To be surprised that people conducting job interviews dislike them too?

[WryJadeWren]

I was talking to a colleague who is involved in recruitment and she mentioned that she hates conducting interviews. She also said that the people interviewing candidates often don’t particularly want to be there either.

I was quite surprised by this. I completely understand why candidates dislike interviews, given that they’re the ones being assessed, scrutinised and having to prove themselves.

But why would someone sitting on the interview panel actively dislike the experience when they’re not the ones under scrutiny?

I did ask her why but she just said “I just don’t like it.”

I’m genuinely curious. For those of you who conduct interviews, do you dislike them too? And if so, why?

It's a huge responsibility - trying to get the best out of (often nervous) candidates, realising how important it is to both the candidate & the team you're recruiting into. Choosing the right questions.
The awkwardness when you absolutely know the interview isn't going to end well - or knowing the interviewee is only there for the optics. Knowing you'll have to destroy people's hope when they're unsuccessful.

I'm curious too OP - why would you think it's a pleasurable experience for recruiters?

Because it’s painfully tedious sitting through hours of mediocre under prepared candidates who haven’t read the job description prattle on about a Covid related example we’ve heard a thousand times. When you get a good candidate it’s fine, good even, but most of them are tediously boring.

It’s really draining asking the same questions and getting similar responses. It’s a great weight to try to remember and assess who stood out the most when everything is so samey. It’s stressful having the responsibility to put someone new on the team and for it to work out for everyone.
My manager would solely pick the person who they felt would gel with the team the best, even if they weren’t on paper who ‘should’ be picked

I'm with your colleague bloody hate them! They all merge together after 3 - the same set questions, very similar answers having to complete multiple sets of paperwork etc. All whilst having to pause the rest of my work so I fall behind.

My work has a rule on the panel having to include a woman of a certain level and there aren't as many so can't get out of it more then a few times end up doing it every quarter.

I only do it occasionally but I don't enjoy it. Most people either waffle on for ages, or completely clam up. We have to ask set questions. I find it hard to focus on people's answers, prompt them if needed, and try to pull out the relevant points for scoring. And then we have to give bad news to most of the candidates, sometimes including candidates who you suspect would be better at the job but answered in ways that didn't tick the right boxes, or internal candidates who I already know.

I'd rather be on the panel than an interview candidate though.

Because as a hiring manager you are often very busy, and interviewing can be quite time consuming. It is often quite clear within about 5 minutes when it is not someone you would take forward, but you have to spend the rest of the time with them in order to ensure a fair process.

There are two things which really wind me up about interviewing.

The first is that the evidence shows as a predictor of performance in a job it's really poor, on a par with handwriting analysis. That's why firms with a lot riding on long term recruitment investment tend to go for multi-faceted assessment centres, with the face to face interview actually counting for relatively little compared to the esteem in which it's held.

The second is that for the vast majority of managers, it's not actually a core competence and we expect them to do it without any real training. It's like asking a stewardess to fly the plane from time to time because, you know, it's all role-adjacent.

I interview a fair bit. It’s so dull. Asking same questions. Getting variations on the same answers. Occasionally you get someone you know if going to be great but generally it a mixture of mediocre and total rubbish. You can generally work out quite early on who will be rubbish but still have to go through the whole process. You have to concentrate, write down what people say and have your best game face on all day. Plus your other work piles up. And before the interviews you have to read loads of applications and shortlist which is equally dull. A necessary evil as we need good staff so have to weed out the good ones.

Well when I did them I really disliked seeing people who were desperate for a job and knowing only one of them would get it. And I always remember one young man who stumbled over a question, panicked and tears started streaming from his eyes. He was 19 and all I felt was gut deep sadness for him.

It took a toll on me holding people’s futures in my hands.

Can't believe people on here saying they are bored when they are key players in a tense and high stakes situation. Getting it right is key to success of the organisation and getting it wrong can take years to sort out, if ever. I've been on many interview panels and can honestly say that I have never been bored!

Yeah I hate them tbh! Especially if the candidate isn’t very good and it’s just hard work.
I’m not in HR or recruitment or anything just often been involved in recruiting more junior staff as a second interviewer, so it’s not part of my job as such. Maybe that’s why!

It’s boring, time consuming and quite hard work to do it well. You often know very quickly that someone is a definite no, but have to continue with the interview just the same. Can be frustrating trying to get the best out of people who don’t take their opportunities. Every candidate except one will be disappointed. It’s tiring being ‘on’ all day. It’s not a lot of fun really.

Exactly this. Unless there is something really egregious that comes out you’ve got to carry on when you know it’s just pointless. I’m also often quite astounded with people applying for a job with a decent salary so £60k ish who are just useless !

sometimes you get a really enjoyable conversation and it just flows and doesn’t feel a chore but they are few and far between.

I hate them but obviously they are a necessary evil!

The people attending are usually nervous and I feel really bad for them.

It's boring repeating the same spiel all day.

It's mentally draining taking all the notes, listening to similar answers but having to really concentrate to make sure you give everyone a fair chance.

It can take ages afterwards to type up notes, score everyone's answers, discuss it and draw up a shortlist/preferred candidate etc.

Ridiculous amount of HR paperwork to complete but necessary to make sure person is legal to work in UK, Police background checks etc etc.

In the meantime, my day job is about to burst at the seams, my work doesn't stop because I'm doing interviews.

I agree with your colleague - I don't do loads of interviewing but it's part of my job when I'm either recruiting into my team or if a colleague asks me to be part of their panel. It's really hard work having to really concentrate on what they're saying, remember who said what and who is actually best. I find in person ones better but lots of ours are still over teams.

Boring, exhausting, and often a waste of time because you don’t find decent candidates. Plus they take a lot of time out of my already busy job.

Same. We’ve introduced pre screening phone calls now, especially with the surge of AI which has caused an influx of applications that are hard to differentiate. We use these calls to validate an application, knocks a lot of people out. I can’t believe the people who apply for senior roles, I’m half tempted to give them to them and see what they’d actually do!!!

It’s exhausting. I’m trying to do my best to give everyone an equal chance which means listening very carefully to what they’re saying and after a day of that I’m knackered. Then you’re dealing with people being very nervous, the stakes feel high for everyone (what if we appoint the wrong candidate to a vital role?) and I worry whether I am seeing the same things as my colleagues on the panel.

I wouldn’t say it’s a part of my job I hate, and it’s definitely not as stressful as being interviewed myself, but I don’t enjoy it. It is nice when you do it well and get a great appointment out of it, though.

I quite enjoy the actual interviewing. We usually have a mixed process of standard interview with a panel of three or four (for which we now supply questions in advance), and a practical test or element (which might be a presentation, an unseen scenario, a technical test etc - depending on role) which is also scored.

Actual recruitment (especially shortlisting) in the age of AI I don't enjoy so much. But once we get people to interview it's often very interesting, and the right candidate usually rises to the top when you get the chance to dig a bit deeper.

Always in-person where I work.

I don't like interviews because they are in addition to my usual workload.
leads to overtime that's not compensated.
plus candidate list is pre-selected and often not a good fit

This is how I feel about interviewing. We aren't big enough for all the HR faff, but we have a set of questions and a tick box that is supposed to keep it fair and free from bias. It doesn't, and a clever interviewee can game the system easily by saying things that get them more points.

I think interviewing, even at the best of times, tends to heavily favour a certain personality type. Gregarious, quick at repartee, charming, even duplicitous. But lots of great employees may be quiet, unassuming, thoughtful, diligent, and hiring good bullshitters is really the last thing I want to do!

But it takes some effort and ability to draw people out to find those who would be great but don't naturally do best at interviewing. The system doesn't allow that though.

Not something I enjoy.

We have a really formal process so, even ten seconds into the candidate opening their mouth and making it very clear that they’re not right for the role, we still have to spend an hour going through all of the set questions and sections.

Also hate the amount of men who will turn to me (we do panel interviews with mixed genders so I’m often the only woman on the interview board) and say “it’s a bit technical so I’ll just explain it for you”. Hate it, hate them. Luckily, I’m a pointed cunt (with qualifications and experience coming out my ears) so they don’t get too far with that line.

Absolutely!

Has anyone else started to notice that all the presentations candidates give are starting to look the same due to the use of AI (with no human editing), Citing sources that are made up or incorrect? They look great but that seems to be the only plus point and when you ask the candidate to talk about said sources, they’re unable to because, well, AI did it.

I did one today. Me and HR have them down to a fine and fast art (casual job).

They bore me rigid. A necessary evil.

On the other hand I love going for a job interview!