Can Interviewers Really Judge a Candidate's Potential in Just Ten Minutes? Let's Discuss!

We all have faced interviews many times, and for entry or mid-level positions, interviewers spend ten to fifteen minutes with a candidate. Can a candidate's potential and skills be judged in this short time? I personally have attended many interviews and have conducted many interviews as well.

Experiences as a Candidate

At the beginning, we are not so comfortable with the interviewer. There may be many reasons for this, as the environment is hostile, and the interviewers are unfamiliar to us. Generally, we take time to get familiar with the people and environment. We have a feeling that interviewers know everything, and we may not know it all. Sometimes we get scared because of the fear of failure; what will happen if we don’t get selected? The success rate is higher when we are continuing in a job, as there is nothing more to lose.

How to Succeed in Interviews

"How to succeed in interviews" is one of the most searched items on Google. A few things that have helped me include proper grooming with professional attire, as first impressions last long. Be positive and confident, but sometimes overconfidence can cost us heavily. Honesty is the biggest asset a candidate has and is appreciated by employers, so try to be honest. Looking into the eyes of the interviewers will work. Communication should be short and precise, meaning the candidate’s reply should be to the point. Communication is very vital, and we need to have excellent communication skills in English. Feedback from interviewers will help us in the next interview, so don’t miss out on asking for feedback. Nothing is impossible if we try.

I would request our seniors to add their valuable views to make this more effective. Correct me if I am wrong, and I would be more than happy to learn.

The Reality of Interview Success

If reading so much content on succeeding in interviews available in both electronic/internet and print media enables a candidate to succeed, then he should succeed in every interview he attends. That is not the reality. Almost every aspiring candidate must have read it. You may find most people coming well-dressed in suits and ties for interviews. Most of them must also have been well-articulated. Even some of them behave in such a way that their selection is a certainty and the interview is only a ritual. Sometimes you might also find this posturing intimidating to other candidates, and the not-so-confident among the aspirants for the job might be developing some complex also by such posturing. At the end of the interview, when the panel announces the list of candidates shortlisted for further process, you might be surprised to see names of some unassuming people in it while the vocally confident are missing. What happens in the interview room is different. They see whether you are someone who has the knowledge and skill to meet their needs. You need to understand the job profile thoroughly, know about the company thoroughly, and check whether you have what they want to have.

Handling Interview Anxiety

At the interview venue, I often found that some aspiring candidates anxiously gather around a candidate who just came out of the interview room to get feedback. That candidate might reel off some questions asked to him and might pass judgment, often negative, about some members of the panel. After hearing the feedback, people often get restless searching for proper replies for the questions asked and must also be thinking of strategies to counter the not-so-friendly members of the panel. This anxiety may trip the candidates off balance. Normally the panel does not ask the same questions for all candidates. The questions vary as per the candidate's own profile. Therefore, I do not encourage this practice. Be relaxed and be sure of your profile. Of course, it is important to look decently dressed. If you are not comfortable in a suit, wear a tie only. As far as communication skills are concerned, do not exert unusual pressure to be too fluent. Communication does not mean being bombastic, sounding jargon, or being talkative. Express in simple words and clearly. There is no harm in taking the help of Hindi or your mother tongue or the language known to the panel if you are stuck in English, as the panel knows that one can be best communicative in their mother tongue or Hindi at the workplace. After all, what is more important is that the work is not hindered by miscommunication.

Regards,
B. Saikumar

Dear Abedeen, Thank you for raising an interesting and evergreen topic about attending interviews.

Attire, Grooming, and Communication

About attire, grooming, and fluency in communication, diverging opinions exist. While an old adage goes, “Do not judge a book by its cover,” IMAGE consultants firmly believe that you need to create a good impression in about thirty seconds!

In reality, it does take time to correctly judge a person’s ability and suitability. You have been very generous in saying that we get about fifteen minutes and lament that period is less. However, in my personal experience, after you get all the approvals and start recruiting at the eleventh hour (close to the completion of a project construction and the pressure to commence manufacturing), even fifteen minutes is an ill-affordable luxury! Certainly, we would not be doing full justice, but we mostly err on the right side. One or two wrong selections do make us think otherwise, in retrospect.

Time Allocation in Recruitment

As you recruit a person, we can say that the time spent to recruit increases as we go up the hierarchical ladder. So, you give less time to first-level managers/trainees, some more time for middle-level, and the most for top management. This, of course, presupposes that the initial screening has been done well to meet the obvious requirements.

Certain organizations like BARC used to give as much as 40 minutes to one hour for entry-level graduate engineers. In some companies, three rounds of interviews at different levels, each consuming about 10 to 15 minutes per person, are also in vogue.

Regards, V. Raghunathan