The Faceless Interview

This article isn’t directed at people looking for work. This one is directed at employers and you’d better listen up. You’re doing it WRONG.

I had an interview the other day that had been scheduled for more than a week. It was a twenty minute phone interview. When I contacted the person at the designated time, I had to leave a voicemail, only I couldn’t because the mailbox was full. After a third attempt, the person picked up the phone. They proceeded to tell me that they have my resume and they don’t really need an intro but to talk about myself. As soon as I started speaking I was cut off and re directed to a different question. I’m a considerate person so I’m watching the clock to make sure I’m keeping it brief. Because I feel rushed, nothing is coming out of my mouth correctly. I am then asked if I had any questions pertaining to how I feel about being a fit for the role or not. I asked a question that wasn’t in that context and then our conversation ended.

So many things went wrong here and quite frankly, I felt like this person never had any interest in knowing anything about me except for a rush judgement to justify whether they did or didn’t think I was a good match for the position. Let me state that phone screens should NEVER exist in the interview process. A company that has no time to put a face to a name or more time into an introductory interview is possibly a company that doesn’t put much effort into anything they do such as cross collaboration, open conversation or customer engagement.

Too many companies believe in this form of interview and the only thing I have to say to that is SHAME ON YOU!!! Do better. Short, faceless phone screens really put you at a disadvantage. Someone could sound great over the phone but you’re still not gleaning anything of personality or relatability by just hearing someone for a short period of time. You’re making no effort at human connection. It’s like you’ve decided to pull up to the car you think you want, peep in the windows really quick, walk around it once and then decide you want it without a test drive or a chance to sit in it for comfort and try out the gadgets and the seats. You’re not just shorting yourselves. You’re also wasting a candidates time by not putting the time into researching them similar to them researching you so they know something about you. Then afterwards you have the candidate wondering if YOU are a good fit. Don’t get a high and mighty attitude like people can’t afford to weigh and measure you. To be honest YOU may be found wanting. You may not owe anyone a job but no one owes you their time either. How you conduct yourself in this job market shows more than you think and it can either reflect positively or negatively upon your organization.

So how do you do it correctly? Listen up. Especially those of you who are startups. Narrow down your resumes to the people you would like to see in the role and narrow it down to your time frame of realistic availability. You’re going to screen the person for thirty minutes over video or in person depending on the circumstance. Give them the chance to choose a time within your availability and put some excitement into letting them know that you’re happy to speak with them. Once the interview starts, take five minutes to talk about the role and ask them about salary expectations. Let them take another five minutes to introduce themselves and why they’d be a good fit for the position. Take ten minutes to ask two to three basic questions and be okay with them going five minutes over. This is a person. You’re not yet timing them on their skills of speed. Take the last 10 minutes to answer any questions THEY have about ANYTHING they want to ask about the company or the position. LISTEN and respond. If your response goes over the time limit, don’t worry about it. You want to get a sense of the PERSON you’re speaking to because you may be leading them or working with them. You’re also giving people a good impression of you and your company when you do it this way.

Lastly. Don’t make excuses for why you can’t do it this way. Why? Because those excuses may lead to a larger question of if you’re even actually ready to put full efforts into interviewing and hiring someone. Either you’re ready to hire or you’re not. Make the right efforts and you’ll find the right person.