewer may believe they have the right candidate, it is likely that, by using proper employee review, a better candidate could be found than solely on instinct.
