candidate read all his interview answers from a script

A reader writes:

Last month I had a video interview with a candidate that caught me off guard. It was a second round interview, and I was tasked with asking some deeper questions and providing some more technical context to the role.

It became clear quite quickly, since we were on video, that the candidate was reading from prepared notes on his screen. And not just quick references to projects or previous work, but actually reading it like a script. Even when I tried to ask some follow-up questions that he could not have prepared for, he gave a brief answer before reverting back to the script.

I’ve experienced this with candidates before but never to this extent; it felt less like a conversational interview and more like a performance! I was tempted to interrupt and ask him to ditch the notes, but second-guessed myself. He was clearly nervous, and I didn’t want to make it worse. But should I have said something?

I answer this question — and two others — over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here.

Other questions I’m answering there today include:

• How much should I tell my employee about why I’m rejecting his significant other?
• Employee’s clinking spoon is setting off my misophonia

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