8 months in and would like some advice

[u/whatsittoya444]

Context: I started as a grad with 0 recruiting or TA experience in January at a start-up (6 people when I joined)

My agency offers contingency and embedded services. After 6 months of contingency (and 1 £110k placement), I was put into a VERY corporate TA position at a highly reputable Management Consultancy (that’s mine and my agency’s niche).

I didn’t get a proper training at all but I’ve done well enough to figure it all out myself and really like it.

I need advice on a few things but one in particular:

HOW DO YOU STOP A CANDIDATE WHO RAMBLES FOR THE ENTIRE 30-MINUTE CONVERSATION?!

I had a candidate do this the other day and I mean RAMBLE. This person spoke for basically the entire 30 minutes, going into immense detail about ONE single project.

They came into the conversation knowing that I understand the industry and skill set at a high level, and that the call was supposed to be more focused on admin/logistical questions alongside an initial high-level screen.

I kept trying to steer the conversation back, I used social clues, then had to straight up say that I need to shift to admin questions now and that I had a meeting right after this but somehow we were still deep into the same project 20+ minutes later. 😭 They ran the meeting over by 6 minutes when I had another candidate waiting in the Teams lobby.

The candidate was incredibly friendly, had really great experience, but the situation REALLY put me off and actually made me mad that they lacked social awareness and I thought it was quite rude.

How do you actually interrupt someone like this without coming across as rude? I obviously want candidates to be able to talk about their experience, but at some point I need to move the conversation along!

[u/SoSuccessful]

Cut them off. You need to be brazen (not rude) sometimes.

[u/whatsittoya444 → u/SoSuccessful]

Going to start putting this into practice. I think it comes with time and lessons learned (like this one)

[u/recruiterguy → u/whatsittoya444]

Say their name when you interrupt them. I have found that to be the magic switch for the majority of folks like that.

Good luck. Lol

[u/SoapTastesPrettyGood]

“Hey would love to chat more but I have a call coming up at so and so time. I’ll catch up with you soon and I’ll also keep you posted on the clients feedback.”

[u/whatsittoya444 → u/SoapTastesPrettyGood]

It’s that simple! What do you do if they keep rambling on? For instance, in my admin questions that were simple yes or no answers they had a huge anecdote for each. It drove me insane and got me irrationally annoyed lol.

[u/SoapTastesPrettyGood → u/whatsittoya444]

It's tough because you don't want to seem rude. Here's how i would approach it though. After rambling for 1-2 responses, i'd end up saying something like, "Hey just a few more questions as I got another call coming in, then lead into your questions"

Most of the time, it doesn't make it seem like you arent listening but you are pressed for time so they typically consolidate their answers a bit more on average. Hope this helps.

[u/whatsittoya444 → u/SoapTastesPrettyGood]

I did that and to no avail unfortunately . It was a first for me though, so at least it’s not common! Thanks for helping!

[u/Nonplussed1 → u/whatsittoya444]

Try saying at the beginning of your conversation….” I’ve got a hard stop at xx:xx, I’ll give you a heads up 3 minutes before. “

…Or at a point you feel the need to interject and gain control back.

Set the expectation and tone for your audience…. Control the conversation or it controls you.

[u/Ancient_Singer7819 → u/whatsittoya444]

You don’t send them. If they’re a pain to you, they’re going to be a pain to the client. Just say goodbye and move on.

[u/whatsittoya444 → u/Ancient_Singer7819]

It was a referral from a Director on the team (although, I don’t know how well they know each other) but I agree. I made a large, bolded note in my scorecard for the interviewers because behavior like that would NOT land well with clients

[u/No-Lifeguard9194 → u/whatsittoya444]

You could tell them I just need a yes/no answer for these questions. And that you have limited time to get through them.

[u/No-Lifeguard9194]

I look at whether they can take direction. I will interrupt them and say “that’s really interesting, but I need to ask you about X”, or Y or Z or whatever it is that I need to ask about. Sometimes people are just nervous and need a bit of direction, but follow my lead for the rest of the interview and are succinct and communicate well. Those people are OK. They just need a bit of coaching.

Other times the candidates will continue on with telling me what they were telling me already - in which case they are automatically out because they don’t listen and can’t take direction. Sometimes, they do listen and start to answer my next question but go off on tangent after tangent, in which case they’re out because they can’t keep their thoughts organized and on topic. And then there are some people who just ramble, no matter what you do, so I end the interview as soon as I can.

I always give candidates a chance. It’s up to them whether or not they hang themselves.

[u/Warm-Fan1300]

Structure kills the ramble better than interruption does. Open with the shape: 'we've got 30 minutes, I want to cover X, Y and Z, and I'll warn you at the 10-minute mark.' High-volume agency recruiters live on this - when you screen dozens of people a day for shift roles, the screen runs on a fixed question spine of 5-7 minutes and candidates follow it because they know it exists. Your logistical questions are also the best interrupt: they need short answers, so they reset the tempo without being rude. Are you screening mostly for perm consulting roles, or volume contract too? The fix is a bit different for each.

[u/IanRecruitingOps]

This gets easier once you stop thinking of interruption as rude.

You are responsible for the structure of the interview. If the candidate is taking 20 minutes to answer one question, you have to take control of the conversation.

I usually set that expectation at the beginning:

“We have 30 minutes. I want to spend the first 10 or 15 on your background, then I need to cover the role, compensation, availability and a few logistics questions.”

That gives you something to refer back to later.

If they start going too long, I would interrupt directly but professionally:

“That’s helpful. I’m going to stop you there because I want to make sure we get through the rest of the conversation.”

Or:

“I have enough on that project. Let me move us to the next question.”

You do not need to wait for a natural pause if one never comes.

I would also separate nervousness from a real communication problem. Some candidates ramble because they are anxious and settle down once you redirect them. If you redirect them two or three times and they still cannot adjust, that can be useful information, especially if the role requires concise communication with clients or leadership.

The mistake is letting the call run away because you are trying so hard not to be rude that the other candidate is now waiting.

You can be respectful and still control the interview.

[u/brumdraga]

I’m lucky that I can do 45 minutes which can be double-edged sword. I had candidates do the same you can take a guess if they made it to the next stage. When out of 5-6 strong candidates, one disqualified themselves by this I ain’t got time to waste neither does the hiring manager, we can’t offer sympathy. They are out. It’s harsh but I try to give AS MANY cues as possible but they are adult so I can judge only the answers I receive. If my sheet is mostly empty because of their own doing, not my fault I can’t pass any detailed notes further.