After years of post-interview deep dives, I have noticed a pattern.
Many companies struggle to structure an interview process that actually elicits the information needed to determine two things:
Can this person do the job?
And can this person succeed inside this company’s culture?
That sounds simple, but it is where a lot of interview processes break down.
Why?
Because most of us have a vision of what an interview is supposed to look like. We have a question bank, a scorecard, a form, or a standard set of questions we use to evaluate answers.
I do not disagree with structure. Structure matters. Consistency matters. Evaluation criteria matter.
But I also know this: traditional interview formats often favor the charismatic, polished, and highly verbal communicator. They do not always create the same opportunity for the neurodivergent candidate, the anxious candidate, the introverted candidate, or the person who needs a minute to process before giving a thoughtful answer.
And that matters, because the goal of an interview should not be to determine who performs best in panic mode.
The goal should be to determine who is capable of doing the job.
For many people, the interview process is stress inducing. Emotionally, it can feel like being chased by a bear. And most of us are not at our best when fight-or-flight chemicals are coursing through our veins.
That does not mean the person is not capable. It means their brain is responding to the stakes of the moment.
For some candidates, especially those who are currently unemployed, this is not just a conversation. This is an opportunity to have income, stability, and forward motion again. That pressure alone is enough to make the brain fizz.
So how do we make interviews less about who can manage adrenaline best and more about evaluating actual talent?
We start by acknowledging the human being in front of us.
The first few minutes matter. Small talk is not wasted time. It helps people settle. It creates connection. It gives the candidate’s brain a chance to move from “threat” to “conversation.”
Ask something simple. What has you excited about this opportunity? What drew you into this field? What part of your work do you find yourself naturally leaning into?
But be careful with icebreakers. A “fun” question can still throw someone into panic if they are trying to figure out the right answer. Favorite zoo animal. Top song on your playlist. Desert island anything. Those can work with the right person, but they can also create unnecessary static.
The point is not to be clever.
The point is to help the person center their brain.
Acknowledge that interviewing is weird. Be kind. Interact with them. This should not feel like a first doctor’s appointment where someone sits across from you with a clipboard, asks a list of questions with a straight face, runs tests, and never tells you when you are done or how you are doing.
People do better when they understand the flow.
Tell them what to expect. Let them know the structure of the conversation. Give them permission to take a second before answering. If you want examples, say that. If you want them to think strategically, tell them that.
And when they say something thoughtful, acknowledge it.
A simple “I like that idea” or “that is interesting, tell me more about that” can shift the tone of the entire conversation. Positive feedback does not mean you are lowering the bar. It means you are creating enough psychological safety for the person to give you better information.
That is where the gold is.
Not in rapid-fire questions.
Not in trying to catch someone off guard.
Not in seeing how well they can perform under artificial pressure.
The gold is in understanding how they think, what they value, how they solve problems, how they interact with teams, and how their past experiences connect to the role you are actually hiring for.
Ask them to describe the best team they have been part of and what made it work.
Ask what frustrates them in a team, but frame it in a safe way: “What has been one of the bigger challenges you have had to navigate within a team?”
Ask about wins in previous roles, but do not stop at the headline. What was their contribution? What did they learn? What would they do differently now?
Have them walk you through a post-mortem on a project, a customer issue, a failed initiative, or a turnaround. How did they assess the situation? Who did they involve? What tradeoffs did they have to make? What did they miss the first time?
Those questions reveal far more than asking someone to recite strengths and weaknesses.
The best interview processes are built backward from the job.
What does this person actually need to do?
Do they need to build something from scratch?
Fix something that is broken?
Lead through ambiguity?
Sell into a technical buyer?
Influence without authority?
Stabilize a team?
Navigate conflict?
Create process?
Drive accountability?
Once you know the actual work, you can structure the interview around the capabilities that matter. Each conversation should have a purpose. Each stakeholder should know what they are evaluating. The process should create clarity, not noise.
This becomes even more important at the leadership level. Senior candidates are not just answering questions. They are evaluating how your company makes decisions, how aligned your team is, and whether the process reflects the sophistication of the role. A disorganized interview process does not just create a poor candidate experience. It creates doubt.
Because when every interviewer asks a random version of “tell me about yourself,” you do not get a better read. You get repetition, bias, and inconsistent feedback.
A strong interview process is not just a list of questions.
It is a thoughtful evaluation system.
It helps the candidate show you how they think.
It helps the company understand what they are actually hiring for.
And it gives both sides a better chance of determining whether this is a fit.
The best candidate may not be the smoothest interviewer.
The best candidate is the one who can do the work, succeed in the environment, and bring the capability the business actually needs.
Your interview process should be designed to find that person.