Hiring dynamics are changing. As the economy rebounds, and employment levels approach 5%, employers are losing the upper hand in the hiring process. Interviews today are more of a courtship ritual with both sides interviewing the other. Coming out of a difficult hiring environment, candidates expect a challenge. Can you say the same about the hiring team? If not, now is an excellent time to make the team aware of changing hiring dynamics and provide guidance to improve interviewing skills.

A candidate recently turned down an offer from a Fortune 500 company. Did the candidate have a more competitive offer? Were salary and benefits uncompetitive? Poor perceptions of team dynamics caused the candidate to turn down the offer. The candidate felt he had been "roughed up" in the interview process. Aggressive questions and an "arrogant attitude" gave the candidate an unfavorable impression of the work environment. Though he didn't have another offer, with the economy improving, the candidate was willing to wait for a better opportunity to come along.

The most unfortunate thing about the above story is that the candidate's perceptions about the team weren't correct. Team dynamics were actually very good. Team members had good rapport and turnover was rare. What went wrong? The team was very concerned about hiring the right person. They did not want to jeopardize team dynamics or productivity with a bad hire. To select the right person, their strategy was to "weed out" weak candidates with tough questions. The candidate that survived the interrogation would receive the offer.

A better interview strategy would have been to sell the candidate on the opportunity rather than grill him with confrontational questions. The factors that would have encouraged an acceptance from the candidate were absent from the interview: strong team dynamics, good work environment, challenging projects, etc. Instead of being "tough" the team could have ascertained the candidate's capabilities through other interview techniques such as case interviewing. Building rapport is also a good way to elicit a candidate's trust. If you can gain a candidate's trust, they'll often tell you what you want to know.

Other common interview pitfalls to watch out for:

• Lack of preparation: It happens more often than you think! Before interviewing a candidate, interviewers should have read the candidate's resume and arrive at the interview with ready questions.
• Scripted Questions: Interviewers should be warned not to read questions from a "script" or piece of paper. Rapport is damaged and credibility lost when interviewers read questions verbatim. Written questions should be used as a reference, not a script.
• Apologizing: Telling the candidate your sorry to have to ask them a question or worse saying, "HR wants me to ask this" can also hurt the interviewer's credibility with a candidate. Interviewers should be confident about the questions they're asking or not ask them at all.
• Why Questions: Be careful about asking "why" questions. This type of question infers a cause-effect relationship and tends to put people on the defensive. Candidate feel they have to justify their actions, which may inhibit their response to future questions.

To win top talent today, no step in the hiring process can be taken for granted -- least of all the interview. Significant time, effort, and resources go into taking a candidate from initial screen to offer. Make your efforts pay by cultivating excellence in all parts of the hiring process. Even small efforts, like providing training resources or engaging the team on interview strategy, can make a difference. The better the team performs, the more successful you too will ultimately be.