Recruiting: How to Listen as an Interviewer

I've posted a number of times on finding a job (Non-Traditional Resumes, Evaluating an Offer, and Virtual Interviewing), but I was thinking there are many of you out there who serve in the role of interviewer rather than interviewee. In my first post on this topic, I thought I would focus on something basic rather than get too specific, so we'll discuss "listening" as an interviewer.

Before we get into what listening skills you should exhibit, we should address why it's so important:

• Truly listening to the candidate with your whole person will allow you to pick up on cues you may otherwise miss.
• Listening rather than talking will give the candidate more time to demonstrate if they are a fit for your position.
• Allowing your candidate to demonstrate their fit could potentially save you money from hiring unsuitable employees.

With all that said, I must note that there is something called a "stress interview." It's rarely used, but is useful in situations where you're hiring, for example, an Investment Banker and need to determine how well they handle stressful situations. In that case, all this advice goes out the window!!!

Now, back to a typical interview, let's get into what good listening means for this situation. I believe there are three components:

1. Open Communication
2. Candidate-Focused
3. Whole Person Listening

  Open Communication  

The first component is to establish and maintain open communication. Not only will this model what you desire if the candidate is hired, but will also allow the candidate to feel at ease enough to fully communicate their potential value to your organization.

First, you should conduct the interview in private and ensure it is free from distractions. This will make you both more comfortable and will allow you to listen more closely to the candidate and observe the behaviors (which we'll get to in the third component).

You should start off the conversation with what's known as an "ice breaker" in the recruiting world. I'm not talking about the silly games people sometimes play at the beginning of a conference or an off-site. I simply mean that you should break the ice by talking about the weather, traffic, or news. However, be careful not to talk about family, religion, or politics to avoid potential areas of discrimination -- that gives me an idea for a future blog post!

Another useful side effect from an ice breaker is that it allows the candidate to be him/herself. I don't mean that you should trick them and catch them off guard, but if you set them at ease with an ice breaker, the candidate will be less likely to be rehearsed or keep up a facade. If you mention "How was your drive in? My commute was horrible!" you may get a response that shows the person has severe road rage and wonder where else that behavior shows up!

One mistake interviewers often make is to look at the resume first before starting any conversation. My advice is that you first break the ice, then if you must, review their resume. If you shut them down first by asking for a minute to review the resume, you give them the impression that it's all about you, when you should be giving the candidate the impression that it's all about them. It's their job to win or lose - make the candidate work for it!

  Candidate-Focused  

A candidate's job (at least when I'm coaching them) is to get the interviewer to talk as much as possible because people like to talk about themselves and an interviewer will then walk away feeling positive about the interview....even if the candidate barely spoke!

As an interviewer, you need to prevent that from happening. You need to make the candidate do the work, which is similar to what we do in leadership coaching. You're not up for the job. You don't need to prove yourself. Again, I reiterate, make the candidate work for it! This may be partially a "sales pitch" for the job, but before you sell the candidate on the job you need to determine their aptitude, competency and fit for the job.

Some quick strategies to help:

Avoid interrupting

• Don't put words in the candidate's mouth.
• Don't finish their sentences because you may not finish them the way they would and then you won't truly know their answers.
• Avoid being overbearing or controlling. Have your list of questions ready but also be ready to go where the candidate takes you if there seems to be something of interest and relevant to the job.

Allow for pauses

• Make the candidate fill the space with a response.
• Don't over clarify your questions unless they ask.
• Don't ask too many questions in rapid succession so you give the candidate time to answer.
• Remember, introverts need time to think rather than thinking out loud, so it is even more important to allow for a pause if you NEED an introverted type for the job!

Avoid talking about yourself

• Don't follow up their story with your story
• Don't correct them and then begin explaining why
• If you feel you want to talk about yourself, save that for after they have the job, perhaps during a "sales pitch" to get them to accept the job
• When they ask you questions, pay attention to the questions they asked! Were they thought provoking? Did they demonstrate their competencies or capabilities? Then keep your answers concise so they have more time to ask questions or answer yours.

  Whole Person Listening  

In many circles, there are 3-4 "levels" of listening that really get to the point that the listener must listen with their whole self. I like using four levels because that fourth level helps you go even deeper into understanding the other person.

As I go through these levels, please realize that (a) each level is important in it's own right and (b) you should constantly be switching the levels at which you are listening depending on the situation. All four levels are important, but there is a time and a place in each conversation for each level.

Level 1: Self-Centered Listening

This form of listening is when you hear what someone is saying and simultaneously think about your own story, or your response to what they're saying. As a result it might look like:

Interviewer: Tell me about your experience with Excel.

Candidate: In my previous job, I utilized Excel to build financial models and run scenarios to determine what impacts specific factors and decisions would have on our EBITDA.

Interviewer: Interesting. I used to build financial models and it really helped me understand how our budgeting and financial statements work here.

The interviewer drew focus away from the candidate and didn't add much insight for the candidate either. That said, there is a use for Level 1 Listening! In an interview, it could be useful when breaking the ice so the candidate can identify with you on some level. A good use would be:

Interviewer: Did you enjoy your weekend?

Candidate: Yes, we went to a block party and got to meet a few new neighbors.

Interviewer: I always love going to block parties because you get a chance to connect with neighbors you only see in passing.

This tactic was useful because now the candidate and interviewer have something small in common. Now that they have broken the ice, the candidate is more likely to show their true self during the remainder of the interview.

Level 2: Informative Listening

Level 2 could also be titled "listening for information" because it's just that. When you hear a candidate speak, you're collecting information. You're answer questions like "what" and "where" and "when."

This type of listening is important for an interview because you need to answer those questions! You need to know if they have done the tasks before, if they're capable of doing them now, and how much experience they've had doing those tasks.

However, if you focus solely on "what" they did and now "how" or "why" they did them, you're missing half the picture. You do need to make sure they can do the job, technically speaking, but you also need to make sure they will do it in a manner fitting with your company and with that role.

A good example of an information gathering question could be:

Interviewer: Tell me about a time when you used Excel as a tool to make a decision.

You are seeking specific information about their use of Excel, and their decision making ability.

Level 3: Empathetic Listening

I believe Level 3 is where everyone should try to maintain for a good portion of every conversation, including interviews. Level 3 gets you away from listening only for information, and elevates your listening to look for tone, body language, eye contact, and word choice.

Bottom Line of Level 3 Listening: Don't listen to what they say, listen to how they say it.

Does the candidate sound sincere? When you ask if they have a particular skill or experience, is the answer a strong "yes" or do they waver when they say "yes" or follow it up with a "but..." And when you're trying to illicit responses that give you these empathetic cues, ask questions that start with "How" if you can. "How" will open doors where as the natural questions to ask will likely end up giving you more information and practiced, canned responses. 

Interviewer: Tell me about your experience with Excel.

Candidate: In my previous job, I was required to Excel to build financial models.

Interviewer: So you do have experience in financial modeling. I noticed you said "required to." How do you feel about using Excel?

Candidate: Actually, before that job, I developed a tool that does financial modeling differently so using Excel was a bit mundane.

Now on the one hand, you learned that the candidate can develop tools, and that he/she understands financial modeling well enough to develop a tool to conduct the modeling. That's all great information you wouldn't have known otherwise.

On the other hand, the candidate said "Excel was a bit mundane" which you may want to dig deeper into, to find out if he/she has a sense that they are better than others. 

Level 4: Contextual Listening

Contextual listening is a bit more difficult to grasp and to execute. Perhaps it's best to give an example of how context matters.


Let's say the candidate states they had to present to a group in his old job and explain a financial model he'd created. Context is needed here because you need to know if he briefed other financial analysts, peers at his level. Or perhaps, did he brief the C-suite? Those take very different presentation and relationship building skills.


  I Want to Hear from You  

What are some ways you listen as an interviewer?

Did you have a situation where you couldn't get the candidate to open up?

Or if you're a candidate, what are some things you've seen interviewers do that demonstrated they were not truly listening to you?