6 Common Mistakes Interviewers Make and How to Avoid Them

Last updated: 10-1-2026

Developing strong interviewer skills is key to converting the most highly qualified candidates into hires. A 2021 CareerPlug study found that 58% of job seekers had declined a job offer due to poor experience during the hiring process.

Many small business owners struggle in this area, especially when they’re not full-time recruiters or seasoned HR professionals. It’s always worth honing your interview skills because the best candidates will always have the freedom to be selective about where they choose to work. 

We’ve put together our advice for avoiding common interviewing mistakes so that you can create a great candidate experience, build a solid employer brand, and make the best hires for your business every time.

In Short: Most interviewer mistakes come down to two things: not enough preparation and not enough listening. Show up ready, keep your questions job-relevant and consistent from candidate to candidate, let the candidate do most of the talking, and give the person across the table your full attention. Do those four things and you protect both your hiring decisions and your employer brand.

6 common interviewing mistakes and how to avoid them

1. Being unprepared

Most applicants prepare thoroughly for an interview. It’s important to show that same level of preparedness. Showing up to an interview unprepared sends the wrong message about how much you value a candidate’s time. It also gives the impression that the business itself is disorganized.

The interview itself is not the time to read a candidate’s CV and resume for the first time. Set aside as little as 5-10 minutes ahead of the interview to review the resume. If there’s something in their application that needs clarification or there’s something you find interesting, make a note and include it in your interview questions.

If you’ve asked the candidate to complete a sample assignment such as a writing exercise, a coding challenge, or a proposal template, remember that the candidate likely spent hours working on the assignment. Return the courtesy by taking the appropriate amount of time to review it so you can deliver meaningful interview feedback. 

2. Poor questioning technique

One trend the recruiting world has seen over the past few years is brainteaser interview questions – but research shows these questions do not help evaluate a candidate’s potential to perform on the job. These questions could sour an applicant’s experience and have a negative impact on your reputation as an employer.

Keep your questions relevant. For instance, you can ask them behavioral or situational questions, such as “Tell me about a time when you…” Ask questions that reveal their accomplishments, opportunities, and the reason they applied for the role. 

You should also ask technical questions to know if they’re familiar with the tools they will be required to use on the job. For example, are they familiar with the software, such as Google Docs or Docusign alternatives, that you use as a team?

A new hire is an investment for your business’s future, so you’ll want to hire people interested in growing with your company. Try to look beyond the resume and ask questions that reveal their growth potential. Asking questions about the applicant’s career aspirations, areas in which they want to grow, and their longer-term goals will help you see if they align with your business.

Learn more about hiring for growth potential in the video below from CareerPlug’s Senior Director of People, Natalie Morgan.

3. Asking potentially illegal questions

Many interviewers unknowingly ask questions that they aren’t legally allowed to ask, even when they think they’re just making small talk. However, a lot of seemingly innocuous questions can be seen as discriminatory and are thus illegal. Here are a few common questions that could get you in hot water and some alternatives you can use.

Don’t ask: “Where do you live?” 

If you’re hiring for site-based work, you might naturally be concerned about the candidate’s attendance and the amount of time it takes for them to get to the workplace. However, if a rejected candidate lives in an area with a large minority population, that question can be discriminatory.

Ask these instead: “Would you consider relocating for this job?” or “Will getting to and from work be an issue for you?” or “Can you commit to being here at 8 a.m. every day?”

These questions deal solely with the time aspect of the job, which clears you of any liability associated with residence-based employment discrimination.

Don’t ask: “How old are you?”

This question is one of the most commonly asked in job interviews. However, it’s also illegal. Laws such as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) specifically prohibit age as a condition for employment. While the ADEA specifically covers candidates and employees aged 40 above, some states have laws that protect younger candidates as well. Asking oblique questions, such as “When did you graduate high school?” is also illegal.

Ask these instead: “This job is physically demanding. Would you have any issues with that?” 

These questions ask about the candidate’s physical condition, which is not prohibited by law, especially when the job requires a lot of physical labor. 

Don’t ask: “Do you plan to have children?”

Asking a candidate whether they intend to have children can be interpreted as discrimination against a person who could get pregnant. This is a violation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which prohibits employers from assuming that female employees have responsibilities at home that keep them from committing to their jobs. 

Ask these instead: “How do you think this job fits into your career goals?” or “Are you fine with working overtime?”

The common thread that runs through both questions is the focus on the job, not the candidate. These questions will make the candidate consider their future plans, even personal ones, in the context of the time demands of the job.

For more information about illegal interview questions, check out this guide from the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission. 

Try to look beyond the resume and ask questions that reveal their growth potential.

4. Being too quick to judge

It’s easy to form preconceived ideas or views about a candidate’s suitability for the position during your interview preparation. Perhaps you are worried about a potential skills gap or career choice after reading their CV.

While these concerns may be warranted, it’s important to remember that we’re all susceptible to unconscious bias in hiring. Hiring managers can avoid falling into the trap of confirmation bias, the halo effect, contrast bias, and more by taking the time to learn how to recognize when they occur. 

By learning how to make objective judgments based on facts rather than emotions, hiring managers can make better hiring decisions and reduce turnover. Read CareerPlug’s guide, 7 Ways to Avoid Hiring Bias, to learn more.

5. Failing to listen and dominating the discussion

There’s a reason it’s called an interview: It’s supposed to be an exchange of ideas. If you embark on a monologue and insist on dominating the discussion, you won’t learn much from the conversation. 

During an interview, let the candidate do most of the talking. You can ask follow-up questions based on what a candidate says or ask them to elaborate on something. Always keep in mind that the purpose of each step in the hiring process is to determine whether or not you want to learn more about the candidate. 

An interview is a data-gathering process, so gather as much data as you can!

Avoid asking close-ended questions with “Yes” or “No” answers. Instead, use open-ended questions that draw on the candidate’s experiences: Why do you want to join the company? How do you think your experience makes you suited for the role? Can you tell me about a situation in which you had to work through conflict?

Always keep in mind that the purpose of each step in the hiring process is to determine whether or not you want to learn more about the candidate.

6. Appearing uninterested or distracted

One major red flag for an applicant is an interviewer who seems entirely uninterested in what they have to say. Candidates will instinctively feel when you’re less than enthusiastic about them. 

Our research found that a whopping 26% of job seekers who declined a job offer did so because of a negative experience with the people in the interview process, citing rude or distracted interviewers or a hiring process that seemed disorganized. Candidates took these as reflections of the company as a whole.

During the interview, make a deliberate effort to demonstrate your undivided attention. Sit up straight, lean in as they talk, maintain eye contact, smile and nod as they respond, and take notes. Consider turning off your phone or leaving it out of the room altogether. Above all, you need to listen intently and actively. 

For more tips on how to create a great candidate experience, watch the video below from CareerPlug’s Senior Director of People, Natalie Morgan.

What Confirmation Bias, the Halo Effect, and Contrast Bias Look Like in an Interview

Mistake #4 above (being too quick to judge) almost always traces back to one of three well-documented hiring biases. Here’s what each one actually looks like once you’re sitting across from a candidate.

Confirmation Bias

Confirmation bias has been called “the mother of all misconceptions.” And that’s a fitting title because confirmation bias affects you every single day. It’s the tendency to look for information that confirms a belief you already have and to subconsciously filter out all evidence to the contrary. This leads us to create flawed patterns in our thinking and can create bias in hiring.

Consider business owner Joe, who is hiring for a management position and has two great candidates — one man and one woman. However, Joe believes that men are inherently better managers than women. As a result, Joe might find himself looking for reasons to confirm his existing bias that he doesn’t think women can be good managers. This could cause him to overlook evidence that the female candidate might actually be a better fit with his ideal candidate profile than the male candidate.

Halo Effect

The halo effect is a cognitive bias in which we allow one obvious positive trait about a person to affect how we judge them in other unrelated areas. If a person is attractive, we might assume they’re also intelligent, kind, and funny. This single obvious positive trait serves as a kind of “halo” that causes people to make false assumptions about their abilities or personality.

While reviewing resumes, you see that a candidate graduated from a prestigious university. You assume they must also be a great fit for your company. Other candidates match your ideal candidate profile better, but they graduated from public universities. Without even realizing it, you may find yourself evaluating the Ivy Leaguer a little more easily than the others, ignoring any negative criteria that emerges throughout the hiring process.

Contrast Bias

Also known as contrast effect or judgment bias, this hiring bias causes us to believe that a candidate is better or worse based on how we feel about another candidate. This one is especially tough to avoid because it can be easy to forget that one candidate’s fitness for the role has nothing to do with another’s.

Let’s say you’ve just wrapped up an interview with a candidate that went really well. If you fall victim to contrast bias, the rest of the candidates you interview that day may be at a disadvantage. Make sure you’re not comparing them to the first candidate, but rather your objective criteria for the role.

TLDR

• As an interviewer, it’s important to be prepared, patient, and genuine.
• Only ask the questions that will allow you to learn whether or not you’re interested in moving the candidate forward in the hiring process – not quirky questions, irrelevant questions, or illegal questions.
• Make sure you’ve created a great candidate experience in order to protect your employer brand.

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Frequently asked questions about common interviewer mistakes

What questions are illegal to ask in a job interview?

Don’t ask: “How old are you?” This question is one of the most commonly asked in job interviews. However, it’s also illegal. Laws such as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) specifically prohibit age as a condition for employment. While the ADEA specifically covers candidates and employees aged 40 above, some states have laws that protect younger candidates as well. Asking oblique questions, such as “When did you graduate high school?” is also illegal. Ask these instead: “This job is physically demanding. Would you have any issues with that?”

How much can a bad interview experience cost you in candidates?

Our research found that a whopping 26% of job seekers who declined a job offer did so because of a negative experience with the people in the interview process, citing rude or distracted interviewers or a hiring process that seemed disorganized. Candidates took these as reflections of the company as a whole.

About the Author

Petra Odak is the Chief Marketing Officer at Better Proposals, a simple yet incredibly powerful proposal software tool that helps you send high-converting, web-based business proposals in minutes. She’s a solution-oriented marketing enthusiast with more than 5 years of experience in various fields of marketing and project management.