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?

I've done a lot of interviewing and I don't hate it or find it boring but I don't particularly enjoy it either. I am not sure that we've found a really good way of differentiating between candidates to be honest - well none of the organisations I've worked for has. It's all a bit formulaic and most candidates have clearly learned the rules of the engagement, but how well they've done that doesn't necessarily correlate terribly well with how good they'll be at the job. I've had the frustration of interviewing internal candidates who I know have all the skills and personal attributes to do the job very well, even people who are in the role temporarily and making a fantastic impression, but they have not played the interview game as well as others and so not been appointed. We use a scoring system and the same questions for everyone and there have definitely been occasions when I have felt strongly that we're appointing the wrong person using that method. I know it is designed to reduce personal bias which is of course a good thing but I think some people are very skilled at being interviewed and have learned how to score highly but it's just not "real".

It’s a mix of excruciating and tedious , it’s emotionally draining and it feels like quite a big responsibility - someone who gels with the existing team, and often getting the job means a lot to the person being interviewed

Time consuming

Time wasters (looked good on paper, reality does not match up)

Responsibility to your team to pick a good candidate with the right skills who hopefully fits in with the team vibe.

Thankfully I’m only called in these days as backup if team lead is away, but when done on zoom you have to be on the lookout for if they’re using ChatGPT etc. to answer the questions.

Its very hard work. Because you owe it to the candidate to give them your full attention all the time. You have to listen intently, match up what you're hearing to the assessment criteria, make notes and all the time make sure your tone and expression is open and encouraging so each person is relaxed enough to do their best. Miss something or put someone off and you won't be doing them justice.
Its also usually tight for time. Get someone who speaks slowly, at length, asks lots of questions and that's your break out of the window.
You're a captive audience for hours on end, and if you're a fidget or active then that's not great.
It can be very boring. By the time you've heard a similar answer from the 6th person that day your interest wanes and you struggle to stay focused.
It can also be hard at the decision making stage. I've seen some fantastic people, so enthusiastic, want the job so much but they're just not the best of the bunch, so you know you'll be disappointing good people who you'd love to give a chance to. When they're internal and you know and like them, it's particularly tough.

It’s not a constant part of my role but I have been part of it and lead on it before.

i agree with your colleague. It’s very time-consuming and you obviously have to listen to people speak for long periods of time and take extensive notes which can be tiring when you have 5 back to back interviews.

with me, it also takes me away from my actual role, meaning I have to play catch up.

it’s also a big responsibility picking someone from an interview for the role as you obviously want them to succeed and part of this comes back on you if they don’t do well.

on a human level, I also feel bad for the candidates especially when you can tell they’re nervous or under qualified for the role or when their mind just goes blank. You can see them squirming and want to help them but of course you can’t. I try to be as kind as possible in interviews so the candidates feel at ease but they are of course still nervous.

i also hate when they ask a question, especially since AI has become popular so all the questions are really complicated and you have to think on your feet. AI has made interviews even harder IMO

Of course it’s awful if you have any empathy for the people on the other side of the table

also you have to be really focused on what the candidates are saying to give them a fair go; it is exhausting

i must have conducted a couple of thousand interviews over the last 20 years (I work in a university). Of course it is not all consuming stressful like being interviewed yourself. But it is a hard days work.

If you are doing a quite few interviews in a day it is psychologically tiring. After an interview has been scored by the panel there can be big discrepancies in scoring and this is a worry because you think you may have missed something in a candidate. It is very hard to make a choice about who to offer the job to, take a punt on an outlier, or go for someone who ticks all the boxes at interview.Some people interview well and then as soon as they are in post go off sick straight away. In NHS it is almost impossible to 'get rid' of an employee who turns out to be playing the system. I could go on..... So I find interviews stressful and don't get me started on shortlisting especially with overseas candidates as the visa regulations are a very complicated.

I have to interview potential PhD students and it’s always interesting for me because I love hearing about people’s research interests and backgrounds. I imagine doing it for a job vacancy would be boring as hell. Basically have to listen to people tell you how amazing they are at teamwork and solving problems. I’d have to mix up the boring ass questions to keep it interesting.

I do it a lot and never enjoy it. It’s all done via teams. If you are WFH and have no on camera meetings lined up that day, you’d normally just be in jeans and a Tshirt with no make up on but if you are IVing you need hair, make up, correct clothes (well I do) and then you need to be prepped and ready ten mins prior with your IV partner. If the person is a no show (we get a few) you then have to wait for ten mins past the IV start to give them a chance. That’s time I’m not getting back and still have my normal job to do. Then you get the people who haven’t prepped at all but you still have to see it through to the bitter end. Then you have to type up the notes, organise the feedback and process the paperwork.
And then catch up with your normal work.