In Interviews, Focus On The Data—Not The Metadata

“She was clearly very well-prepared for the interview. I was impressed.”

“He fumbled with some of his responses. I’m not sure he’s the strong communicator we need.”

“He talked about his sales metrics a lot. You can tell he’s driven and competitive.”

These kinds of comments are what we call “interview metadata.” It’s not the data itself—the actual content that the candidate shared with us. It’s information ABOUT that information—i.e., it’s our projections about the candidate based upon HOW they communicate.

Metadata is heavily overused. And it can be dangerous.

When we rely on metadata, we are treating an interview like a performance, rather than a fact-gathering exercise. We are creating a bias towards smooth talkers and away from introverts. We are putting active/aggressive job-seekers at an advantage, and penalizing passive/employed candidates who don’t have as much time to prep. We are tipping the scales for people we feel an affinity with and risking diversity.

Here are 5 warning signs that you are over-valuing metadata:

(1) Your interview notes are full of your own thoughts/reflections about the candidate, and contain little of what the candidate actually said.

(2) You have a quirky question you ask to “throw candidates off,” or “see how they react.” These kinds of questions are all about eliciting metadata.

(3) You are using the HORRIBLE feature on your ATS that asks you to rate the candidate’s response to each question. (This one makes our blood boil!)

(4) You are not sure how reference calls are likely to go—a clear indication that you are not digging into the facts of their past.

(5) You find yourself defending your position on the candidate—especially a positive one—based on intuition rather than facts.

There are many ways to combat the over-use of metadata. One is so simple that it’s almost like cheating:

Take near-verbatim notes. Transcribe what the candidate is actually saying!

This actively engages your objective, fact-finding brain and quiets your inner judge. And, most importantly, it creates a mountain of ACTUAL data (what they did and how they did it) that you can refer to when making your decision.