3 steps to better interviews
By Sandy Fiaschetti, Ph.D. | Published: 2025-10-29 19:44:00 | Source: Inc.com
CEOs of small and growing companies tend to call an accountant to maintain financial statements or ask consultants about the right go-to-market strategy. But when it comes to hiring people, many use their intuition or the “Would I have a beer with this guy?” test. To make hiring decisions.
Many leaders rely on unstructured interviews or ask colleagues to rate candidates on vague characteristics such as “fit” and “technical skills.” These unstructured methods often give leaders misplaced confidence in so-called hiring assessments, especially when numbers are assigned to candidates. In the absence of a clear written calibration of what those ratings mean, averaging a rating from 1 to 5 to two decimal places does not make the measurement better—it only provides the illusion of measurement.
A better approach is to use industrial and regulatory (Input/Output) Psychology. Yes, a tough name, but it’s a field steeped in research and statistics about understanding and predicting behavior at work. It can help business leaders choose the best person for each role and motivate employees effectively. It can also help align your leadership team with company priorities, guiding them toward company growth.
Although I-O psychology originated in the early 1920sy last century, and not many leaders had heard of it. While other fields have created attractive marketing campaigns for their less-than-excellent tools, I/O psychology has focused more on excellence in measurement than on telling the world about its excellent measurement. In short, it’s a well-kept secret that needs to be known more about.
Like many sciences, I/O psychology works best when applied by trained practitioners, but a few basic principles can help any business leader make better decisions when interviewing and hiring job candidates.
Before the interview
Here are three steps to take before you start interviewing candidates.
List of competencies
Think about the role you are interviewing for and consider what competencies the job candidate needs to be successful in that role. For example, if you are hiring someone to grow a company in an adjacent market, traits such as entrepreneurship, interest in learning, ability to influence others, and business acumen would be important.
Preparing interview questions
Next formulate behavioral questions that determine whether the candidate possesses all the competencies. Prepare these questions in advance and ask each candidate to answer them. This approach will provide you with better, consistent information about each potential new employee, allowing you to compare each candidate fairly and objectively.
Make sure the questions target the competency directly. Avoid triggering questions like, “If I made you smaller and put you in a cup, how would you get out?” One of the basic principles of I/O psychology is that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, so instead ask about past behavior with this series of questions:
- Tell me about a time when you had to learn a new area of selling a product that you were not previously familiar with.
- What was the situation?
- What did you do?
- What was your role specifically?
- How did it end?
- What can you do differently next time?
Develop a rating scale
Prepare a Behavioral Rating Scale (BARS) that measures a candidate’s performance by rating specific observable behaviors associated with a numerical scale from 1 to 5. For each question, pre-determine the answers that would result in a rating of Extremely Ineffective (1), Effective (3), and Exceptional (5).
For example, a candidate who struggles to articulate a learning strategy or who cannot articulate value to customers will receive a rating of 1 while a candidate who seeks out relevant sources and experts, and develops a practical understanding of product descriptions adequately in a timely manner will receive a rating of 3. A rating of 5 will be reserved for a candidate who is deeply immersed in a topic, used multiple sources and integrated knowledge quickly, and has demonstrated the ability to become an expert in a short time.
During the interview
Take copious notes during the interview and leave the evaluation for later. The easiest way to stay focused on the details of the interview and avoid evaluation is to write down what is said rather than writing comments such as “good response” or “you did the right thing.” This is very important because if you rush the assessment, you are not giving the candidate a chance to demonstrate each competency independently. If you evaluate halfway, it may affect your judgment of the answers to the next question.
After the interview
After interviewing each candidate, review your notes and assign competency ratings to each potential employee based on their answers, taking into account the BARS you created. It is important to evaluate each candidate immediately; You are not comparing them to each other, but to the standards you have set.
Think about each competency independently and collectively. For example, someone might be given a score of 3 for influence but their decision-making process is a 5. Combined, these ratings might make them a prime candidate, if the role requires exceptional decision-making and influence skills are less important.
Be realistic about the requirements of the role; It is very unlikely that expert skill will be needed for each competency. Being strongly qualified means that a person will be successful. In other words, getting 3 points in some competencies is good. Sticking with someone who scores all five points will delay the hiring process while you search for the impossible candidate.
Final thoughts
If this process seems too daunting, like many leaders hiring or hiring an accountant or marketing consultant, consider hiring an IO psychologist to help evaluate and select employees. They can create competency-based interviews related to the job or even conduct candidate evaluation using more powerful interviews and assessment tools. A small investment in this specialized skill set of key employees can pay big dividends.
(tags for translation) Interviewing
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