The Situation.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. A candidate was left sitting alone in a conference room for 30 minutes. No explanation. Nobody popped their head in to say the interviewer was running behind.

When the hiring manager finally showed, he smiled, did a quick intro, and launched into the interview like nothing was amiss. No acknowledgment or apology.

Then, the hiring manager ignored the set schedule and kept the interview going longer than the agenda. The interview finally wrapped up, and I got “the call.”

The hiring manager was so impressed, he told me to move the candidate forward in the process as quickly as possible.

But before I could even ring the candidate and tell him the good news, I saw the email with the subject line "Withdrawing." 

The candidate must have sent the email while sitting in his car in the parking lot.

This particular hiring manager, with all his smarts and experience, didn’t even see it coming. What he didn’t realize was that the interview was over before he even sat down. The candidate had already decided there was no way he would work for this person. 30 minutes of silence in a conference room told the candidate everything he needed to know about how this “leader” valued his time.

Ego ends interviews early.
It creates a false sense of self-importance that many executives become blind to as they rise to positions of increasing responsibility. But Top 5% candidates are not sitting in your lobby hoping to impress. They are evaluating you, the same way you are evaluating them. They are deciding whether you are someone worth working for. “Is this a good person to trust with my career?” That assessment begins with the first contact and carries through the interview process. They are watching.

Too many leaders think candidates need their job. They hear gloomy job market data after watching an MSNBC Instagram Reel and think it’s an employer’s market. With Top 5% talent, the opposite is true. Regardless of job market conditions, top talent always has options. Multiple offers. Recruiters in their inbox weekly. Former bosses and colleagues want to work with them again. Count on a counteroffer. They are choosing where to go, not begging to get in.

Don't take my word for it. CareerPlug's 2025 Candidate Experience Report found 58% of job seekers have turned down an offer because of a poor experience during the hiring process. More than half. Your interview is not a formality. It is the sale.

Three things top candidates assess at light speed

Do you demonstrate respect? Showing up late. Being unprepared. Checking your phone. Asking questions clearly answered on the resume. Each of these signals that you don’t respect or value others. Top talent reads those signals faster than anyone. They have been through enough interviews to know what carelessness looks like. More importantly, they know what excellence looks like and have decided you are not that.

Do you have vision? The best candidates will ask some version of “What does success look like for this team in 12 months?” If you fumble the answer, they check out. They want a leader with a clear direction. Not someone still figuring things out. If you have not thought about the answer to this question before the interview starts, you are not ready to be in the room.

Are you having a conversation or running an interrogation? One-way interviews are a warning sign for the Top 5%. A leader who spends 45 minutes asking questions and zero minutes listening, sharing, or being honest about the hard parts of the role is telling the candidate something: “This is a butt in a seat.” The leaders who land and keep the best people treat interviews as a conversation. Both sides are learning. Both sides are trying to gather enough information to make an informed decision. Both have skin in the game.

The hiring manager who left the candidate waiting never quite understood why a candidate would withdraw because he had to wait a little. He blamed slowness in the process. The talent team's performance. The level he felt forced to hire for. And when I coached him, he said: “Well, the candidate must not have wanted to work here badly enough.” 

Peak arrogance. 

Your homework this week.
Before your next interview, block 15 minutes to prepare. Not to review the resume. To prepare your pitch.

Write down your answers to these questions:

If you struggle with any of these, the interview is not where your problem starts. Your clarity and self-awareness as a leader are the problem. Fix these, and other issues will fix themselves.

Then show up five minutes early to every interview. Every time.

Next week.
I have watched leader after leader make the same hiring mistake on repeat. They hire for pedigree and perceived skill. They never focus on the value-add to culture. Two leaders. Same company. Same talent market. Opposite results over 18 months. I will show you the cost difference and exactly where the approach diverges.

Go get ’em! 🚀
—Brenden
#GSD