Hi – Tom Schin here from Alaant Workforce Solutions,
Question – ever go to an event, and the loudest person in the room gets all the attention (neither in a good or bad way)
Sometimes the loudest person DOES get all the attention, and others are left in their wake (for good or for bad). The same can be said when interviewing candidates for open roles.
The loudest (and often most confident) candidates drive the conversation and attention of the interviewers. And when you’re a group that thrives on that type of confidence, it’s hard not to go with that candidate.
Keep in mind, you might be missing out on some fabulous talent. Decibel levels don’t always equate to the most qualified and most capable.
It doesn’t mean the loudest won’t be successful, but plenty of strong candidates are a little more reserved, a bit less forward, and who initially come off as too quiet.
This can be for a variety of reasons:
They’re in observation mode – gathering all the information they can about the scenario, the players, etc. In other words, they’re reading the room
They like to analyze situations before jumping in
They might be a little bit introverted (that’s not a bad thing)
Last but certainly not least, they just might be nervous!
Side note - just because your interviewers have been doing it a while, doesn’t mean they’ll pick up on these cues. Some of the best candidates take their time to flourish and demonstrate their abilities – it just takes a little longer and a little more table setting to get them comfortable.
Remind your interviewing teams to be more open-minded and patient in getting candidates comfortable in their interview. The more comfortable they are, the more you’ll get to see the REAL candidate. Your job isn’t to make them feel under tons of pressure because the job has pressure. It’s to see what experiences they’ve had that relate to yours which can help you screen IN a great future employee.
Have another thought on this? Post your comment or questions below, or visit us online at Alaant.com
Thanks for listening – let’s catch up soon