Two types of interview questions- Laura Huang, the author of Edge:Turning Adversity Into Advantage, says there are two types of questions in an interview: promotional questions which are designed to assess opportunity, and prevention questions which are designed to measure risk.  

Promotional questions– An example of a promotional question is: ‘What does success look like to you?’.   These are the preferred type of questions because you can talk about your skills, talents, and strengths that promote you as a preferred employee.  I like to think of these questions as being on offense. You have the “ball” and are running to make a goal of presenting yourself as the preferred candidate.

Prevention questions– An example of a prevention question is: ‘What do you think your biggest barrier is to success?’. For a prevention question, you switch to defense.  Instead of promoting yourself and your qualifications, you have to defend why you would be a good employee. The prevention questions are likely to be biased questions you need to watch for carefully.

Uncovering reasons for biased questions- An interviewer’s job is to assess a job candidate’s fit for an organization. He or she may to come into the interview with pre-conceived notions of what the candidate will be like as an employee.  For example, if the applicant has an accent, the interviewer may test out the stereotype that the person is not a good communicator. The interviewer may ask a prevention type question such as ‘Tell me a time when your communication skills caused you to fail’.  Through this interview question, the employer is assessing the candidate’s communication skills and the potential risk they might pose to an organization’s success.

Understand what bias you may be facing- To handle bias in interviews, know what perceptions and stereotypes interviewers may have about you.  If you don’t know immediately, ask friends and colleagues.  Although this process may be unpleasant, it is better to be prepared before the interview than to be caught off-guard during the interview.  

Prepare stories of successes.  Think about all of your successes.  Pay special attention to the examples where you overcame possible negative perceptions.  Write your success examples down and practice telling stories about them.  In your story, tell about the challenge you had, the action you took to resolve the problem, and the final result.  Often people get so caught up in the story, they forget to give the final outcome, and that is the most important element in the story. 

Guide and redirect- When asked a prevention question, guide and redirect your answer to tell about a success story.  Going back to our example question of ‘Tell me a time when your communication skills caused you to fail’, an answer might be “I am glad that you asked that.  Early on in my career, I struggled with people not understanding my accent but then I learned how to make it work for me rather than against me.  For example, I was giving a presentation to my colleagues and they couldn’t understand my pronunciation of “enthusiastic” when it came out more as “oosiatic”.  I made a joke about it and everyone laughed.  It became a word for the team and now everyone is “oosiatic” about things that we are excited about.  We are even known as Team Oosiatic throughout the company and I have to say the whole situation brought the team closer together.”  In this example, the person acknowledged the accent, but redirected the answer to show how it used be used in a positive way to bring people together.  The answer flipped the perception of bias about the accent and instead, caused the interviewer to see the person’s communication skills in a positive light.

Face bias head-on It would be awesome to live in a world without negative bias, but until that time comes, prepare to confront it. “Remember, it takes courage, vulnerability, and humility to admit what you don’t know and experiment with new behaviors.”- Mikaelea Kiner

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1.  What answers do I need to improve?  No matter how much you prepare for interviews, it seems there is at least one question that takes you by surprise.  Reflect back on the questions that you are asked and write down the ones you were not prepared to answer.  Think through more suitable responses.  Preparing now will increase your success for the second interview or even interviews with other organizations.

2.  Can I see myself working in this job for this organization?  Interviewing is a 2-way street.  Just as the organization is evaluating you, you need to evaluate them.  Visualize yourself in the job at the company.  Is it a good fit for you?  You may need to do further research to make your decision but don’t wait until an offer comes to do that research.  Now is the time to remove yourself from the process if the organization or the job is not what you envision for yourself.

3.  Would I enjoy working for this manager?  Employees often quit jobs because of their managers.  If you have serious suspicions you are going to be working for a bad boss, think twice before going forward.  It is better to continue your search and find someone that you can work with than accept a job you are unhappy doing.

4. How will I follow-up?  A thank you note is the minimum follow-up.  What can you do to go above and beyond?  You may want to consider sending a sample of your work or perhaps something you discussed in the interview.  As an example, you told the interviewer about the excellent comments your previous boss wrote in your review; so after the interview, you send a copy of the review with your thank you note.  This serves to substantiate your answer and helps you to stand out from other applicants.

After every interview, a manager will reflect on the candidate in order to make a decision on what to do next.  You, in turn, should also reflect on the interview.  By doing so, you will not only improve your interviewing skills, you will also make better decisions regarding your career.

Stacy Harshman, founder of Your Fulfilling Life, brings her experience as a recruiter for a Fortune 500 corporation to her work as a career coach. In addition to helping people discover their passions, she also provides clients with insight into the mind of a recruiter, unlocking the secrets of what employers look for in potential employees. Stacy offers career coaching in person and by phone to those seeking positive change in their professional lives.

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More screening tools-

Glassdoor conducted a study of 344,250 interview reviews in six countries submitted anonymously to examine what is happening from a jobseeker’s point of view. According to the study, employers are increasingly using more screening methods. Here are some examples of the increases between 2010 and 2014:

• Background checks rose from 25% to 42%
• Skills tests increased from 16% to 23%
• Drug tests from 13% to 23%
• Personality tests went from 12% to 18%

Glassdoor reports that each of the screens adds a statistically significant amount to average time required for the interview process, and in some cases, adding a full week.

More panel interviews-

Organizations are adopting a more consensus-driven decision process that takes more time. “Everyone feels they need to give their opinion on the candidate,” says Danielle Wienblatt co-founder and CEO of Take The Interview in a recent interview with HR Magazine. Wienblatt reveals that “sometimes a company has 30 rounds of interviews”.

Company Size Matters-

Jobs stay open longest at large companies. The Glassdoor Economic Research report found the following:

• At companies from 10-49 employees, hiring took on average of 15 days
• At companies from 50-249 employees, hiring took on average of just under 20 days
• At companies from 250-999 employees, hiring takes on average 22 days
• At companies with 1,000-9,999 employees, hiring takes on average 26 days

The report drew two conclusions from the data. First, larger corporations hire more specialized and technical employees requiring more screening. Second, large companies have more bureaucracy of approvals and decisions which causes slowing of the hiring process.

Industries Matter-

The types of jobs that employers are hiring affect the duration of job openings. Typically government employers including local, state, and federal agencies hire most slowly. At the opposite side of the spectrum are franchise employers which have the shortest hiring cycle. Franchise employers include many retail and fast food establishments. The higher level of skill required to do the job, the longer and more intensive the screening process is. Some comparisons from the report are:

• Government employers take on average 60 days to hire
• College/University and hospital employers take on average just over 30 days to hire
• Franchise employers take on average just over 10 days to hire

Location Matters-

Where the job is located also seems to affect the duration of the hiring process. Cities often have cluster of industries. For example, Washington D.C. has a large cluster of government employers, and Silicon Valley has a large number of tech employers. Miami, Phoenix, and Orlando have large hospitality industries. Here is a comparison for times to hire:

• Washington D.C.: an average of 34.4 days
• San Jose: an average of 24.8 days
• San Francisco: an average of 23.7 days
• Orlando: an average of 19.3 days
• Phoenix: an average of 19.1 days
• Miami: an average of 18.6 days

Titles Matter-

The more complex a job is, the longer the hiring process is. The reported job titles taking the most time are government, academic, and senior level executive positions. The shortest interview processes are found among more routine jobs. Here are the Glassdoor report numbers:

• Police officer takes on average 127.6 days to hire
• Assistant Professor takes on average 58.7 days to hire
• Senior Vice President takes on average 55.5 days to hire
• Managing Director takes on average 51.1 days to hire
• Line cook takes on average 7 days to hire
• Server/Bartender takes on average 5.7 days to hire

Recruiting of Passive Candidates-

Social media has transformed recruiting by making it easier to contact candidates that are not actively looking for a job. Organizations are using LinkedIn and other social media to woo people to work for them but there are some disadvantages. “The recruiting process takes longer, and the conversion ratio is lower for candidates who are not actively seeking a new job” says Steven Davis, an economics professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business when interviewed by HR Magazine.

If you are currently seeking a new job, you have most likely experienced the long wait time for a decision to be made. Unfortunately, it appears that the time may even be getting longer given the trend in hiring. The key is to not get discouraged. Keep in mind what your mother has taught you- “Good things come to those who wait”.

Stacy Harshman, founder of Your Fulfilling Life, brings her experience as a recruiter for a Fortune 500 corporation to her work as a career coach. In addition to helping people discover their passions, she also provides clients with insight into the mind of a recruiter, unlocking the secrets of what employers look for in potential employees. Stacy offers individual and group coaching in person and by phone to those seeking positive change in their professional lives.

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