Short answer: There are two types of interviewers. One is looking for reasons to hire. One is looking for reasons NOT to hire. Interviewers looking for reasons not to hire run longer searches, exhaust their interview panel, and are more likely to lose the right hire to a competitor. By contrast, interviewers looking for reasons to hire often attract and win passive candidates and get to a decision point with less friction and frustration.
What are the two types of interviewers?
Every hiring manager defaults to one of two postures in an interview.
Type 1 interviews to disqualify. They look for gaps, cultural or personality disconnects; they see the wrong industry or whatever the thing that is not quite right.
Type 2 interviews to qualify. They often have strong listening skills and embody the trait everyone covets: curiosity. They consider what a person could do for the business; they look for a deeper understanding of their business; they seek alignment; they value quality of candidate questions and are comfortable with candidates leading/guiding parts of the meeting.
Why do hiring managers look for reasons not to hire?
Undefined requirements. They are working from a generic job description instead of a concise set of requirements. They often use language like “trusting their gut” or “I’ll know it when I meet them”. In some circumstances, they idolize a public figure and compare every candidate to that aspirational idea. We’ve experienced that with first-time founders who want “someone like Brian Chesky” to lead product or “someone like the next Jony Ive” to lead design.
Inexperience. They may not know how to run a search process.
Insecurity. Scared to make the decision. Something this manifests as involving too many decision makers in a hiring process to avoid having to make a hiring decision.
What happens when you interview to screen people out?
The search takes a long time. Stakeholders develop interview fatigue. You risk the panel growing cynical and stop believing anyone will clear your bar. The interview panel may begin to question a Founder’s decisions, or lack of them. You risk reputational damage in the market.
Why do “reasons to hire” interviewers get better outcomes?
They identify opportunities they had not planned for
- Sales: one new salesperson is all it takes to start a pipeline in a new vertical or geography.
- Customer Success: one new CSM is all it takes to win back a customer who was ready to churn.
- Product: one new product hire could be the API integration strategy you keep deferring.
- Marketing: one new Marketing Manager is all it takes to test an ABM strategy that lands targeted business.
They give a better candidate experience
Interviewers looking to hire ask more probing questions, because they are projecting openness and interest without trying. They sell the company, because they see potential in the person across from them. They create fans, including among the people they do not hire.
Candidates know when an interview is going badly. Nobody likes getting grilled.
They close candidates and end searches sooner
The outcome of interviewing is a hire. Not a shortlist, not a benchmark, not market intelligence. A hire, in the seat, delivering.
How do I stop interviewing to disqualify?
Nail down three show-stopper requirements, not a job description. Three things a candidate must demonstrate to advance. Everything else is a preference, and preferences do not get a veto.
Cap the panel. Focus on the peer group leaders
Count your interviews. If you are past ten candidates for one role with no offer out, the problem is not the market. Look inside.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is interviewing more candidates better?
No. Volume is often a symptom of undefined requirements. Interviewing more people to feel confident usually delays the decision and increases the chance your leading candidate takes another offer while you keep looking.
How many candidates should you interview before making a hire?
For a well-defined senior search, a shortlist of four to six qualified candidates should produce a hire. If you have interviewed significantly more than that with no offer out, revisit the requirements before you revisit the pipeline.
Does looking for reasons to hire mean lowering the bar?
No. The bar is your three requirements. Looking for reasons to hire means assessing candidates against those requirements and the business opportunity, instead of against an imaginary perfect candidate.
What is interview fatigue?
Interview fatigue is what happens when a hiring panel has met too many candidates without a decision. Interviewers disengage, calendars close, and evaluation quality drops. It is a common outcome of a search run by a Type 1 interviewer.
How can I tell which type of interviewer I am?
Read your last three candidate debriefs. If they are mostly a list of what was missing, you are Type 1.
Why do we keep losing candidates to competitors?
Usually process length. A candidate in an active search has options. Every additional week of deliberation is a week your competitor can use to make an offer.
Are you running a search that has gone past six months with no hire? Book a call.