Conducting an interview is not an easy task: there is no ultimate method, because everything depends on the context, the candidate, the type of position, etc. There are many elements to take into account. However, it is very important to debrief after the interview! Few recruiters do it, but it’s an excellent way of challenging yourself and learning about yourself, for both parties. Here are 5 reasons why you absolutely must do it.

It forces you to step back quickly

Before the interview, let’s say you tell the candidate that you’re going to take a few minutes with them to debrief. This is a way of building their confidence: they know that after this more or less difficult moment, they will have the opportunity to confide in you about their feelings and impressions. Once the interview is over, you have an interesting challenge in front of you: you have to take a step back in a very short space of time to be able to discuss an event that has just taken place. As a result, you are obliged to project an objective vision of the interview, and this is an exercise that will serve you well in your professional and personal life, on a daily basis!

It’s a way of helping the candidate to progress

During the debriefing, the aim is not to shoot the candidate down if they were not good, or to throw flowers at them if they were outstanding. By being objective, you are able to tell the person in front of you what interested you about their profile, what caught your attention, what frightened you… The candidate is therefore face to face with reality, whether positive or negative: there’s no better way to help them improve!

This is an opportunity to have a discussion with the candidate, outside the interview.

An interview is often a very formal exchange, which can sometimes put pressure on both the candidate and the recruiter. The questions you ask are more or less the same for each candidate, and they are probably used to repeating the same information. For this reason, a debrief allows you to have an exchange outside the interview, a simple conversation between two or more people. It’s a way of getting to know each other in a different way!

It allows the candidate to become aware of their weaknesses and strengths.

The debrief is a real gift for the candidate: you have the power to make them aware of their strengths and weaknesses. In this way, they will know how to make the most of themselves in the future, and how to avoid undermining their profile. By proceeding in this way, you give the person in front of you the opportunity not to miss out on the job that really suits them, if it’s not the one you’re offering!

This is your chance to ask the candidate what they thought of your interview.

You can also reverse the roles – you’ll come out all the better for it! The candidate can also tell you what impressions they had of you, your questions and the way you conducted the interview. They can also tell you if anything you said made them feel uncomfortable, or if, on the contrary, they appreciated the fact that you addressed a particular subject. It’s a way for you to take a step back from your own interviewing style and improve if you make any mistakes