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May 27, 2024
Key TakeawaysEvaluating cognitive interviews helps employers understand a candidate’s thinking, problem-solving and decision-making, providing deeper insight than traditional interview methods.
The cognitive interview technique is one typically reserved for law enforcement, but recruiters can make the most of this interview style in order to extract valuable information from candidates.
If you are concerned that candidates are offering rehearsed answers based on what they think you want to hear, you can extract more honest and candid answers using the cognitive interview technique.
The cognitive interview will typically include situational questions, which usually start with the phrasing “can you tell me about a time when…”.
To help extract more information from the candidate, you change the structure of the question and ask them to recall specific things. For example, you might ask them to recall the information in a different order, from the perspective of someone else, or to examine what was going on on the periphery.
This technique works by encouraging candidates to recall genuine details about the event, not just rehash what they think you want to hear. What details they choose to share can be very revealing about what really motivates them.
| Topic | Key Point |
|---|---|
| Evaluation Purpose | To assess reasoning and cognitive skills beyond resume qualifications. |
| Structured Scoring | Use consistent criteria to compare candidates objectively. |
| Insight Generation | Evaluation reveals how candidates solve problems and make decisions. |
| Comparative Fairness | Structured assessment reduces bias in candidate comparisons. |
| Role Application | Particularly valuable for strategic, analytical and leadership roles. |
First and foremost, you need to get clear on what you are hoping to achieve with this interview technique. Before you can evaluate the candidate’s performance, you need to understand what you are hoping to get out of it.
Next, create an evaluation matrix so that you can compare candidates’ answers. When moving into more abstract interview styles, it’s vital that you have a way to record the answers in a coherent way.
There may be vital pieces of information that you are trying to get out of candidates, such as how they really cope in stressful situations, or what they value the most when determining the success of a project.
Objective Candidate Insight
Structured cognitive evaluations help reveal how candidates think and make decisions in complex scenarios.
Fairer Comparisons
Using scoring criteria supports more objective and consistent hiring decisions across candidates.
Perhaps the main benefit is the ability to gain a better understanding of what the candidate notices, recalls and values about a situation. This may offer powerful insight into how they really perform and what motivates them in the workplace. This interview style can also assess their ability to see things from another perspective and to truly understand the nature of their work.
When choosing the cognitive interview technique, you need to be aware that it has some limitations. The most common issue is that it can cause candidates to recall information incorrectly. The pressure to perform may lead candidates to say anything to move forward with the interview.
Some candidates will also freeze with this type of interview style. It’s not suited to all candidates, particularly those who prefer more traditional interview questions that will enable them to prepare answers. Once they are asked to move away from this predictable style, it can make it difficult for some candidates to relax.
With this in mind, the cognitive interview technique should always be used alongside more traditional interview styles so that you get a broad view of the candidate’s abilities.
Enhance your decision-making with smarter candidate insight — submit a vacancy to partner with CMD Recruitment and improve your evaluation process for strategic hires.
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