In a recent blog I revisited an old article full of wishful thinking about how our research culture would be improved by some simple steps. In the summary at the end I noted that if I was writing the list of suggestions today I would add one to the ideas to improve recruitment:
you get the interview questions, or at least topics, in advance
This is now the norm when I’m recruiting. For the last few roles I’ve advertised I’ve worked with the colleagues who support me in all things HR to provide the interview questions to all applicants in advance. No one has queried this or said “that’s not allowed” although this might be because of the nature of the roles (all associated with a project to improve research culture).
This change has happened very recently. When I recruited into a pair of other roles about 15 months before my culture project, I faced an uphill struggle to offer this to those applicants. The person blocking me was insistent that this wasn’t how things were done, that there was no justification for doing it and that they believed that it was going to make it impossible to judge who was the best candidate. They were unconvinced by my arguments about inclusion and fairness and insisted that we were just going to hear the same answers parroted back at us from everyone.
I was forced to compromise with an experimental approach. For one role we gave applicants the questions in advance and for the other, we didn’t. It won’t surprise anyone who has recruited inclusively to hear that we were able to make more confident decisions for the open interview. Rather that hearing the same answers, we heard a more diverse range of perspectives. People who weren’t a good fit for the role weren’t able to find any more evidence when they a few days to think rather than a few seconds. But for those who WERE a good fit, the process was fairer, kinder and allowed them to shine. And for those who struggle to articulate complex thoughts under the combined horror of time and interview pressure, it was most impactful.
I have wanted to do this since I came across the idea of sharing questions in advance a few years ago. I’ve tried a few times and been blocked (usually with a “computer says no” line about “we don’t do that”) but either the world has grown up a bit or I have got to the level where I can design the recruitment process that I feel reflects the culture and values of the work we do.
My keenness to do this comes from the fact that I’m really good at interviews. Partly because I had a LOT of practice as a final year undergrad (I reckon about 70 – so I was a LOT better at the end of that year than the start), partly because I’m good at thinking on my feet and sounding convincing, perhaps because I just really like talking about myself. Whatever it is, since after my PhD I’ve been good at them and even when I’m not the right fit for the role, I’m often told I gave the best interview.
Which has always troubled me because very little of my work needs these skills. I rarely need to respond to unexpected questions. I suspect my work would be better if I did a little less thinking on my feet. But being good at interviews means you are more likely to get a job. This has always struck me as a little odd.
I used to be a careers adviser, so I’ve also spent a lot of time coaching and preparing people for interviews. Part of my training and development in that role involved looking into recruitment practices and interviews regularly scored badly in terms of how effective they were at identifying the best candidate. Yet we persist with them, partly because of habit and I suspect mostly because we all think we are good at judging people based on personal interactions.
Whilst doing an interview with the questions available in advance doesn’t render the process infallible, it does make it less discriminatory against people who struggle with all the things that I’m good at.
However, there are some pitfalls when you get the questions in advance. If you have an interview on the horizon, here’s a few thoughts based on now having recruited into 6 posts this way.
- Less is more. Don’t tell me everything you’ve ever done which relates to the question. I want to see evidence that you’ve thought critically and carefully about what is MOST relevant to me and the role on offer. Don’t waffle. Answers shouldn’t be any longer than they would be for an old school interview. With the questions available in advance, you will hopefully also have been told how long the interview is (if they don’t say – ask!) so you should be able to work out how long each answer should be.
- Don’t read a script. At the start of my interviews, I say to people “this isn’t a memory test, if you need your notes in front of you, then that’s fine”. This doesn’t mean that I want a public reading. I still want you to engage with me, speak fluently, perhaps responding to something that might have come up on the day of the interview.
- Be ready for some follow ups. Even though I share questions in advance I always warn people that I may ask follow ups which aren’t available in advance. These usually relate to something they have said and are always done with the candidate’s benefit in mind. I might want them to clarify something that could be misconstrued, or to dig into something which sounds really relevant and they haven’t given much detail about. Don’t be thrown by this or think it’s a trap. It’s about trying to get the best from you; you can always ask for a moment to think through your answer before responding.
- Work out your close. At the end of most interviews you will be asked if you have any questions for the panel and any final comments to make. Take advantage of this – it’s a golden opportunity to shine. I am always really disappointed when someone says “no, nothing” because you’re missing the chance to take control of the interview and get me thinking!
If you are facing an interview and are not getting the questions in advance, then you might be able to improve your preparation by showing the job description to someone with recruitment experience – they should be able to work out some sample questions which relate the criteria and even if they aren’t a close match, thinking about these will help you to tune into the recruiter’s needs.
Good luck!
Photo by Van Tay Media on Unsplash
