Why you need to avoid needless small talk when interviewing Sales & Marketing candidates in FMCG
The Challenge
The temptation to launch into casual conversation at the beginning of an interview is understandable. It can help break the ice and build rapport. Given how this is something that candidates often have to do when undertaking commercial roles, it forms an important element of their interview.
However, excessive small talk can introduce bias or lead to discussions about protected characteristics like age, ethnicity, or maternity.
Casual conversations about a candidate’s favourite sports team or which university they went to might seem harmless, but they can subconsciously allow affinity bias to influence your evaluation. If these practices go unchecked, it can impact the level of diversity within teams and affect their commercial effectiveness.
Alternatively, questions that discuss family life, when someone graduated or an unusual accent for example, can reveal information about maternity, age or ethnicity which can lead to accusations that these answers influenced the outcome of the interview.
The Alternative
Keep the initial conversation professional and ensure you control the direction of it to avoid the common pitfalls and prepare ‘safe’ subjects for discussion in advance to avoid slipping into old routines. You can mention commonalities like the weather, traffic or holidays, but steer clear of overly personal topics.
Focus on further building rapport by briefly discussing the interview schedule or providing a quick overview of the company as this sets a professional tone while still allowing the candidate to loosen up a bit before diving into the core interview questions.
Don’t be afraid to mention the importance of diversity and inclusion within your organisation and how you use this as a way of guiding the interview format. Remember, the goal is to assess the candidate’s skills and fit for the role, not to become best friends.
If you would like more support in the search & selection of top FMCG talent, please get in touch with our team:
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London — 0203 196 0896