The Problem with Rejecting Applicants Based on “Interview Performance”
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Working within this space of diversity recruiting consulting is always an exciting adventure—at least for me! One thing our team learned very early on is that to continue to be subject matter experts, we had to also learn to be just as great at being students too. On our team, most of our best solutions and breakthroughs come at the hands of asking tons of questions, unpacking current standards in recruiting, and challenging the status quo.
Isn’t that what great students do too?
We have recently been exploring the idea of rejection, particularly during interviews (i.e., phone screens, hiring manager interviews, and final interviews). Upon completion of an interview, recruiters know that there will be some applicants who are rejected because of:
Reason #1: they are less competitive than other applicants—based on the relevance of their experience
Reason #2: they are less competitive than other applicants—based on the relevance of their education
Reason #3: they are less competitive than other applicants—based on the relevance of their job specific knowledge
Reason #4: they falsified application materials and it was discovered during the interview process
Reason #5: they have an inconsistent history full of unexplainable gaps and periods of employment
And that is okay! It is our job as recruiters to hire the most competitive talent for our workplace. So, these five disposition reasons above ensure that while we are looking for top talent, as interviewers, we are focused on the applicant’s knowledge, skills, and experience. Focusing on knowledge, skills, and experience—not the applicant—minimizes hiring bias.
But then there is this final disposition and a common reason for rejection that we must discuss—because it focuses entirely on the applicant:
INTERVIEW PERFORMANCE
Some companies will use other rejection reasons to depict the category of interview performance. At your workplace, you may be using rejection reasons like poor interview, unsuitable personality, sloppy appearance, poor follow-up questions, poor attitude, did not ask any questions, inappropriate behavior, and many others.
Interviews are a performance. Some people perform well, and some people do not. As a matter of fact, some people who would have performed well on any other day, may have had one terrible interview performance on the day they interviewed with your company. Alternatively, some people who generally do not perform well during interviews, may have had one great interview performance on the day they interviewed at your workplace.
Here are two things I want you to know and to take away:
#1: Bias hides in interview performance
#2: Interview performance is NOT a common indicator of job performance (no matter how much we want it to be)
According to research at Ere.net, the recruiting process often has a failure rate of 50%. Why? Oftentimes because bias hides in our perception of an individual’s interview performance and the judgement of the performance as being either good or bad. What may appear arrogant to you may be perceived as confident to another interviewer. What appears to be inappropriate to one interviewer may be cause for a great laugh for another interviewer. When we reject a candidate based on interview performance, it is a good signal or reminder to pause for a moment, unpack the interview performance that we are referencing, and ask a very important question.
Which essential function or element of the job description is this interview performance signaling that the applicant will NOT be able to accomplish?
As a recruiter and/or leader, if you are seriously committed to increasing diversity, it is important to challenge yourself to also eliminate bias. So, before you reject a candidate based solely on interview performance, take a moment to challenge yourself to make a direct connection between what happened during the interview (i.e., the situation that led to the desire to reject based on interview performance) AND the essential functions of the job. Is there a direct connection?
If your answer is YES, speak from that direct connection when providing interview feedback. If your answer is NO, continue to evaluate the candidate based on elements that are relevant to the job. Good luck to you!
Join me in the comments: What do you think are strong indicators of job performance that can be measured in the hiring process?
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