Working as a recruiter gives you many interesting experiences. One of the most exciting parts is interviews. Job candidates make a lot of mistakes in interviews. That's bad—at least for a person hoping to get hired—but what's much worse is when you, as the interviewer, make one of the following 5 mistakes. In part 1, we’ll cover 3 mistakes that will decrease the quality of the interview.

1. Nervousness = lack of ability

Nervousness is an emotional condition; shyness is part of a character. Some people react this way when they first enter a new place. Both of these expressions show zero things about their ability and real personality.

First impressions which the interviewer has on a candidate in the first 10-15 first seconds decides 80% of the result, which means shy and nervous candidates have huge disadvantages. Therefore, as an interviewer, try not to be biased by the impression of shyness and nervousness.

Read more: How cognitive biases make interviews unreliable

You can chat with them a little before starting the interview if you feel candidates are nervous or uncomfortable. Help them relax. Your job is to get the best from people—even if they are not hired yet. You just have to discover the diamond in the deer-in-the-headlights rough.

However, if the people you interview often seem uncomfortable, take a step back and consider your approach. You might be the problem.

2. Wrong improvisation

One big mistake that interviewers often make is that they like improvisation. Normally, improvisation is good, but only when it means you have a flexible way to approach the candidate in order to get the necessary information. Otherwise, an interviewer should follow a plan and ask a reasonably specific set of questions. 

Most candidates are prepared for an initial question, but questions that drill deeper are much tougher to fluff so the best questions are almost always follow-up questions. This is where your interview skills are being used. ‘Wh’ questions (who, when, where, what, how) are more recommended than ‘Yes/No’ ones. Besides asking the right questions, you need to listen to initial answers and you will be likely to know both the positive and negative details that the candidate never planned to share.

Read more: What are the better alternatives to traditional job interviews?

3. Expand on possibilities

Human Resources is naturally a labour trade where employees sell themselves and employers buy the labour ‘goods’. However, at the interview, the interviewers tend to sell the candidate on the job. There are some excited interviewers that list out lots of hopeful stuff that MIGHT happen in the future (such as new projects, enhanced benefit programs, opportunities for promotion due to potential expansion). The candidates listen to all of these, except they translate ‘MIGHT’ into ‘WILL’, thus creating expectations you may not be able to meet.

If you can't promise, don't bring it up.

Instead of describing possibilities, describe typical career paths in a general sense. When you discuss future plans, only share details on approved projects or efforts currently underway.

These above mistakes are very popular because it is hard to recognise yourself making. Now that you have understood and identified them, it will be easier for you to avoid. Part 2 will include the last 2 mistakes that need even more attention.