Dear Stephen,
I'm a hiring manager for a manufacturer in the Southwest territory. Business is busy, and we're hiring a lot of field salespeople.
Last month, something happened to me where I learned a lesson during the course of an interview that I thought I'd share with you and your readership. I had an interview scheduled with a sales rep from a competitor – I consider myself to have good interviewing skills. But earlier that day, all the regional managers had a Teams meeting with our boss who was reviewing sales and different issues going on within the company. Let me just say it was a very stressful meeting.
My boss was upset about everything, and of course it started with sales, and he put all of us on edge. The meeting seemed like it would never end. It almost made me late for the interview, which was in-person. I have to admit, I went into the interview a bit distracted, but I felt like I did fine, especially coming out of such a rough meeting. The candidate was eminently qualified for our sales job, I wanted to bring her on board right away. I asked my normal questions, she answered them well and thoughtfully, I was ready for next steps.
After following up with our HR leader, to tell them they'd found a great candidate and I would like to move them along in the process, she told me she was just about to call me and tell me the candidate was no longer interested in working for our company. I was shocked to hear that it specifically had to do with the candidate thinking they would not be able to work for me.
My HR leader asked me if I went into the interview "hot?" To be fair, I was distracted and in a bad mood, still reeling from the rough meeting with my boss. I didn't realize it, but I probably took it out on this poor candidate. Maybe it was the tone of my questions, or the look on my face, but I was embarrassed and stunned to find this out.
Now I'm worried because I am representing my entire company, and I clearly rubbed this person the wrong way. The last thing I want is to be responsible for a negative impression of our brand in the market.
Even worse, I'm accountable to this HR leader, so it's a bad reflection on me as a hiring manager and my skills. So that's concerning as well. I wonder what she's thinking!
Lesson learned – in the future, even if I have to cancel an interview, when something has affected my mood, I'm never going to go into an interview "hot" again. Any thoughts?
Signed,
Hot head
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Dear Hot head,
What a great topic for you to share with us! And what a great lesson for you to learn.
You are right – conducting a bad interview does reflect poorly on you, as a hiring manager, and it creates a negative impression of your company in the marketplace. Candidates talk.
My thoughts are that everyone reading this column should be aware of the dangers of going into an interview in a bad mood – hungry, distracted, problems at home – it's not just a work situation that might put you in the "hot" mode, but it could be personal too.
If you're having a big fight with your spouse, for example, and you're the type of person who carries stuff with you to work (not everyone does), you have no business conducting an interview! Candidates who are interviewing: the same rules apply to you. Don't go in if you're not up for it.
I don't mind sharing with everyone that I personally have had this experience myself. My entire day is spent interviewing people as a recruiter, and if I have a personal crisis or a situation with a customer that is causing me stress, sometimes it is difficult to go into an interview with a candidate and give it my full attention.
However, after years of doing this professionally, I've been coached on how to train myself to compartmentalize various problems that arise during my day-to-day life. If you can't do that, just cancel the meeting. It's better to postpone the interview or meeting, than come in hot, as you said, with a bad attitude or negative vibes. Believe me – candidates will pick up on it!
By the way, you can often recover from a bad interview (or even a bad meeting for that matter!) by simply going back and apologizing. Explain your situation; an explanation can really help. A simple apology goes a long way, in life, and at work.
Thanks for sharing this story. This is a great topic for everyone to be reminded of. Those are my thoughts.
Signed,
Stephen