A Word…or Two…for Hiring Teams Seeking Candidates
by Stacey D. Mitchell
In the coaching part of my role, I get the great privilege of working with a variety of talented professionals seeking roles across sectors. I have been somewhat disturbed by themes that have surfaced about interview practices that seem redundant and disorganized, ultimately conveying a lack of respect (intentional or not) for the time and energy that candidates invest in order to put their best foot forward for open roles.
ONE ILLUSTRATION
Let me start by giving you an illustration: Dwayne. (And I have changed some details to protect the privacy of my colleagues.)
Dwayne works in education and has been pursuing a new role for the last 2 months. In this time, he encountered a company that he was really excited about.
The job description seemed like a perfect match for his skills.
The company seemed to be stable and to share his values.
And the logistics of the role aligned with his financial, familial and wellness needs.
Beyond the job description, the challenges began to mount.
The Phone Screen
First, a recruiter scheduled time with him for a phone screen. Towards the end of the 30 minute conversation, Dwayne asked basic questions about the company (e.g how many people would report to this role; what work streams would this role have to manage, etc.), and the recruiter was woefully uninformed about the position and the company. Dwayne found this to be unexpected, but he was still hopeful about the role. So when the recruiter contacted him to have a conversation with the hiring manager, Dwayne was thrilled.
The Hiring Manager Interview
The time and date was set, and Dwayne was at the computer and eager to begin the interview 10 minutes before its start time. He waited patiently for the interview to begin. After the first 2 minutes, Dwayne began to wonder if he had joined the wrong Zoom link. He checked the link several times. After 5 minutes, he was seriously concerned that he had received the wrong information; that the hiring manager was waiting for him elsewhere and that his tardiness might reflect poorly on him.
So, Dwayne began to look for the hiring manager’s contact information, but he only had that of the recruiter. Could a message get to the hiring manager through the recruiter in enough time? By the 10 minute mark, he was keenly aware that it is completely reasonable for an appointment, including this interview, to be cancelled after 15 minutes. And even if the interview were not cancelled, he would have far fewer precious minutes to discuss his candidacy, which might put him at a disadvantage, as compared to other candidates.
Then, 12 minutes after the scheduled start time, the hiring manager appeared on the screen, apologizing because he needed to grab a cup of coffee. Dwayne was somewhat disheartened by the reason but then put it on pause, realizing that he had likely missed a heads up on the manager’s tardiness. He quickly checked his email and text to make sure he hadn’t missed a communication. He hadn’t. His disappointment resumed. By now, he had already expended a noteworthy amount of mental and emotional labor, and the interview hadn’t even started!
Despite this, Dwayne put his best foot forward. The hiring manager seemed very impressed, lavishing compliments on him throughout the conversation. He shared that the remaining portion of the interview process would consist of a panel interview followed by a final interview. The hiring manager told Dwayne right then that he’d be invited to the panel interview. Dwayne accepted with enthusiasm and took note of the less-than-gleaming parts of the interview process to this point.
The Panel Interview
On the day of the panel interview, once again, Dwayne was at his computer, 10 minutes early and ready to go. It landed on a day when his children had no school. So, he arranged childcare and took a half day of work in order to dedicate time to this 90 minute conversation. About 5 minutes before the interview started, he was told that the interview had been rescheduled to another date and time. He was not asked if that new date and time could work for him.
Dwayne ended up knocking the socks off of the panelists during the rescheduled time and being advanced to the final interview stage. He completed the final interview with the hiring manager again alongside the CEO of the organization. And once again, he garnered lots of accolades and positive feedback during the interview. He anxiously anticipated learning whether or not he would be offered the position within the next week, in accordance with the timeline laid out by the hiring manager at the end of the final interview.
The Steps Added to the Process
After two weeks passed, the hiring manager called Dwayne and said that he really liked him but wanted him to participate in a final interview day where he would meet the heads of each of the 5 departments for an hour each, consecutively, with a 30 minute break in the middle of the day. This would, therefore, require Dwayne to take off another day of work and be in a state of high cognitive and emotional intensity for at least 6 hours straight.
With trepidation, Dwayne decided to finish out the process. He participated in this interview day. Each interview was disproportionately social small-talk about sports, restaurant recommendations, favorite pastimes, etc. or repeating questions that had been asked earlier in the day and/or interview process.
The Radio Silence
By the end of the day, Dwayne was spent. Since that interview day, it has been three weeks, and Dwayne has not heard a peep from this organization. So, it might be safe to assume that Dwayne did not get the job.
THE OPPORTUNITY
So what’s the point here? What’s the main opportunity?
Is the point that Dwayne should’ve dropped out of the process long ago? Perhaps. However, Dwayne has five children and relies on gainful employment to meet their needs and to pursue his life’s dreams. Interviewing is not a game for him. It is a required pathway to the income he relies on to live. It is a vessel through which he must travel to live his life’s purpose.
Is the point that this one organization is an unfortunate anomaly? No. I have heard too many experienced, accomplished, talented professionals in my personal or professional network tell me that this, wholly or in part, is commonplace.
The point is that employers have an incredible opportunity to strengthen their hiring processes to be more efficient, more respectful, and, ultimately, higher impact. Here are a few tips on how.
THE TIPS FOR HIRING TEAMS
According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics March 2026 Report, there are 6 million people seeking employment in the US labor market. And with mass layoffs across industries being reported in the news on what seems like a nightly basis, this is an employer’s market. So, employers might be less incentivized to prioritize a high-quality interview process that promotes a positive candidate experience.
This said, a high-quality, positive candidate experience helps ensure
you gather valid and reliable data, which increases the chances that you hire the right person.
candidates that are selected don’t start with a sour taste in their mouths, which could threaten retention in the first 18 months.
Brand strength. Candidates talk about their experiences with different companies and organizations, which could encourage or discourage competitive candidates from considering your organization or company in the future. A high-quality hiring process that prioritizes a positive candidate experience only increases the chances that candidates will sing its praises, whether or not they get the job.
So how can you create a high-quality interview process?
Tip 1: Clock the Candidates’ Investments
It takes A LOT to participate in an interview process.
There is the obvious investment of time. There is time spent in the interview itself, preparing for the interview and the less often discussed, debriefing the interview. This time commitment is expanded when the interview process entails creating a presentation of sorts. This time investment can bring loss of wages, disruption to childcare, transportation costs, privacy vulnerabilities, self-flagellation and more. And these effects can be compounded for caregivers, people of color, people from low-income backgrounds, and members of other historically marginalized groups.
Risks and sacrifices are an inevitable part of the interview process. And candidates should be expected to demonstrate some level of investment to secure a role. This said, it is incumbent upon employers to be mindful of this, and, therefore design interview processes that take these investments into consideration.
Tip 2: Maintain a “Two-Way Process” Mindset
The interview process is intended to benefit both the employer and the candidate.
Employers should be testing the extent to which the person
is OK with the logistics of the role, e.g. salary, location, travel, etc.
possesses the knowledge, mindset, and skill to perform the core functions of the role effectively.
shares the values of the organization in a way that can help strengthen the culture.
Candidates should be testing the extent to which the company can
deliver on its promises to employ you at that salary, in the location, with the travel expectations, etc. over time
be a place where you can learn and grow as a professional, positioning you to rise within the company or to be successful in a similar role elsewhere
Provides the type of environment where you can experience limited impediments to doing your job with peace, psychological safety and some measure of joy.
Oftentimes, employers lose sight of the two-way process mindset and take up space and time in the lives of candidates that only takes into account what the company wants from the interview process. This can lead to a variety of missteps in the interview process, some of which are outlined below.
Employers, you have an opportunity to design a process that embodies the two-way mindset, holding these mindsets throughout the process:
I am grateful that the candidates I am considering would take the time to explore working at my company. If I picked them, they must be pretty good. I realize they likely have options. So it means something that they would choose to explore working here.
Everyone’s time is incredibly precious. I likely have no idea what sacrifices individuals make to explore working at my company, particularly those who are members of marginalized groups. I should only use the time necessary to gather the information I need to make hiring decisions as well as to allow candidates to learn if this is the best place for them.
Clear, regular communication is kind. It is my responsibility to keep candidates informed of how the process is evolving and communicate regularly, even if there is no substantive update. This helps to reduce unnecessary stress for candidates, keeps them engaged, and it builds a positive brand for my company.
Tip 3: Design an Efficient, Strategic and Warm Interview Process Up Front
With tips 1 and two in mind, below are some specific tactics you can employ to design and deliver a strong interview process…
Get clear about the situations that will allow you to make an offer to a candidate. This should be equitable and aligned to the job description. Get clear about what kind of evidence you will need to collect in order to feel comfortable making an offer.
Design a hiring process that will allow you to collect the essential data. Stick to that process relentlessly, unless there are drastic, extenuating circumstances. Ensure that you are mindful of
How much time a candidate would reasonably have to invest in order to make a good showing
The individuals, or collaborators, that are also decision-makers or that will need to provide important input about the candidate.
How many different conversations are actually necessary to collect this data and how the collaborators can fit into those conversations
Communicate the hiring process up front by including it in the job description with a projected timeline. This imposes an important level of accountability for you as an employer, and it allows the candidates to conduct advanced planning, which could alleviate some of the material and immaterial costs associated with interviewing. And, if there are more than 5 stages or if the process lasts longer than 3 months, I would urge you to reconsider how you can be more efficient.
Create interview guides and rubrics for each round of the hiring process. This will reduce unwanted redundancy and ensure that each stage of the interview process has a clear set of objectives with aligned questions to surface the necessary data for that particular stage. For example, the phone screen is typically about ensuring that applicants are good with the pay, travel, work location, etc. and that there are not major flags. The first round interview, for example, can often focus on the core mindsets, knowledge and skill necessary to perform the functions of the role. Whereas the second round interview can often focus on culture and the ability to fit into and augment the team.
Carve out and protect 10 minutes of time at the end of the interview for the candidate to ask questions. This time might not exist on the interview agenda. And if it does, it can often be consumed by employer questions. Hold that time and protect it mightily, though you can have additional questions ready in case there are few or no questions from the candidate.
Train those who will be participating in the interview process, regardless of how many interviews they may have conducted in the past. Ensure that they are clear on your vision for the interview process and the tone you are trying to set. But also make sure they are aware of what materials will be used, where to find them and how to share their input at the conclusion of the interview.
Plan to pay candidates for presentations, which often include their intellectual property and work time to research and prepare deliverables.
Stacey D. Mitchell is the Founder & Principal Consultant of SAGEli Consulting.
Need help designing a strong interview process? SAGEli Consulting is here to help!
Contact us at www.sageliconsutling.com/connect
