Do post-interview debriefs feel a bit like a formality? You gather the interviewers, people share their thoughts, and the hiring manager makes the final call. Simple, right?
Except… it’s not.
Without a structured, thoughtful approach, debriefs can be rushed and chaotic, biased, or just plain unhelpful—leading to bad hires or missing out on great candidates, and leaving your team feeling lackluster and uninspired. You should spend more time with, and thinking, about candidates each time they advance in your process - and you have candidates to final stage! It's time to laser focus. You could get a great hire! And if you don't, this is your chance to align the team and learn exactly what is needed to get to a great hire.
There is so much invested in hiring, and this is where you take profits! If you’re not treating debriefs as one of the most valuable parts of hiring, you’re leaving a huge opportunity on the table.
So, how do you get debriefs right?
Step 1: Follow a Clear Structure
Without a structured agenda, debriefs can turn into chaotic back-and-forths, with some people dominating the discussion, others barely speaking, and no clear next steps. A consistent structure is also repeatable, helping interviewers know how to share feedback, know how decisions are made, and giving confidence in the decision. Here’s one simple and effective process:
🔹 Share agenda and debrief rules
- Everyone will have a chance to share their opinions.
- There will be time for questions and discussion,
- Interviwers can change their mind after hearing other's feedback.
- Share your decision-making framework.
I've seen it work best where the Hiring Manager makes the final call. Everyone's feedback matters, that is why they are on the interview team. But, the Hiring Manager will be responsible for the final decision. You could be consensus-driven, or scorecard-led, but share your framework up front.
Commit to following up with the interivew team.
🔹 Start with a silent vote
Each interviewer gives an initial thumbs up or down vote before discussion starts. Avoid sideways thumbs to encourage interviews make a decision. This captures individiual preferences and prevents people from just agreeing with whoever speaks first.
🔹 Have each interviewer share feedback
Each person gives a 3-4 minute summary sharing what assessment area they evaluated and candidate strengths & concerns.
🔹 Discuss as a group
Now, open up the conversation. This is where patterns emerge—does everyone agree on strengths but see different weaknesses? Did one person spot a red flag others missed? Does only one interviewer differ from all the others?
Step 2: Avoid Common Biases
Biases very often findsa way to creep in. As a moderator, watch out and kinly course correct. Some classics to watch out for:
🚨 Recency Bias – “I liked the last person we interviewed best!”
🚨 Affinity Bias – “They went to my uni; they must be great!”
🚨 Halo Effect – “They’re ex-Meta, so they must be good!”
🚨 Groupthink – “Everyone else liked them, so I must be missing something.”
I know you've heard those kind of comments. Bias is natural and helps humans process a lot of complex information. But, it's bias. And bias can lead to a narrow perspective, overconfidence or misjudgement, ignores other evidence, reduces diversity of thought - and just does not lead to the best hiring decisions.
The best way to combat bias? Have people document their feedback independently BEFORE discussing as a group. Kindly call out bias and course correct to structured, objective and job-skills based outcomes.
Step 3: Don't Compare Candidates
It’s very tempting to stack candidates side by side - especially when you’ve got two or three strong contenders. But you are making an absolute decision not a relative one! You are deciding if a candidate can be a great fit for the role, not where or if they are 'better' than another candidate.
Another way to think about it -> you don't want to hire the best of 3 poor candidates!
And you don't want to eliminate a fantastic candidate because the team likes something about another candidate more. It will feel like consolation if you end up hiring the second fantastic candidate.
"Does this person meet the bar for success in this role?". Evaluate candidates against the same key role criteria, not each other.
🔥 Pro tip: when you nail this, you'll feel comfortable making a hiring decision after meeting just one candidate, if they are the right one. Great Hiring Managers can do this.
Step 4: Use the Debrief to Learn & Improve
Ideally, you get to a hire! Yeah! But, debriefs are very valuable beyond the hiring decision. They’re a goldmine for learning, aligning, refining key criteria and getting to the hire sooner.
✅ Did we align on what we needed in this role?
✅ Did our interview process surface the right information?
✅ Are we missing something in how we evaluate candidates?
✅ Did we struggle to reach a decision? If so, why?
Take each opportunity to improve your interview process where needed, to make sure every interviewer understands the role, and what is needed in the right candidate. Without learning from each debrief, you are repeating the same mistakes, going in circles, and adding a cost to your interview process.
Step 5: Prepare Before the Debrief
A good debrief requires preparation.
✔ Read through feedback – Be prepared for strong opinions and to redirect bias.
✔ Set the right order of speaking – The most junior person should go first to avoid hierarchy-driven bias. You might be surprise how quickly people are convinced by other's opinions.
✔ Come ready to moderate – Stay on track. Stop people from talking too much, make sure everyone can share their opinion, keep time for dicussion, close the meeting with a clear outcome.
✔ Know key candidate details – Be prepared to discuss salary expectations, competing offers, motivations, and potential roadblocks to a successful hire.
Debriefs without preparation become messy, subjective, and ineffective.
Debriefs Are Your Hiring Edge
A well-run debrief helps you hire the right person with confidence, it empowers your team, and builds a better hiring process.
A sloppy debrief? That’s how you miss out on great people, increase your time to hire, and devalue your team.
So—how does your team handle debriefs? What’s worked (or not) for you? Let me know on LinkedIn or let's talk about refining your hiring process.