Interviewing Interiorscape Candidates

Once new hires have had some time on the job, many managers begin to see who has high potential for career growth and who may have been a hiring mistake. Hiring managers must take responsibility for their choices—good or bad—when selecting people to join the team. Unfortunately, the practice of interviewing—often riddled with blind spots that can be easily avoided—can set managers up to fail. For interiorscape businesses, where employees often work independently and represent your company on client sites, making the right hire is especially critical. Here’s how to interview interiorscape candidates and hire the right talent for a thriving team.

Master the Interview Process

The first thing to understand is that interviewing is very, very difficult to do well. Between limited time to make judgments, a lack of information available (either because a candidate hides it intentionally or because proper questions aren’t being asked), and the fact that job applicants do everything in their power to appear as desirable as possible, making poor hiring decisions shouldn’t come as a surprise. In fact, interviewing is so difficult that hiring managers don’t select the most talented candidate for a job as much as 82% of the time, according to Gallup research.

One of the best ways to interview better is to focus on factors that matter to the job at hand. Many managers make poor hiring decisions because they judge job candidates on factors that don’t predict job performance, including education, certifications, the reputation of previous employers, resume spelling and grammar, candidate appearance, and how well the candidate answers questions. These are not the things that are expected of applicants, such as plant technicians, making them poor indicators of job performance. Instead, interiorscape managers should assess practical skills such as plant care knowledge, the ability to identify and treat plant diseases, hands-on experience with plant installations, and familiarity with indoor environmental conditions. These are far more indicative of a candidate’s potential success in an interiorscape role.

Start With an Objective Initial Evaluation

The best interviewers use a combination of tools. First, an independent and objective assessment, whether homegrown or provided by a third-party service, can provide a strong foundation for screening applicants. This helps remove early bias and ensures candidates are evaluated based on their actual abilities rather than assumptions, especially in roles where day-to-day performance matters more than what’s listed on a resume.

When I help companies hire sales representatives, for example, we evaluate every single candidate before ever looking at their resume to avoid any preconceived notions. A similar approach can be valuable when hiring plant technicians or other interiorscape team members, where practical skills and consistency in the field matter most.

Conduct Blind Interviews to Reduce Bias

Second, candidates with the required talent should receive a screening call from someone who will not interview them. The best interviewers walk into the interview completely blind to the applicant’s education, experience, or resume so that they can limit any preconceived notions. The reason is that even professional interviewers are more likely to hire candidates who attended a prestigious school or worked for a reputable company, regardless of the level of talent they have. In many interiorscape roles, those factors have little impact on how someone performs in the field or interacts with clients.

Be Consistent in Your Interview Process

Third, every interview should consist of exactly the same questions. With a structured process, it becomes possible to score responses and compare candidates fairly to select the best. Unfortunately, many hiring managers prefer to just “wing it” and have a natural conversation with applicants. When developing standard questions and utilizing situational queries that reveal a candidate’s behavioral instincts, it becomes possible to select the most talented employees for your interiorscape business, particularly those who can perform consistently across multiple accounts.

Remain Attentive to Candidate Behavior

Finally, great interviewers are constantly vigilant for applicants who work to inflate their image. These candidates who are complimentary of the company, exaggerate personal achievements, reframe weaknesses, or flat-out lie are more than twice as likely to receive second interviews because hiring managers often aren’t on guard for their tactics. Realizing that everyone is subject to the psychological influence of applicants is key to hiring the most talented candidates.

Build a Stronger Interiorscape Team

Selecting the best candidate is critical to the growth and success of your interiorscape business. If you improve your interviewing process, you’ll build a more capable team for years to come. Better hiring decisions lead to improved service, more consistent results, and stronger client relationships over time. And if you need help selecting a pre-interview talent assessment, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected].