Providing resources for communities and entrepreneurs to create and retain jobs in Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan & Emmet Counties.

Have your hiring interviews lost their accuracy?

Northern Lakes Economic Alliance  •  231-582-6482  •  info@northernlakes.net

Buck Love, Business Retention & Growth

Dr. John Sullivan identified in an article, “Top 10 Reasons Why Interviews No Longer Accurately Predict On-the-Job Success,” that the steady reduction in the authenticity of interviews has contributed to an ugly failure rate among new hires. Sullivan is a professor, author, corporate speaker, and known HR thought-leader from the Silicon Valley who specializes in providing bold and high-business-impact talent management solutions.

Data from multiple sources reveal that within 18 months often over 50 percent of new hires will fail. And this high level of hiring failure occurs across all job levels from hourlies to CEOs.

Use Sullivan’s Top 10 Reasons to curate a better interview process:

  1. Knowing the questions in advance allows candidates to provide canned answers.
  2. Interview practice produces artificially polished “performances.”
  3. Remote interviews make it easier for a candidate to cheat and appear better than they are.
  4. An over-focus on cultural fit inaccurately eliminates candidates who could perform.
  5. Candidates are now providing more “I did it all” exaggerated answers.
  6. Lying on social media has spilled over to interview answers.
  7. A lack of interviewer training makes hiring manager assessments less accurate.
  8. Candidates are coached by employees, artificially boosting their performance.
  9. A rosy but distorted view of the job will result in a significant new-hire turnover.
  10. More jobs now require higher-level skills and more preparation.

Sullivan offers as a final thought, that you can reduce your reliance on interviews by giving candidates real problems that they will face on-the-job to solve. He offers, “We now live in a changing world where new data and technologies are now forcing those involved in hiring to rethink every aspect of the process.” For a more in-depth analysis see Dr. Sullivan’s article here: https://www.ere.net/hiring-interviews-have-lost-their-accuracy-a-warning

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