Interviews are an essential part of the recruitment process. In Canada, interviews are the most popular recruitment tool. However, there is a worrying gap between the science of interviewing and the way interviews are typically conducted in the workplace.

Employers often have misconceptions about whether they can accurately assess a candidate if they don’t use a structured set of questions and a formal scoring process to evaluate the candidate’s responses. We place too much emphasis on being able to judge a candidate based on a casual conversation. These misconceptions can cause employers to ignore the most effective interview strategies.

At the same time, researchers need to better understand the real-world challenges employers face during interviews.

As researchers in human resource management and work and organizational psychology, we investigate how job interviews can be optimized for employers and job seekers.

In a recent study, we spoke to experienced interviewers from a variety of fields across Canada to understand how employers plan and conduct their interviews. Our findings challenge some common assumptions about the best way to conduct an interview.

Interviews are more than just tests

Interviews can serve a variety of purposes. Employers use them not only to assess applicants (selection), but also to persuade applicants to accept job offers (recruitment) and to inform applicants about the job (socialization).

To achieve these different goals, the employers we spoke with designed their interviews differently. Some employers changed the goals within a single interview, while others tried to juggle multiple goals at once.

Depending on the employer’s needs (assessment, recruitment, or information), the interview can play different roles in the hiring process. There is no one best way to conduct interviews, and success depends on the specific goals the employer wants to achieve.

We examined how employers design their interviews to achieve their objectives. It was clear from our study that interviewers faced challenges when trying to juggle multiple objectives in a single interview.

We recognized many of these challenges, such as honestly disclosing the difficult aspects of the job while also trying to keep the candidate interested in accepting an offer. To address these challenges, we also focused on interview tactics that help interviewers achieve multiple goals.

Finally, we examined other factors that complicate interview design and conduct, including characteristics of the hiring organization, interviewers’ beliefs about assessing applicants, and concerns about ensuring fairness in the hiring process. Understanding and addressing these factors is necessary to improve interview practices.

Conduct more effective interviews

Based on our research and the science of interviewing, there are three important, yet often overlooked, ways employers can improve their interviewing practices.

First, employers need to adapt their interview strategies to their hiring goals. Many of the interviewers in our study designed interviews based on habits, company norms, or intuition.

Instead, interviewers should be clear about their hiring goals and tailor the interviews to meet those goals. This could include, for example, using targeted, structured behavioral questions to assess, building a foundation of trust for hiring, or providing a realistic overview of job expectations.

Avoid pursuing too many goals

Second, employers should resist the urge to pursue too many goals at once. It can be tempting to want to assess and win over a candidate in the same interview, but these goals often require different strategies that can conflict with one another. For example, unstructured interviews can be helpful in hiring, but they undermine accurate assessments.

However, an assessment-focused interview doesn’t have to be cold or intimidating. Interviewers can start with a warm greeting and explain that certain procedures are in place to ensure the fairness and accuracy of the hiring process.

Similarly, informing a candidate about job details may be consistent with candidate assessment and recruitment, as long as interviewers follow a standard protocol to support the assessment or speak positively about their company to support hiring.

Employers may also conduct multiple interviews, each for a specific purpose. For example, an initial interview might focus on assessment, while a subsequent interview might focus on hiring once a candidate offer is under review.

Debunking myths about job interviews

Finally, interviewers should be aware of common myths about job interviews. Some of the employers we spoke to still held on to outdated beliefs that have been thoroughly debunked by scientific research.

These myths included giving more importance to “gut feelings” than to rigorous evaluation procedures, trying to “surprise” candidates rather than asking direct questions, and asking “weird” questions rather than job-relevant ones.

If the candidate with the highest score is not the one the interviewer prefers, the score is likely more accurate than the interviewer’s preference. Interview training that targets these misconceptions can improve interview practice.

Interviews are a valuable recruitment tool, but are often misused or underused. With targeted and evidence-based approaches, interviews can be used to make fairer and more accurate decisions when recruiting and informing candidates.