Opinion: Job Interviews Remain a Flawed but Unavoidable Process, Writer Says

A Guardian opinion column by Emma Beddington reflects on the perceived arbitrariness of job interviews, written after the author sat on the hiring side of an interview panel for the first time in 15 years.

The column references a recent public debate over whether bringing iced coffee into a job interview is inappropriate, using it as an example of what the author describes as the broader silliness of hiring processes. It cites a 2015 study finding that 25% of interviewers made decisions within five minutes and 60% within 15 minutes, suggesting many hiring calls are made quickly and subjectively.

The author shares personal anecdotes about difficult interview experiences, including being told a messy kitchen seen on a blog counted against a candidacy, and another instance where an interviewee was informed that wearing trousers had counted against them.

The column argues that performing well in an interview is not necessarily the same as being a good employee, questioning whether current selection processes reliably identify the best candidates.