5 biggest mistakes hiring managers make
August 28, 2008 by Sam NarisiPosted in: Interviewing, Law, Special Report
The results of managers’ interview mistakes range from serious legal trouble to driving good candidates away and hiring the wrong ones. Here are five common mistakes and how HR can help avoid them:
1. Asking anything related to a disability
A recent EEOC Discussion Letter made it clear that asking disability-related questions before a candidate gets a job offer is a violation of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Most often, problems arise when managers try to make sure candidates can handle a job’s requirements. The simple solution: Just lay out what the employee will have to do and ask if that’s OK.
2. Touching on race, religion, gender, etc.
Questions about protected classes can arise when discussing job requirements, or even during small talk (e.g., “What church do you go to?”). But asking them can have serious repercussions later if the person doesn’t get the job.
Train everyone who does interviews to lay off any topic that’s protected by discrimination law.
3. Taking the wrong notes
If a candidate mentions something related to a protected class, managers need to be sure not to make any mention of it in their interview notes.
In the event an unsuccessful candidate tries to take your company to court, everything the manager wrote down during the interview will be used as evidence. For example, if the candidate mentioned a disability and the manager made a note of it, a judge or jury will suspect it had an effect on the hiring decision.
4. Stopping the show
To anyone in HR, keeping interruptions to a minimum is common sense. But 56% of employees say they’ve had managers interrupt their interviews to take a phone call, according a recent Vault.com survey.
Others said interviewers had left the room to attend to something or paused to check e-mail. Unless it’s a real emergency, stopping the interview for any reason just gives a bad first impression of the company.
5. Talking too much
A good interviewing technique is leaving a long period of silence while waiting for the candidate to answer a tough question. But too often, managers get uncomfortable with the quiet and throw the interviewee a bone or ask an easier question.
Tags: discrimination, etiquette, illegal interview questions, interview mistakes
August 29th, 2008 at 11:37 am
I had an interview with 2 people in the HR department; through out the entire interview they were talking about “had to be there” jokes regarding the position. Everything was “snicker” about that last person, “giggle” about that procedure that we do here. I thought they were very rude. But they most likely thought they were bringing some humor in the interview. Needless to say, I refused to go to the second interview.
August 29th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Anissa, I’ve been in that same scenario. It was obvious to me by the end of my interview/tour that many of the departments just flat out did not get along. Thank goodness I’m not working there.
Regarding #5:
Not only should the interviewer know not to interrupt the interview, others in the office should know this as well.
August 29th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I agree with the points in this article. At our company we’ve instituted several procedures that help our managers conduct proper and meaningful interviews. We have a set form that the manager fills out during the interview, so that they do not stray into any dangerous topics. We also always conduct interviews in one of our conference rooms. This way there are no distractions for either the manager or the prospective employee. These are just small things, but they’ve had a big impact in how our interviewing process has changed for the better.