How to help a nervous candidate recover?

Question

I have a candidate who had two excellent phone screens, but when he showed up for an interview, was shaking due to nerves. Despite his obvious nervousness, he did well enough in the first hour, demonstrating both technical ability and cultural fit.

Evidently, however, he starting going down hill over the next two hours, stammering his way through answers and making a few missteps.

The first set of interviewers said "definite hire", the next two were lukewarm, and the last were mostly negative. One of the big points they made was that he was too nervous to get a feel for what he's really like. We're aiming for consensus, and our impressions were so different that we really don't have it.

I wouldn't normally do this, but the first set was so strong that we'd like to give him another chance to show himself, particularly to the later interviewers. How can I create an environment that sets the candidate at ease and helps him represent himself well? It seems that the triple panel of interviewers wasn't working here.

Answer 1

The simple fact is that some people have social anxiety that really affects their interviews at times. But let me say from personal experience that this does not necessarily mean anything negative about their ability to do the job. Unlike the person who said it's a "red flag" it is nothing of the sort, anymore than a person being awful at UX design means they can't write Java components. They're 2 very different skills and environments.

Unless you're hiring the guy to be interrogated for hours at length, your interview process will do nothing to give you an accurate picture of his work and thought process. That's the flaw in the formal interview. It never ceases to amaze me how many people are shocked when there's a bad hire after a lengthy interview process. It's as though they're saying, "I don't understand how interrogating him for 3 hours like a witness to a crime didn't tell us how he would be to work with in an environment nothing like the interview!"

There are a few things you can try.

1. Limit interviews to 2 hours, tops. That level of scrutiny places a lot of pressure on the interviewee and the sustaining of that pressure isn't revealing because it's not the kind of pressure he will get on the job. But there's a way to simulate that which I will get to.
2. Resist the urge to bring everyone and their cousin into the interview process. It's really unnecessary and doesn't add any real insight. Realistically, you don't need more than his future manager, a coworker and either the manager's boss or another coworker. Those 3 know enough about the job requirements and environment to be able to determine if there is a good fit. Everyone else just turns it into something like a congressional hearing.
3. Have a planning meeting. Have the interviewers simulate a typical project meeting. I've done this numerous times and can't stress enough how effective it can be. Basically, you come up with something that this person may be tasked to do and you have a meeting about it. You go over the problem, maybe give some solutions the end users have suggested, and lay out the basic parameters that the "project" would have. Leave out some necessary information that you would expect him to want to know. And then you watch and have this meeting. Treat it as a back and forth process like you would in a real meeting. By asking questions about the project you're exploring the candidate in a much more realistic way. And because it's still an interview, you do have stress, but the candidate has an outlet for it, his skill.

But as others have suggested, build a rapport. You'll want him to be comfortable as an employee so making him uncomfortable as a candidate doesn't really help you.

Answer 2

The best way is to drop the formal interview style.

Think about the job he will be performing and how his team will work with him. Then design a way to see how he works in that environment. Ask them to sit next to a team member for an hour and work on a problem. Most technical people can offer some insight while trying to diagnose a problem.

Try and remove the part of the process that causes them issues. I know people that are very good at their job, but can never talk in front of a group. Give them a problem to solve and one or two people to work with and they rock.

You want to know they can add value to the team, so construct the interview to measure just that, nothing else. Just find out if they can contribute.

Answer 3

One of the big points they made was that he was too nervous to get a feel for what he's really like.

It sounds like you seem to have determined that he at least has the technical skills. Your last interviewers seem to want to get to know him, as a person, better.

So put together a meeting where not only you can get to know him, but where he can also get to know who he's working with. This will benefit everybody and maybe help his nerves as well.

One example would be to invite him out to lunch with those interviewers who are unsure yet, and some of his future co-workers.

Remember this isn't an interview, its just lunch to see how he will fit in. Having everybody just focused on him during lunch will bring the nerves back. This should just be a fun casual outing for everybody. Normal conversation should take place and he can get a feel for how the team treats the other members. (and if the company can manage it, have the meal paid for, at least for the candidate ;)

Answer 4

What I will be saying is from personal experience. I have found that creating rapport with the candidate puts them at ease. When I was interviewing, I appreciated interviewers who really got to know me as a person and evaluated my competencies through conversation rather than interrogation. Direct questioning would undoubtedly add to the nervousness of the candidate. I also found environment to be a big influence. Try to create an environment that is welcoming rather than cold, such as directly across a barren desk, as the desk symbolizes a psychological barrier that impedes open dialogue.

Answer 5

In the short term, you won't help the nervous candidate recover. If it is really some deep pattern of anxiety that you have triggered in that person, it is very hard to change it so quickly. Don't try to find the right format; chances are it won't work, unless you have an incredibly deep understanding of people.

First suggestion: hire the person on a contract basis, part-time. After a few months make a decision.

Second suggestion: schedule another interview in 2 months from now. In the meantime get together for coffee, etc.

Also, remember that, research shows, most interviewers are really bad at predicting the candidate's future job performance. So your idea that you need to get what this person is really like is mostly an illusion. Again, research shows that most interviewers are not better than hiring at random.

Answer 6

I would like to add a different aspect: especially in engineer and software development environments, there are a lot of people which show signs of the so-called Asperger syndrome, which today is classified as a weak form of autism.

These people have difficulties with social interaction and especially nonverbal communication or verbal communication with slight undertones. They instead focus more on the rational content of speech. They may get into emotional stress when brought into unusual situations facing many people at once, especially when the financial income depends on the decision. They often have special interests which they pursuit with great patience and detail knowledge, especially interests that do not focus on emotions, Some are quite highly talented and known as "nerds".

I think a hiring manager should be aware that the work as manager is quite different from the typical engineering work as developer, and so are the talents required. I recently even have read of a large company which decided to actively attract Asperger candidates for software development.

These candiates would feel much safer and calmn down if they are allowed to focus on technical aspects, and if the environment seems well-known "as usual".

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Answer 7

We had a similar situation, where a candidate passed the initial screening by our HR department, he was then called for a written technical test and performed quite well. Then, interviewed by two senior software developer, underperformed. One of the senior, being also my direct senior, set up for the candidate to be interviewed by two different people. As already recommended in another answer, you don't need to bring the entire department. So, the candidate was interviewed again, we drilled on his past experience but we didn't put unnecessary pressure, and he performed much better than in the first interview. One thing to notice, our corporate culture emphasize collaboration and friendliness.