Interviews Are Worthless

Here at Pillar, we focus on bringing transparency to the interview process, so I know you’re probably thinking…why is the CEO saying that interviews are worthless? Well, I’ve spoken to hundreds of TA leaders, and they’ve all shared similar stories with me about their interview processes.

Along with the stories I hear, there are also plenty of statistics that shine a bad light on interviews. For example: Aptitude Research tells us one in four candidates drop out of an organization's hiring process at the interview stage. So, why do we continue to interview?

To start, I thought it would be helpful to share some of the stories I’ve heard…  

“Our interview process is too long.”
One TA leader described her interview process as the following…

“We have a recruiter screening. The recruiter shares their thoughts with the Hiring Manager. The Hiring Manager interviews the candidate and passes them along to an interviewer who meets the candidate and gives their feedback, then another interviewer who gives their feedback. Then we conduct a team panel interview or role-related task…and then, maybe, there is a senior leader who jumps in and “needs” to interview the final candidates. The team then gets together for a debrief to discuss what they each remember they heard in their interviews and to make a hiring decision.”

This is exhausting! Not only for them, but also for the candidate. A longer interview process doesn’t mean more effective hiring. It can actually hinder an organization’s ability to find great talent; statistics show the top 10% of candidates are only on the market for 11 days.

“Our newer interviewers aren’t good.”
Remember back when you first interviewed candidates. Were they great interviews? Did the candidates have a great experience? Did you accurately judge who was best for the role? Ask anyone who has interviewed for years how good they were at interviewing when they first started, and they’ll always awkwardly chuckle and then tell you they didn’t really know what they were doing. 

Bad interviews lead to bad candidate experiences. This is why it’s imperative to coach your newer interviewers to improve and grow in their interviewing skills so every candidate has a fair chance and you’re less likely to damage your employer brand.

“Our Hiring Managers rely on their gut to make a hiring decision.”
Out of all the TA leaders I’ve met with, this is the biggest worry. More often than not, Hiring Managers rely on their gut or hazy memory to make hiring decisions rather than data and insights. Gut decisions can mean bias and not hiring the best person for the role based on their skills. Why is this important? Because early attrition is bad, costing companies up to $240K per person.   

OK, so I don’t actually think interviews are worthless…if they’re done right. They are an important part of the recruitment process because they can help the hiring team meet a variety of candidates and determine which ones are right for their company's needs. They… 

• Assess a candidate’s skills outside of their resume
• Discover the most qualified candidates 
• Define candidate <> company fit
• Provide employers with the opportunity to share their brand story

At Pillar, we give you the ability to easily step up your interviewing game. We turn interviews into insightful, valuable conversations by…

• Streamlining the interview process (saving valuable hours)
• Coaching your colleagues to be world-class at interviewing 
• Running standardized, structured interviews
• Collecting high quality, timely feedback
• Ensuring quality of hire through fact-based candidate debriefs 
• Understanding when candidates are reacting positively and poorly in interview conversations

…and more. If you’re struggling with any of the fears I’ve mentioned above, drop me a line here, and we can discuss how I can help. 

Cheers,

Mark Simpson
Founder & CEO