How to Be a Good Interviewer: What to Do Before, During, and After
The habits that make interviews fair and useful, the rating mistakes to watch for, and how recruiters can help hiring managers improve
Knowing how to be a good interviewer comes down to a few habits: prepare well, ask every candidate the same way, listen closely, and rate fairly.
As a recruiter, you run early rounds yourself and you also coach the hiring managers and panel members who run the rest. When those interviews go well, you get clearer feedback and better information for the hiring decision.
Key takeaways
- Good interviewing requires a set of habits you can learn and teach.
- Know the job, prepare your questions and follow-ups before the candidate joins.
- Take notes during the interview and rate right after it, against the job's requirements.
- Help hiring managers prepare, since many haven't had interview training.
What makes a good interviewer
A good interviewer is prepared, consistent, a careful listener, and fair to every candidate. Learning how to be a good interviewer has less to do with personality than with training and practice.
OPM's structured interview guide says interviewer training increases the accuracy of the interview. That guide was written for federal hiring, but its advice carries over to other settings. The training it describes covers note-taking, body language, and common rating errors.
Whether you hire warehouse leads, nurse managers, or software engineers, the same skills apply. The role changes what you ask, but it doesn't change how carefully you listen or how fairly you score.
Check the job before you start the interview
Good interviews start with knowing the job well enough to say what a strong answer sounds like. If you can't name what the role needs, your questions can wander away from it.
Start with the job description and the intake notes. A clear job description gives you the must-haves to test. Then write questions for each one, plus the follow-up questions you plan to use. Agreeing on follow-ups ahead of time keeps you from improvising different ones for each candidate.
A recruiter quoted by SHRM on better interviews suggests you prep on the candidate's background and have questions ready. Read the resume before the call so you're not meeting it for the first time on screen.
When more than one person interviews, hold a short prep conversation first. SHRM's training article describes a kick-off call with everyone involved. For a panel interview, that call is where you decide who covers which requirement.
Here's an example: you're hiring a support lead, and the hiring manager cares most about handling escalations. You agree that everyone asks about a time the candidate calmed an angry customer. The shared follow-up is "What did you do next, and what happened?"
Interview candidates who already match the brief
Book a demoHow to conduct an interview
To conduct an interview well, show up on time, keep it conversational, and give every candidate the same chance to show their skills. The recruiters quoted by SHRM stress punctuality, undivided attention, and being open about the process.
Aim for a conversation, not an interrogation. You can go off script with a follow-up, but keep it tied to the job. Skip trick questions meant to catch candidates off guard, since they don't tell you much about the work itself.
OPM's guide recommends very similar follow-ups for all candidates and the same amount of interview time for each. If one nurse manager candidate gets extra time because the talk flowed, the comparison is no longer even.
- Take notes as you go: Write down what the candidate said and did, not your impression of it.
- Make eye contact while you write: Glance up from your notes often so the candidate knows you're listening.
- Save time for their questions: Their questions show what they care about and help them decide too.
Common interview mistakes to avoid
The common interview mistakes are rating errors that can skew scores without the interviewer noticing. Knowing them by name can help you catch them in your own ratings.
| Mistake | What it looks like | How to correct it |
|---|---|---|
| First impressions | You decide in the first few minutes that a warehouse lead candidate is strong. | Hold your rating until you've heard every answer. |
| Halo effect | A nurse manager candidate is great on rapport, so you also score her thin answers on staffing calls highly. | Rate each requirement on its own evidence. |
| Similar to me | You score a candidate higher because you share a hometown or a past employer. | Ask whether the answer itself earned the score. |
| Contrast effect | A solid candidate looks weak because the one before was excellent. | Compare each answer to the requirements, not the last candidate. |
| Middle scores | Every candidate gets a middle score on every question. | Use your notes to justify a high or low score. |
| Pressure to hire | The role has been open for months, so you pass someone on limited evidence. | Name the gaps in the debrief before anyone decides. |
Source: OPM's structured interview guide, Appendix F
Similar-to-me bias can show up as a strong "culture fit" read. If that's a pattern on your team, defining the behaviors behind a personality hire can keep likability from deciding the result.
These mistakes don't mean anyone is acting in bad faith. They happen to experienced interviewers too, which is why a shared scoring method helps.
After the interview
Rate the candidate right after the interview, while the details are fresh. Score against the job's requirements, not against the person you met yesterday.
OPM's guide also says your notes should explain the reasoning behind each rating. "Good communicator" doesn't help anyone in a debrief. "Walked through how she rebuilt the shift schedule after two call-outs" does. An interview scorecard gives everyone the same requirements and scale to rate against.
Then follow up with the candidate and tell them when they'll hear back, and keep that promise even when the answer is a delay. In agency work, the client sets the timeline, so confirm it with them before you give the candidate a date.
Show hiring managers what to check before their next interview
One good way to improve your hiring results is to help the people you send candidates to. Teaching them how to be a good interviewer pays off on every search you share. A consultant quoted by SHRM said even most hiring managers have never had interviewing skills training.
You don't need a formal program to help, because a short prep call before each new search can cover what the same SHRM piece recommends:
- Candidate experience: Respect the candidate's time, start on schedule, and explain next steps.
- Question types: Use open-ended and behavioral questions that ask for real past examples.
- What not to ask: Review which topics are off limits so nobody asks something they shouldn't.
Frame it as help from a peer, since hiring managers want better hires too and will take a useful tip. Structured interviews also work alongside other talent assessment methods, such as work samples.
Start every interview with the right shortlist
Book a demoFrequently asked questions
How long should an interview be?
There's no single right length, and what matters more is fairness. Give every candidate the same amount of time, so set a length that fits your questions and stick to it.
Should you look at the resume during the interview?
Review it beforehand instead. For structured interviews, OPM warns that looking at supplemental documents during the interview may bias your view of the candidate, so rate what they say in the room.
How do you learn how to be a better interviewer?
Practice and feedback help most. Sit in on interviews run by people you respect, compare your scores with theirs in the debrief, and ask where your notes fell short. Small changes add up across many interviews.
What should you do if a candidate brings up a protected topic?
Avoid follow-up questions about it, and steer back to the job's requirements. Keep it out of your notes and your rating. If you're unsure what counts, ask HR before your next interview.
About the author
Founder & CEO of Rotto, building tools that help tech recruiters source better candidates, faster.
