Too many bosses use negative interviewing techniques

Outdated interviewing techniques mean bosses are overlooking top talent, say recruitment experts.

David Tunna, founding director of HTW Recruitment believes too many talented candidates are being dismissed by businesses because they don’t fit a job spec to the letter. He says:

Many managers lack specific training in recruitment and selection and use interviews merely to weed-out what they view as unsatisfactory applicants rather than to discover abilities and talents that could enhance the candidate’s value.

Old-style interviewers often plant a few stumbling-blocks among their questions to trip up the unaware. By focusing too much on finding the candidate’s weaknesses, the interviewer may well fail to discover their strengths.

In contrast, a positive approach to interviewing means bosses uncover qualities in a candidate that they aren’t necessarily looking for; ambition, natural creativity or instinctive commercial flair, perhaps.

Unschooled managers often squander recruitment opportunities by simply taking a superficial view of a candidate’s appearance and qualifications, he added.