Applying to a job can be stressful for applicants. Plus, the balance of power is strongly skewed towards the employer. This means people interviewing are typically not the best representation of themselves. Success in interviewing does not necessarily predict success on the job.
Therefore, interviewing with Koan should be as comfortable and easy as possible. Some guidelines:
- Always be transparent with the candidate.
- If you realize early on that you won’t be able to hire someone, let them know. This is not common practice, because it’s hard to be that direct. However, most people will appreciate you being candid.
- Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Something that happens often is a candidate asking whether a function can lead into a more senior role. You should have already thought about this before the interview, and often the response is “it depends”. Candidates will understand it when you say that it depends on how they perform on the job.
- Prepare and take time for interviews. If you rush someone, or don’t have the time to prepare or finish you notes after the interview, it’s better to not have the interview.
- Prepare the candidate for the interview. If you expect them to e.g. go through work, do an exercise or anything else, don’t surprise them with this. Let them know at the time of scheduling the interview.
- It’s okay to not be sure about a candidate, and ask for another interview.
Inclusive recruitment
Our hiring process is designed to protect against the worst sorts of interview failures, but it can't eliminate the limited awareness, unconscious biases, and straight-up bad days that create a less-than-awesome experience for the candidate across the table. That work is up to each of us. Some valuable resources in that process include: