Hiring managers, what made you realize a candidate was not qualified during an interview?

10 Comments

1. Kimberley Ferretti HammettJuly 23,2025 at 7:11PM UTC

   I'm not technically a hiring manager but in the Professional/Leadership Development and HR space so I'm involved in hiring processes. This is a broad question with many different answers but I'll focus on that word "qualified" and tell you that one big thing good hiring leaders will be looking for is demonstrated knowledge and ability. There's a difference between being able to pass a vocabulary test on a system or process and actually knowing and understanding it enough to implement in a variety of situations.

   I'll give you an example. Let's say I'm hiring for a role that needs to be able to use an HRIS system. If a candidate tells me they've used Cornerstone and worked with the Performance Development, ATS and LMS platforms on it.. ok great. You know the names and acronyms but you haven't actually shown me you know what you're talking about. Now if you tell me you've worked with Cornerstone and built performance reviews and had to create a work-around for the reporting because their formatting didn't sync.. Then I know you actually know the system and can figure out how to make it work for you.. I wouldn't even care if you didn't use those other parts I'd feel confident you could learn it.

   This can be applied to processes as well.. basically just actual demonstrated understanding. Don't just state you have worked with something, show me you know it well enough to apply that experience to a specific or new environment. That's a marker for success.

2. AnonymousJuly 24,2025 at 10:09AM UTC

   I'm sitting here reading your response and thinking to myself - "is there someone out there that actually knows Cornerstone, has it implemented properly, and actually finds value in this specific system???"

3. Kimberley Ferretti HammettJuly 24,2025 at 12:53PM UTC

   Bahahahaha! Doubtful. I used it in an example because it unfortunately has taken up more than its share of space in my brain. Thankfully I no longer have to work with it but was stuck with it at my last company and worked on implementation and it was the bane of my work. I cannot tell you how many times I stumped the Cornerstone team with basic HR functions and they had the audacity to tell me no one has ever asked them that before. Then I'd sometimes figure out a workaround and kinda rig the system to almost do what I wanted and they'd be like "wow, that's so smart, I didn't think to do that, I'm going to share that with our team!" And I'm just wondering where my compensation is.. both for the work and for being personally victimized by their system.

4. AnonymousJuly 24,2025 at 2:22PM UTC

   My current employer, this is our 'HRIS' (and I use that term lightly). Our HQ is outside the US and our region had no say in this being our resource. They've been trying to get it up and running since before I started (over 3 years ago), people keep finding work arounds outside the system because it is such crap. The implementation of various modules has been in fits and starts. It's kinda laughable. And sad. I've used a few (primarily successfactors and Ultipro), tried out a few others and this is the worst of the worst.

5. Kimberley Ferretti HammettJuly 24,2025 at 5:45PM UTC

   The. Worst. That is so tough when HQ is so far removed. I tried to teach that employer the term "sunk cost fallacy" because their reason for not bailing on it was that they spent so much on the implementation. I was like, but its not doing what you are paying for.. you could be spending all this renewed contract money on something that is actually giving you return!? It's wild that CS is so huge.. I saw them at a conference and they had one of the biggest booth areas and very few visitors. I mentioned it to a couple people I met at the conference and not one person who had used them had anything good to say either.

6. AnonymousJuly 24,2025 at 4:50PM UTC

   I think I would ask you what questions did you have on your interview form, and why did you bring the person into the interview? It seems they matched something in the job description. But maybe when you dove a little deeper you realized they didn't have the in-depth knowledge or experience. If that is so, then look back at the PD and see where you may have not been clear. Just because I am not an administrator of a system, but am a power user could be an asset, unless you need someone who can manage the system. So as an example, if you want a system administrator, then look for those applicants or if you are open to someone who has used it, then your PD must state that. I've been in hundreds of interviews and having a pre interview call can save you so much time in the long run but being very strategic in what your company seeks and what is required, should be considered well in advance. Phone interviews, or virtual by Zoom, etc. can weed out a lot of the wrong people that will save you time. I knew in a recent interview well before I interviewed the person they wouldn't be a fit. They had zero experience in the industry, but the hiring director hired them anyway. They ended up leaving in less than a year. Which was my prediction but no one listened to me. It's all about what you can find out before you spend more time with them. And it is also about how much control do you have in moving them along in the process. But overall, yes, we can find what we think are great candidates, but when we meet with them and dig deeper we may see they are not a cultural fit, or their personality just won't fit for whatever reason.

7. Kimberley Ferretti HammettJuly 24,2025 at 5:39PM UTC

   I see you edited the question to exclude anything about systems that can be trained which I understand but I just want to clarify.. what I am looking for is not necessarily that they have experience with any particular system.. it's that they can demonstrate true understanding of whatever it is they say they have experience in. I can tell when someone is just regurgitating what they have done vs demonstrating that they actually understand a process or system enough to know how and why it works. It's critical thinking skills. It tells me they can apply past experience, even with something we don't use, to a new experience that would work for us. It can depend on the role but in many organizations that I've worked for, just being able to repeat information or follow detailed instruction did not qualify you. We looked for candidates that showed us they understood the aspects of their job enough that they could easily learn and apply it to new situations and even make suggestions for improvement.

   An example that doesn't involve systems could be sales. If a candidate is the top salesperson from their previous company but can't articulate what makes them successful or how their skills would translate to our product or culture.. they aren't showing me that they are qualified. For all I know they got the most sales because someone else gave them the most leads.

8. AnonymousJuly 25,2025 at 2:58AM UTC

   Are you asking for your info as a hiring manager yourself or as a candidate trying to gain insight? If you're looking for insight i don't think you can say an answer does t count. You can disagree with it but if that's the truth then that's it. I fully believe a softskills and culture for are way harder to teach and therefore specific systems experience doesn't always matter when it can be trained.. but I've seen many situations where there's a backfill position and a team just isnt given the time and resources to train someone completely new, therefore they need someone with that experience so their time to proficiency is very quick

9. AnonymousJuly 28,2025 at 4:10AM UTC

   What they believed were compelling examples of the match with their background was nothing concrete at all. While they were convinced of a perfect match I walked way with just the opposite.

10. AnonymousJuly 31,2025 at 4:20PM UTC

    Many times for me it is more important that we discuss culture. In other words, would they fit into our environment today or easily adapt? I have hired a few candidates based on that and work ethic versus the capabilities of the open position. We are firm believers that many of the required skills for our open positions can be learned. But, it clearly depends on the skill set that is required for that position (expertise in a certain software, field, etc). Great question!