Does this sound familiar? You’re considering a candidate for an open position at your company. The hiring scorecard is clean, the assessment results are glowing, and the resume reads like a highlight reel. But then…the interview happens, and everything shifts. Whether the shift is for better or worse often comes down to one thing: the interviewer’s ability to engage in meaningful dialogue.
Recently, I had the chance to train a group of leaders on advanced interviewing skills. In preparation, we dove deep into the tools, structured questions, behavioral prompts, and rating rubrics, but what sparked the most conversation and interest was something less tangible and far more powerful: the ineffable quality of human interaction.
The Interview Is a Mirror (But Not Always a Clear One)
Academic research shows that most interviewers decide how they feel about a candidate within the first few minutes. What follows is often a subconscious attempt to confirm that first impression, whether it’s true or not. That means our dialogue can either become a tool for clarification or a trap for confirmation bias.
The good news? When interviewers are trained to listen actively, probe thoughtfully, and stay grounded in structured prompts, the dialogue can radically improve accuracy. In fact, structured interviews with skilled interviewers outperform unstructured ones by more than double in terms of predictive accuracy when assessing future job performance.
But here’s the catch: structure alone isn’t enough. It’s the skillful use of that structure, the art of the conversation, that makes it work.
Human Dialogue Reveals What Assessments Can’t
Assessments, scorecards, and surveys have their place. They help filter, frame, and focus. But it’s the live conversation, the real-time give and take of dialogue, that uncovers what can’t be captured in an algorithm:
- How someone reflects on failure
- What energizes or drains them
- The way they wrestle with ambiguity
- Whether their values resonate with your team’s ethos
You don’t get that from a DISC profile.
You get that from a pause. A follow-up. A moment where the candidate drops the script and speaks from experience. And you only reach that moment if you know how to create space for dialogue that goes deeper than canned responses.
You Are the Differentiator
If you’re a leader making hiring decisions, your ability to conduct a thoughtful, curious, well-structured interview is a competitive advantage. Yes, your team can (and should) use tools to reduce bias and create consistency. But don’t discount what’s happening in the room. Don’t sleep on the fact that your ability to build trust, ask the right follow-up, and sit in silence while someone thinks might be the difference between hiring someone who looks good on paper and someone who’s actually going to love what they do, help your team win, and grow the organization.
Want to Sharpen Your Interview Skills?
If this resonates with you, maybe you’re realizing how much rests on your
shoulders as the interviewer. I’d love to talk. Whether you’re refining your team’s interview process, training your leaders, or just want to practice asking better questions, let’s connect.
Send me an email at [email protected] so we can practice together.
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