Behind The Scenes: Key Findings From 50K Recent Interviews

The thing about interviews is everyone thinks they’re a good interviewer. Just like everyone thinks they’re a great driver. And every sales candidate claims they’re in the top 10%. We all know that these are not true, but do we know what’s really going on?

Each day at Pillar, hundreds of interviews are conducted by our customers. Since our inception, the thing I’ve found most fascinating about recording live interviews is the insight we gain from them - opening a window into a process that’s historically been a black box.

Since the start of the year, our customers have conducted about 50,000 interviews with Pillar. I thought you might be interested in seeing a little ‘behind the scenes’ glimpse into some of the key findings from them and see what we can learn.

1.) 59% of interviews received coaching suggestions

Oftentimes, interviewers are not trained on how to interview effectively. Kind of scary, no? Think back to the first interviews you ever did. I’m sure they were similar to mine...not great!

Do you know what your interviewers are saying to candidates? Whether they’re asking questions that are relevant to the skills the candidate needs to perform the role or they’re focusing too heavily on a candidate’s personal characteristics or other areas. Over the last few years, I’ve seen and heard so many stories about what interviewers are asking - some of it’s shocking!

Pillar flags coachable moments for interviewers to help them be better. In fact, more than half (59%) of interviews run with Pillar have coachable moments so future interviews are better and team members improve and grow in their interviewing skills.

2.) Candidates love talking about growth and culture in interviews, but they dislike talking about motivation and negotiation

I hear people talk a lot about the candidate experience throughout the hiring process, but there seems to be a gap: no one can tell me that they’re giving the candidate a great experience in every interview. 

Within Pillar, we can understand how the candidate is reacting to different topics throughout an interview. We can actively see if candidates are reacting positively or negatively to a conversation. From the interviews this year, we see that the themes candidates are most positive about are…

1.) Benefits
2.) Role Description
3.) Growth
4.) Onboarding
5.) Culture

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the themes they have the most discomfort around are… 

1.) Small Talk
2.) Coworkers
3.) Motivation
4.) Negotiation
5.) Availability 

I was actually surprised by some of these themes. You?

3.) 85% of interview feedback is submitted in 48 hours or less

So many companies we see waste way too much time chasing interview feedback; it’s boring, it’s a waste of time, and it slows down time to hire. After implementing Pillar, our customers are seeing interview feedback submitted at a higher rate and faster than they ever have before. On average, we are seeing that 85% of all interviews have feedback submitted and scorecards are filled out within 48 hours.

The longer interviewers wait to give feedback on a candidate, the more time bias has to creep in. Meaning you’re hiring people that interviewers ‘like’, not the ones who have the right skills. 

4.) 62% of interviewers don’t give the candidate enough time to shine

Providing candidates with enough time to talk during an interview is essential for a thorough assessment of their abilities, skills, and overall suitability for the role. It also contributes to a fair and comprehensive evaluation process, aiding in better decision-making when selecting the right candidate. 

We recommend that, in most interviews, the candidate speaks for ~75% of the time (in initial recruiter screens, it’s more like 50%). However, we’re seeing that the majority of interviewers (62% of interviews) are not giving candidates enough opportunity to speak.
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Do you know what’s happening in your interviews? The experience your candidates are getting? How many good people are being turned away?

Luckily, there are technologies out there that can help you answer these questions and determine how making improvements in all of these areas leads to faster, better hiring.

Which of the 4 findings is most surprising to you? Drop me a DM here - would love to hear what you think.

See you next month,

Mark Simpson
CEO & Founder