22/08/2026
A candidate speaks confidently.
They answer quickly.
They tell impressive stories
The interview ends.
Everyone says: “Great candidate.”
But here's the uncomfortable question:
👉 Are you measuring how well they can do the job...
or how well they can perform in an interview?
Where Hiring Decisions Can Go Wrong
- A confident communicator may appear more capable than a quieter candidate.
- Interviewers may favour candidates who think or communicate like them.
- Different interviewers may judge the same answer differently.
- Hypothetical questions can reward polished answers instead of real capability.
- A candidate's interview performance may have little connection to how they perform six months later.
This creates a hidden problem:
Your hiring process can accidentally reward presentation over performance.
What Should Change?
Instead of relying entirely on:
❌ “Tell me about yourself.”
❌ “Where do you see yourself in five years?”
❌ “What are your strengths?”
Build interviews around evidence.
Ask candidates to demonstrate:
➡️ How they solved a real problem.
➡️ How they handled a difficult decision.
➡️ What they would do in a realistic situation from the role.
➡️ How they measure whether their work was successful.
➡️ What they learned when something didn't go as planned.
And most importantly...
Use the same core evaluation criteria across candidates.
The Real Goal of an Interview
An interview shouldn't be a competition to find the person who sounds most impressive.
It should be a structured attempt to answer:
“Can this person perform, learn, collaborate and grow in this specific role?”
The best candidate isn't necessarily the one who gives the most polished answers.
Sometimes, they're the person who asks the best questions, thinks carefully before answering, admits what they don't know, and demonstrates how they actually solve problems.
One Question for Hiring Managers
If your interview process disappeared tomorrow, what evidence would you use to prove that your next hire can actually do the job?
That answer might reveal more about your hiring process than your interview scorecard does.
