How do we overcome this psychological phenomenon

There is an unspoken behavior we’ve all experienced at some point in our professional career that we’ve largely disregarded as some kind of professional norm.

The concept of evaluating a person’s ability to do a job, has led to “interviews” as a primary mechanism for hiring. We’ve all been there. Many of us have conducted them, and almost all of us have been through them. While we all want them (because we know it’s part of the process of getting a job), interviews are infamous for inciting fear an anxiety in most of us. Why is that?

Obviously, there is the end game. If you want the job, there is a lot riding on an interview. But that can’t be the only thing…and in my experience, I’ve seen so many interviews go south – for the reason I’ve personally coined as “Hiring Deindividuation“.

What is “Deindividuation”?

For any of my psychology lovers out there, this may be a familiar term. But to help everyone else understand, deindividuation is a social psychology concept that generally means people act differently when they feel part of a group, than they would individually. It’s further been studied that deindividuation is likely to occur in several scenarios. Having Anonymity (wearing costumes for example), having less responsibility (being in a group where someone else has stepped in as a leader), being under the influence of drugs, having sensory overload (being in a loud concert for example). Also being in a new situation. All of these things can create a psychological affect of someone acting very differently than they innately would.

In my observations, those charged with hiring often deindividuate during interviews. They start to “act” a part. Most often, this act can be characterized as…well, arrogant. I think the intent is to be viewed as the authority, a decision maker, a judge, and a position of power. That seems to be the assumption of how an “interviewer” should behave – and 90% of the time, this new personality is quite different than the they are day to day. Why is that?

I’ve got theories: Insecurity, lack of confidence, social anxiety…..different things. But it’s a strange thing when a recruiter or hiring manager feels a sense of authority or power in hiring. The tone becomes condescending. The questions become more about trickery than seeking to understand, and all sense of friendly, and casual conversation that we would have as normal humans outside of work….disappears.

I have seen this over and over. I’ve seen good candidates lost by this, and I’ve seen great leaders and recruiters written off as A**holes because of this when they probably were just trying to do a good job, or lost themselves in a moment of authority.

So how do we reduce the likelihood of “Hiring Deindividuation”?

Try to be aware of the phenomenon

The more self aware we are, the less likely deindividuation is to occur. This means doing your best to bring your authentic self into an interview, but preferably, the kindest version of yourself.

Speak to prospective Candidates like you would speak to your CEO.

It’s not a hard concept. Drop the arrogance that comes with the privilege of employment and the privilege of “being on the inside”. Stop assuming because the market is full of truly desperate job seekers, that you’re entitled to speak to them as if they owe you something, or worse, as if they’ve already done something wrong and need to “prove” themselves to you.

You can assess skills and behaviors in a friendly way. It doesn’t have to be an intimidating discussion.

Remember that interviewing is a two-way street

Keeping this top of mind, should help you with the previous two tips. Our current market may be saturated with job seekers, but it won’t be that way forever, and even now, not all job seekers WANT your job. They want to hear you out and have a mutual discussion about what your needs are and what their skills are.

What do you think?