An interview is stressful for the job candidate, but what about the interviewer? After all, you’re under pressure to hire your staff’s next superstar.

Marcia Zidle offers her advice on what managers do wrong when they’re interviewing job candidates in the article  titled Hire Winners: Avoid These 10 Interview No-No’s.

Make sure you can deliver by avoiding these common interviewing mistakes:

• Don’t ignore the candidate’s resume. Even if you’re conducting several interviews in a short amount of time, don’t skip over the resume-review process. Knowing your candidate allows you to zero in on key areas and ask the right questions. And definitely don’t tell your candidate that you haven’t read his resume, says Zidle. It makes you look unprepared.
• Don’t ask questions you already know the answers to. If you can find the information in the candidate’s resume, you’re only wasting both your and his time by asking the question. Focus on more meaningful interaction.
• Don’t be a corporate cheerleader. Instead of trying too hard to sell your company as the best place on Earth, give the candidate a realistic picture. Tell him the company’s strengths and weaknesses. Most job candidates know that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is — so give them information that’s helpful, not misleading.
• Don’t talk too much — start listening instead. Give the candidate a chance to speak, and then listen with what Zidle calls the “third” ear. That is, think about what the person says (and doesn’t say), why he answers a question in a certain way and what you can deduce from his body language.
• Don’t be vague about the job’s requirements. The candidate should know exactly what’s expected of him. Define what criteria will determine the job’s success so a candidate who isn’t confident that he fits the job requirements can opt out early in the process.

Filed under: Management Minute