As a hiring manager, it’s crucial to view an interview as an open dialogue rather than a test with prescribed answers. Any intelligent person understands that questions in any conversation can be interpreted in various ways, leading to multiple valid responses.
An interview should not be an exam hidden behind behavioral questions. The key in an interview is not the specific questions, but rather how the candidate thinks and if they know what they’re doing. An interview should be a conversation, not a test.
Open Dialogue
The idea of an interview as an open dialogue might intimidate some managers. They might worry about how to have a conversation with someone they’ve never met, leading them to rely on a list of standard questions with expected answers. This fear can turn the interview into a test and result in avoiding genuine interaction.
It’s the interviewer’s responsibility to listen and react thoughtfully, not to stick to a planned test. If the applicant doesn’t give the expected response, it doesn’t mean they have failed. In a test, yes, but in a conversation, the interviewer can explore the response further through open dialogue. Sometimes an applicant might interpret a question differently. If the interviewer simply marks the response as wrong, both the company and the applicant could miss out on a great opportunity. The interviewer should be able to create follow-up questions on the spot to probe deeper and understand if the person knows their craft.
This approach also applies to reading a CV. Some people don’t create stellar CVs, but a little effort to read between the lines can reveal much more about a candidate. There’s more to a person than their most recent job title, education, or previous employers. If you don’t get the exact response you’re looking for, don’t think, “They failed the test.” It’s your job to determine if they know their job.
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