One of the most important, strategic, entertaining, often wasteful and straight up wild parts of your management job is going to be devoted to interviewing.

Some candidates will flatter you, some will surprise you, fewer still will impress you. Remember not to forget the point of this exchange is a mutual role & skills evaluation. Although, inevitably the memorable moments will be well outside of those parameters.

From experience, I’ve found the memorable interviews roughly break down into these archetypes below:

Fibbing Freds – Experience and progression from one company to the next don’t seem to add up. Wait are they still at their current company or did they leave? Slightly different stories to each interviewer? Different resume versions with different dates from the application to onsite? Details matter, take good notes.

• It was the candidate who left a rapidly growing, well known startup with a self described great role to “pivot” into a different software vertical that drove this point home. A quick Google search revealed an indictment for insider trading. Innocent til found guilty though, to be fair.

Embellishing Emilys – Candidates get excited. They want to highlight their skills, accomplishments, and depth of knowledge. But don’t take them at their word, dig a little deeper with follow up questions. Did they really individually accomplish those things? Or were they just on the team? …Or in the room?

• Fluent in another language or took it for a couple years in high school?
• Managed top tier account relationships or helped with the back end reporting?
• Embellishers may also try and embellish your accomplishments. Kill you with kindness, flatter you. Don’t fall for it.

Oversharing Owens – Some people just want to share. Whether it’s frustrations about their current company, role, or stories about their personal life, they’ll tell you about it.

• The stress induced shingle outbreak candidate
• Teaching yoga for the past six months to change speeds after the stress of a prior role that…closely mirrors this new one
• Previous company stinks, previous manager was a jerk etc etc
• The passionate salesperson who, when asked what other industry interested them, shared selling pharmaceuticals like Viagra because it would sell well. OK!

Free Fionas – these spirits don’t often sweat the small stuff. Like showing up at the correct time, or on the correct date. Details are ancillary. They’re confident, but can’t always stay organized.

• One missed their phone screen due to a puppy misadventure. But I knew you was lying because you said they ran out of your fenced yard in the city. No one has a yard in San Francisco!
• Asked to borrow a phone charger. Then walked out with it
• Showed up on the wrong day
• Got your name wrong in a thank you e-mail. Not the spelling, the totally wrong name. You get the point..

Nervous Nevins – Nervous ≠ No Good. Make them feel comfortable. Don’t be a judger. Get through to the real skills evaluation and let them show their stuff.

• Blotchy chest. Sweaty palms. Quivering voice. So common.
• One of our best team members had all the above when they started their interview. But they settled in and it was clear they would be a valued member of the team. See through the smoke

The Perfect Fit – Is there such a thing? Hire them, quickly. Boom, done.

Your experience will probably be different. Better? Maybe.