What is interviewer shadowing?

Interviews are generally the final barrier before an employee gets selected for a position. So, they can be considered the final frontier, which shows their importance. This is why recruiters need to constantly update themselves, and one way to do so is interviewer shadowing. 

In today’s world, companies are doing everything to gain an extra competitive edge over their rivals. So, what is interviewer shadowing, and is it effective?

What is interviewer shadowing?

Interviewer shadowing is when a recruiter sits in an interview conducted by another recruiter, most probably a senior. The recruiter’s main job is to observe the main recruiter while they are conducting the interview. Since recruiters are new to the job, the best way to train them is to observe real-time interviews to see how they are conducted.

This is a common practice in organizations. In fact, there is also the concept of reverse interviewer shadowing in which the experienced recruiter observes his junior conduct the interview. The aim of a reverse shadow interview is to check whether the younger recruiters are doing their job correctly. It also might give the experienced interviewer some new information he may not be privy to.

Also Read: How to support your hiring team overcome busywork ?

Benefits of interviewer shadowing

Trains recruits effectively

The problem with hiring recruiters is that it is hard to train them, as their job is to conduct interviews.  Companies are hesitant to allow their recruiters straight into interviews. In such a scenario, interviewer shadowing becomes a great way to acclimatize the new interviewer to the real-time interview experience.

Observing real-time interviews will also help them understand what qualities to look for in a candidate and the difference between a successful and unsuccessful interview. Companies can thus deploy a combination of shadowing and reverse shadowing to slowly integrate the trainee into their system.

Also Read: Top Recruiter Certification to Advance Your HR Career

Reduces bias 

One of the challenges companies face during an interview is the chance of the recruiter being affected by bias. Research has proved that racial bias, gender bias, socioeconomic bias, and others are prevalent during hiring. One reason is that the interview process is heavily influenced by the recruiter’s views.

Therefore, conducting time-to-time interviewer shadowing will ensure that such issues are addressed immediately.  For example, a good interviewer who needs to ensure they are not adhering to any bias can only do so if he has experience with many interviews.

Also Read: 13 Stay Interview Questions to Retain Your Top Talent

Improves efficiency 

Hiring is a massive exercise for any company and requires a lot of money and manpower to execute. This is why organizations aspire to have a high rate of success during hiring. A series of bad hirings can have a profound impact on the company, greatly impacting the workplace environment.

More often than not, recruiters’ inexperience is the biggest reason for this inefficiency. However, interviewer shadowing is a great way to ensure your recruiters gain that extra bit of experience that helps them spot the talent necessary for the job.

Also Read: How are recruitment satisfaction surveys helpful for companies

Helps make interviewers fine tune their strategies 

Any interviewer at an organization has to interview and recruit people for multiple roles that require varied skill sets. This means that recruiters need to have their own interview strategy to tackle. Having to recruit people from such different backgrounds means the interviewer needs to have an interview strategy that fits all.

So regular interviewer shadowing is a great way to find out the best strategies that each interviewer uses. They could then start to adopt some of these habits in their own interviews to make them more efficient.

Also Read: Do we still need people in the age of Artificial Intelligence

How to conduct interviewer shadowing

Now that we have established the importance of the interviewer shadowing technique, we must understand what template should be used while conducting it. Having a good set of guidelines can really help the recruiter attending the interviewer shadowing get all the necessary information from it.

Template for shadow interviews 

Make the candidates understand the company 

First of all, any new interviewer needs to understand the company. This means the company’s culture, work environment and what they look for in an employee. In addition, several organizations now also have Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) hiring which means that they will need certain positions to be filled with people from certain backgrounds.

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Get them accustomed to the interview process 

Before a shadow interview, the main recruiter should give all the information to the shadow recruiter on the interview. This means the person they are recruiting, the role they are recruiting for, and the number of people that will be interviewed for the day. This will allow the shadow recruiter to make detailed notes and interviews.

Shadow recruiters can also prepare their own notes and even rate the interviews on their own scorecard. Post interview they can tally this with the actual interviewer to check on the accuracy of their methods.

Also Read: Importance of AI policy for recruitment process

Allow them to ask questions 

One of the ways shadow interviewers can gain experience if they are allowed  to ask some questions, especially at the conclusion of the interview. This will allow them to gain real time experience and also allow the lead recruiter to observe them and give inputs on their conduct.

Sometimes this can also be beneficial for the lead recruiter as he may have missed asking a pertinent question which might have caught the attention of the shadow recruiter.

Also Read: How are recruitment satisfaction surveys helpful for companies

Reverse shadowing tips 

Make the recruiter feel easy 

In case of a reverse shadow interview, the lead recruiter who is obviously the lesser experienced might feel pressure under the watchful eyes of the lead recruiter. This is why it is the job of the lead recruiter to make his junior feel at ease. Doing so will allow the main recruiter to better focus at the interview improving its efficiency.

Discuss your findings post-interview 

A lead recruiter who possesses a wealth of experience is more likely to find some inconsistencies when doing reverse shadowing. However, any feedback, be it positive or negative, should only be shared post-interview. It is because interrupting in the middle of the interview will only put more pressure on the less experienced recruiter.

Recruiting the best of talent in today’s age is more important than ever. So, companies have to find that extra edge to make them better. And one of the great ways to hire the best talent out is to use AI recruiting tools such as BarRaiser.

Our state-of-the-art tool gives companies the perfect interview tool that makes quality hiring easy. With BarRiaser users get our AI Interview Copilot that helps the recruiters in conducting a smooth, flawless interview.

Our product analyzes the interview and gives helpful suggestions to the interviewers on what questions to ask and to maintain the speed of the interview. In addition, it also analyzes the recruiter to ensure the interview process is not discriminatory in any way. Our tool can raise an alert if the hiring manager is asking for information which may be pertinent to the interview or the job description. This ensures perfect checks and balances in the system.

We also provide interviewer training to ensure organizations  have the perfect team for the job. Furthermore, we also provide interview as a service in which we will conduct the entire interview process on the behalf of an organization.

Using BarRaiser we guarantee you quality hiring that will also bolster diversity and inclusion. BarRaiser is the best AI interview platform that features structured interviews, AI-generated interview notes,  and tools to ensure quality hiring while eliminating biases from the recruitment process. With BarRaiser’s support, you’ll be well-equipped to build a strong team of sales associates who will drive sales and deliver exceptional customer service.