Hiring Manager’s ‘Just to Be Sure’ Interviews Under Fire by Tim Sackett, SCP 🟦

In a recent LinkedIn post, Tim Sackett, SCP 🟦 discusses a common, yet detrimental, hiring practice: the desire of hiring managers to interview additional candidates even after finding a seemingly perfect fit. Sackett, a prominent voice in talent acquisition, argues that this behavior, often masked as due diligence, undermines effective hiring processes.

Sackett opens his post with a relatable scenario:

“OMG! I loved the candidate I just interviewed!”

He continues to describe the typical follow-up from a hiring manager: “That’s how it starts. The hiring manager loves the person they just interviewed, but wants to interview a few more. ‘Just to be sure…'” This, according to Sackett, is where the flawed process begins.

The Flaws in ‘Just to Be Sure’ Hiring

Tim Sackett, SCP 🟦 asserts that the impulse to interview more candidates after identifying a strong one stems from a lack of clarity or confidence in the hiring objectives. He breaks down the motivations behind this behavior into two primary categories. Firstly, if a hiring manager truly knows what they are looking for and finds it, the logical step is to proceed with hiring that individual. Secondly, Sackett suggests that the desire for more interviews arises when the hiring manager is uncertain about the role’s requirements or the candidate’s fit.

As Sackett, SCP 🟦 puts it:

If you know what you’re looking for and you find it, you hire it.

He contrasts this with the alternative scenario:

If you don’t know what the hell you’re doing. You want to interview a “few more”.

This distinction, according to Sackett, highlights a fundamental issue in how some hiring decisions are approached, suggesting that the need for additional interviews often points to internal indecision rather than a methodical search.

TA’s Role in Perpetuating the Problem

A significant part of Tim Sackett, SCP 🟦’s critique is aimed at the talent acquisition (TA) community. He argues that TA professionals have, over time, enabled this inefficient practice to become standard. Sackett believes that the collective TA field bears responsibility not only for allowing this behavior to persist but also for actively working to change it.

“‘We’ (the collective TA folks of the world) allowed this to happen over time,” Sackett writes. He follows this with a call to action, stating, “We also own stopping it.” This suggests a need for TA leaders and practitioners to establish clearer processes and push back against requests for unnecessary interviews, thereby guiding hiring managers toward more decisive and effective hiring strategies.

The Path Forward

Sackett’s post, while critical, offers a clear directive: stop the practice of endless interviewing once a suitable candidate is identified. By framing the issue as one that the TA community must address, he empowers professionals to take ownership of the hiring process. This involves educating hiring managers, establishing firm criteria, and trusting the initial assessment when a strong candidate emerges. The underlying message is that efficient and effective hiring requires clarity of purpose and decisiveness from all parties involved.