Did you know that 72% of job applicants who have a negative candidate experience will share it—online or offline? Your interview process plays a critical role in shaping that experience. That’s why interview training for hiring managers is more important than ever.
In this guide, we’ll explore what interview training involves, why it matters, and how to implement it effectively to hire better and protect your employer brand.
What Is Interview Training for Hiring Managers?
Interview training equips hiring managers with the skills, tools, and frameworks to conduct fair, effective, and legally compliant job interviews. Training typically includes:
- Reducing unconscious bias
- Asking better, more structured questions
- Creating a consistent interview process
- Improving communication and body language
- Learning legal do’s and don’ts
Most programs also include mock interviews and performance feedback so hiring managers can develop their techniques in real-world scenarios.
Why Is Interview Training Important?
Effective interview training benefits both the company and the candidate. Here’s why it matters:
- Helps avoid discriminatory or inappropriate questions
- Improves consistency across hiring teams
- Creates a more engaging and inclusive candidate experience
- Boosts your employer brand and offer acceptance rates
- Reduces time-to-hire and cost-per-hire
- Engages hiring managers in the recruitment process in a meaningful way
A trained hiring manager not only makes better hires—they create positive impressions that strengthen your brand, both online and offline.
Benefits of Interview Skills Training for Hiring Managers
Interview skills training teaches your hiring managers better interviewing skills. This might include how to reduce their unconscious biases and ensure they hire the right person for the job, not someone who aligns with a particular trait they may subconsciously share. It could also involve information on what questions to ask, how to ask questions, and how to set up the interview.
Investing in interview training results in:
- Standardized hiring processes
- Objective candidate evaluations using structured scorecards
- Inclusive hiring practices that welcome diverse talent
- Improved candidate insights through better questions
- Enhanced ability to spot red flags and top performers
For example, trained managers learn how to ask questions that assess real-world problem-solving instead of irrelevant hypotheticals.
Recruitment scorecards are standardised templates used to assess candidates based on predetermined criteria. These criteria can include skills, experience, cultural fit, and other relevant factors for the job. In Teamdash, project members can score the candidates on a scale of 5 for each criteria.
Risks of Poor Interviews (And Why It Hurts Your Brand)
A poor interview negatively impacts your candidate experience, and therefore your employer brand. With 60% of candidates reporting they received a poor candidate experience, and 72% of those people sharing those bad experiences, leaving candidates with a bad taste in their mouth could seriously impact your employer brand on and offline.
Hiring managers can damage your recruitment efforts—and your reputation.
- 60% of candidates report bad interview experiences
- 72% of them will share it with others
- Bad reviews on Social Media, Glassdoor or LinkedIn can deter top talent
- Increased offer declines and longer time-to-fill roles
- Higher hiring costs and wasted recruiter time
An unprofessional interview doesn’t just lose candidates—it undermines your entire talent strategy.
Signs a Hiring Manager Needs Interview Training
Adequate training also ensures your hiring managers know what to ask to get valid, useful responses during the job interview. Questions about if someone would rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck may lead to interesting internet debates, but it’s not going to tell you how someone would problem solve in your organisation.
Not sure if your hiring managers need training? Watch out for these red flags:
- Asking irrelevant or oddball questions (“Draw yourself as a superhero” or “If you could be anything, what would you be?”)
- Failing to assess core competencies
- Over-focusing on culture fit or “gut feeling”
- Talking more than listening
- Lack of structure in the interview process
What Improves When Managers Conduct Better Interviews?
When hiring managers conduct better interviews, it reduces your cost and time to hire because you can get more relevant answers from candidates. Then you can make a better assessment of how well someone will actually perform in a role.
When interviews are done right:
- Candidates feel respected and informed
- You collect better, more relevant insights
- Offers are accepted more often
- Your employer brand gets stronger
- Your hiring funnel becomes more efficient
- Your time-to-hire and cost-per-hire drop
Teamdash applicant tracking system offers all necessary tools for recruiters, hiring managers and candidates to conduct professional interviews and save significant time on interview scheduling.
How to Train Hiring Managers to Run Better Interviews
1. Align Training with Your Hiring Goals
Ensure interview training reflects your company values, hiring priorities, and DEI goals. Don’t assume managers know what’s expected—make it explicit and repeat often.
2. Structure the Interview Training Program
Interviews are usually structured or unstructured. An unstructured interview is exactly what it sounds like – Rather than stick to a ready-made list of rudimentary questions, interviewers are allowed to stray off-script and follow new lines of inquiry as and when they arise. The strength of unstructured interviews lies in their flexibility, with their free-flowing nature far more likely to yield valuable insights into a candidate.
Unstructured interviews are only a good option if the hiring manager is already quite experienced and thus is not a good option for someone needing additional training. Thus it’s best to focus on training hiring managers initially to conduct a structured interview to make sure comparable data is collected from all candidates.
Build a curriculum that covers:
- Legal basics and bias awareness
- Behavioural interviewing techniques
- Candidate engagement best practices
- Evaluation frameworks and scoring systems
- Use real feedback, training data, and candidate reviews to tailor sessions.
3. Teach Evaluation of Both Soft & Hard Skills
Great interviews assess both:
- Technical skills (e.g. coding, writing, analytics)
- Soft skills (e.g. communication, teamwork, adaptability)
- Help hiring managers develop well-rounded interview questions that reflect role needs and team culture.
4. Conduct Mock Interviews and Give Feedback
Use mock interviews to coach managers on:
- Tone of voice and body language
- How to put candidates at ease
- Following up with consistent questions
- Listening actively and taking notes effectively
- This hands-on training builds real confidence—and real skills.
5. Provide Tools and Resources to Reinforce Learning
Training shouldn’t stop after one session. Provide:
Interview frameworks and templates
- Question libraries
- Candidate scorecards
- Refresher courses or checklists
- Access to HR for real-time support
You can even embed these into your ATS or interview platform for quick access.
Final Thoughts: Make Every Interview Count
Hiring managers are often the face of your company. With proper training, they can become your biggest recruiting asset—improving candidate experience, decision quality, and your hiring metrics. Consider implementing structured interview training for hiring managers across your teams today.
Bonus: Next Steps You Can Take
- Audit your current interview process
- Identify top-priority training needs
- Pilot a training session with one department
- Use feedback to scale training org-wide
- Track improvements in candidate NPS and hiring metrics
Want to improve your time to hire and get more qualified candidates?
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