I believe that our current hiring system, especially our interview practices, is flawed.
Traditional interviews, particularly fast-paced, unstructured, verbal conversations, tend to reward people who can respond quickly rather than those who can do the work. Many employers unintentionally assume that someone who interviews confidently will excel on the job. But decades of research suggest otherwise: unstructured interviews often assess a candidate’s comfort with social pressure, not their ability to perform job tasks.
This is especially unfair for people living with disabilities, anxiety, neurodiversity, and for individuals from Black, Indigenous, and other racialized communities. When race, culture, and disability intersect, bias becomes even more pronounced.
Imagine this scenario: Two candidates are being interviewed for an Early Childhood Educator position. One has several years of hands-on experience and is truly exceptional but feels extremely anxious in interviews. The second has little or no practical experience but excels in interviews because they are confident and polished. Who gets the job? Too often, the second person.
Becoming Aware – The Problem(s)
Traditional Interviews Reward Social Performance, Not Job-Relevant Skills – I have conducted hundreds of interviews, and like many managers, I know I’ve been guilty of favouring applicants who provide quick answers, maintain eye contact, have polished body language, and seem socially at ease. But none of those traits necessarily demonstrate reliability, accuracy, creativity, technical competence, customer service ability, leadership, or problem-solving skills.
Looking back, I know I have missed hiring excellent workers because I overvalued “interview skills” and undervalued job-related ability. I should have focused less on measuring how people handle pressure and more on what truly matters: their capacity to do the work.
Conventional Interviews Create Barriers for Disabled, Anxious, and Neurodivergent Candidates – As a society, we have created and normalized biases that disadvantage people living with disabilities, especially those with anxiety, autism, ADHD, sensory differences, or cognitive disabilities.
People who need more processing time, avoid eye contact, struggle with vague questions, become overwhelmed in unfamiliar settings, use adaptive tools, bring notes, or stim to regulate themselves are often misjudged. Their traits are incorrectly labelled as a lack of confidence, poor communication, or disinterest. These assumptions are discriminatory and rarely reflect the person’s actual ability to perform job tasks.
BIPOC-D Candidates Face Additional and Compounding Forms of Bias – BIPOC – D (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, People who live with disabilities) candidates can experience layered barriers that overlap with disability-related ones. Racialized candidates are more likely to have their communication misinterpreted, calmness mistaken for lack of enthusiasm, directness for aggression, soft-spokenness for low confidence, accents for low intelligence, or cultural communication norms for unprofessionalism.
Many feel pressure to over-explain their qualifications or quietly navigate micro-aggressions. “Cultural fit,” often unintentional, can favour candidates who resemble interviewers in background, mannerisms, or communication styles.
Unstructured Interviews Amplify All Forms of Bias – Unstructured interviews are among the least reliable hiring tools. First impressions dominate. Personal chemistry overshadows qualifications. Interviewers fall back on subjective comparisons and confirmation bias. Cultural and disability-related misunderstandings often go unnoticed. The result is a process that feels fair but usually isn’t.
Traditional Interviews Favour Neurotypical Applicants – Most interview norms come from Western, extroverted communication styles: uninterrupted speech, direct eye contact, confident self-promotion, and ease with small talk. These norms conflict with the natural communication styles of many neurodivergent individuals, people with anxiety, people from cultures where eye contact is limited or indirect communication is valued, and individuals with trauma-informed boundaries.
Organizations committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion understand that none of these differences correlate with job performance.
Call to Action – What Employers Can Do
Use Structured Interviews with a Scoring Rubric – Ask each candidate the same questions, evaluate answers using specific criteria, and avoid conversational detours that reinforce similarity, racial, disability, or gender biases.
Provide Questions in Advance for Candidates Who Experience Barriers – This does not give an advantage; it creates equity. It helps neurodivergent candidates, English-language learners, anxious applicants, and anyone who requires extra processing time.
Offer Multiple Interview Formats – Let candidates choose telephone, virtual, written, or in-person options. Written formats and practical demonstrations often reveal strengths that verbal interviews miss. Employers should recognize that not everyone expresses their capabilities verbally.
Create a Predictable, Accessible Interview Experience – Equitable employers offer: an agenda provided in advance, the number of interviewers that will be present, the expected duration, prior information about tests or tasks, accessible rooms or virtual setups, and reduced sensory load when possible. Predictability reduces anxiety and levels the playing field.
Normalize and Encourage Accommodations – State clearly: “We welcome and encourage disability-related accommodations at any stage of the hiring process.” These accommodations are usually simple and inexpensive: extra time, written questions, low-sensory environments, breaks, alternate lighting, the ability to bring notes or tools, and so on. They are also required under Canadian human rights law.
Train Interviewers on Bias, Neurodiversity, and Cultural Competence – Training should include how anxiety and autism may present in applicants, what racialized communication norms are, a working knowledge of intersectionality, the importance of reducing first-impression bias, an awareness of how to avoid assumptions about confidence, and an understanding of systemic inequities in interview performance.
Incorporate Job Simulations and Skills Tests – Practical demonstrations, case studies, sample tasks, customer-service scenarios, writing or technical exercises, and (where appropriate) short paid trials often predict performance far better than traditional interviews. These allow skill, not social polish, to speak for itself.
Call to Action – What Job Seekers Can Do
Become Comfortable Requesting Accommodations – Resources like ASKJAN – Job Accommodation Network – a tremendous resource for employers and employees, can help. Accommodations job seekers can request include interview questions in advance, extra time to answer questions or perform tasks, using a written interview response format, low-sensory rooms, camera-off options, and bringing notes, tools, or a support person.
Many BIPOC-disabled candidates hesitate to request accommodations due to fear of stigma. Employers must actively normalize and support these requests.
Prepare Clear, Structured Examples – Using frameworks like the STAR approach (Situation, task, actions, and result) helps reduce anxiety, organize thoughts, and tie answers directly to employer needs.
I encourage my job seekers to prepare stories, accomplishments, and a list of questions for the employer, and to always follow up after the interview.
State Communication Preferences – Even a simple message such as “I communicate best with clear, specific questions. If I pause, it’s because I want to give an accurate answer.” This type of advance notice will help interviewers interpret your communication appropriately.
Offer Work Samples or Demonstrations – If interviews are not your strongest format, you can say, “I’m comfortable answering questions, but I excel when I can demonstrate my skills. I’m open to a job trial or hands-on task if helpful.”
Practice Scenario-Based Questions – This builds familiarity with unpredictable or abstract questions.
Remember: Poor Interview Performance Does Not Reflect Your Worth – Many brilliant candidates are overlooked due to flawed hiring systems. Prepare well, research the employer, tailor your answers to the job posting, follow up, and if you’re not selected, politely express ongoing interest. Doors that close can still open later.
Conclusion to the first steps to levelling the playing field.
The first step is acknowledging that traditional interviews favour candidates who communicate confidently in a narrow, culturally specific way. They disproportionately disadvantage people with disabilities, anxiety, neurodiversity, and racialized communities, and can multiply barriers when these identities intersect.
The second step is taking action, providing structured questions, clear expectations, better-skilled interviewers, having multiple ways to demonstrate ability, accessible formats, and recognition that communication style is not competence.
When we shift away from performance-based interviewing and toward equitable, skills-focused hiring, employers gain access to a much deeper and more talented workforce. Job seekers gain a fairer chance to show what they can truly do.
This is just an introduction; we need you to learn more, ask more, question more, and seek out more. We need you to help us.
Thank you.
Paul’s note: I cannot take credit for this post or the others in this series. The content comes from online resources, the experiences of my job seekers, great mentors and teachers, mistakes I have made, and lessons learned. My hope is that everyone finds at least one practical idea they can use today to help themselves, their workplaces, their communities, and the people who need to be seen for the skills they possess, not the stigma and biases we have learned unconsciously and that we carry with us.