Real Answers from Real Dallas Recruiters
This week on Real Answers from Real Dallas Recruiters, Sarah Brown tackles the questions hiring managers are actually asking. From virtual interview etiquette to knowing what you legally can and can’t ask candidates, Sarah shares the practical wisdom that comes from 13 years in recruiting and nearly 7,000 interviews.
Whether you’re a seasoned leader in Las Colinas or a newly promoted manager in Addison, these insights will help you interview smarter, stay compliant, and land the right candidates for your team.
Sarah Brown is an Executive Recruiter and Division Leader at G.A. Rogers and Associates and PrideStaff Financial in the North Dallas office. With 13 years of staffing experience and nearly a decade in accounting before that, she brings a unique perspective to the hiring process. She’s been in your shoes as a hiring manager, and she’s made mistakes, so you don’t have to.
As a Hiring Manager, What Should I Never Do in a Virtual Interview?
Hiring managers conducting virtual interviews should always have their camera on. If you expect candidates to show up on video looking professional and prepared, you need to do the same. Showing up as a black screen while asking questions creates a poor candidate experience and signals that you don’t value their time.
Sarah is direct about this one: “If you’re showing up to a virtual interview, and unless you don’t expect the candidate to be on video, you too need to be on video. You need to show up the way that you would expect them to show up.”
Why This Matters More Than You Think
Put yourself in the candidate’s position. They’ve prepared for this interview. They’re nervous, excited, and ready to make a great impression. They log in and… spend 30 to 45 minutes talking to a blank screen.
“They have no idea if the person is multitasking,” Sarah explains. “They cannot see their face. There is no connection and it’s just not a very good experience.”
The data backs this up. According to LinkedIn research, 83% of candidates say a negative interview experience can change their mind about a role or company they once liked. And research published in Scientific Reports found that candidates who display positive non-verbal cues like eye contact are perceived as more competent and likeable, something that’s impossible to convey when you’re interviewing a black screen.
Whether you’re hiring in Richardson’s Telecom Corridor or Irving’s business district, Dallas candidates have options. The interview experience is part of your employer brand. A black screen tells candidates that if this is how you treat them before they’re hired, what happens after?
The Simple Fix
Sarah puts it simply: “Candidates deserve your respect and they deserve your connection. And if you want them to pick your team to join, that starts from the very first meeting.”
So before your next virtual interview, check your background, adjust your lighting, and turn that camera on. It’s a small thing that makes a big difference.
How Many Interview Rounds Are Too Many?
Both hiring managers and candidates agree: two to four interviews is the sweet spot. While some organizations still require 8-12 rounds before making a hiring decision, this extended process frustrates everyone involved and often costs you the best candidates who accept offers elsewhere.
Sarah recently polled both hiring managers and candidates on LinkedIn to see where people stand on interview rounds. The results? Both sides are aligned.
“What’s interesting is we are in agreement,” Sarah shares. “We do not need 8 to 12 interviews in order to determine if a candidate is going to be successful.”
See Sarah’s LinkedIn polls: Hiring Managers Poll | Candidates Poll
The Real Cost of Too Many Rounds
The statistics paint a clear picture. According to JobScore research, 32% of candidates say that even 2-3 interview rounds feels like too many, and 52% say 4-5 rounds is excessive. More critically, half of employers admit they’ve lost quality talent due to a poor interview process.
Research from People Management found that three-quarters of job seekers would drop out of lengthy recruitment processes altogether. In a Dallas market where top accounting and finance talent gets snapped up within days, a drawn-out process means losing candidates to faster-moving competitors.
There’s also candidate fatigue to consider. By interview eight, even the most enthusiastic candidate starts questioning whether this role is worth the hassle.
What 2-4 Rounds Should Look Like
A streamlined interview process might include: an initial phone screen with HR or a recruiter, a deeper conversation with the hiring manager, a skills assessment or team interview, and a final conversation to address any remaining questions. That’s enough to evaluate fit, assess skills, and make a confident decision, without dragging everyone through months of scheduling.
What Questions Can You Legally Ask in an Interview? And Which Ones Could Get You in Trouble?
New hiring managers should focus only on questions that directly relate to a candidate’s ability to perform the job. Questions about age, religion, family status, national origin, or other protected characteristics are off-limits, even when phrased creatively. Before asking anything, ask yourself: Do I need this information to determine if they’ll be effective in the role?
Sarah gets personal on this one. She’s been there.
“I was a baby hiring manager who had no training whatsoever and asked all the wrong questions. The illegal ones,” Sarah admits. “I had no idea.”
The candidate she was interviewing actually told her mid-interview that she probably couldn’t ask what she just asked. That moment stuck with Sarah, and she’s made it her mission to help new managers avoid the same mistake.
Why Proper Interview Training Matters
Sarah’s experience isn’t uncommon. According to the Academy to Innovate HR (AIHR), 20% of interviewers have asked candidates illegal questions during interviews. And the consequences are serious: the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received 88,531 charges of workplace discrimination in fiscal year 2024, a 9.2% increase over the previous year.
The financial stakes are real. Asking the wrong questions doesn’t just create a poor candidate experience, it exposes your company to legal liability.
The Questions That Seem Harmless But Aren’t
Here’s where it gets tricky. The obviously illegal questions are easy to avoid. Most managers know not to ask someone’s age directly. But there are creative workarounds that seem conversational but cross the same lines.
Sarah gives examples: “Tell me what your weekends look like. Do you have a lot of time with your family? Do you need to leave work by a certain time?”
These questions might seem like friendly small talk, but they’re designed to uncover whether someone has children or caregiving responsibilities, information that’s protected and has no bearing on job performance.
According to the EEOC, pre-employment inquiries that relate to protected characteristics “may be used as evidence of an employer’s intent to discriminate unless the questions asked can be justified by some business purpose.” In other words, if you can’t tie the question directly to job performance, don’t ask it.
Sarah’s Simple Test
Before asking any question, Sarah recommends a simple gut check: “Do I need this information in order to ensure this person will be effective and make a difference if I were to offer them the job?”
If the answer is no, don’t ask it. It’s that straightforward.
“None of those questions impact the success of the role,” Sarah emphasizes. “Therefore, they don’t need to be asked.”
Getting the Training You Need
Many new managers are promoted based on their technical skills but never receive proper interview training. If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Research from Career Builder shows that 75% of employers admit they’ve hired the wrong person for a position, often because interviewers weren’t equipped to evaluate candidates effectively.
Sarah offers this: “If you are a new manager and you want additional ideas on what you can and cannot ask in an interview, and you do not feel like you have the leadership or the mentorship above you to be able to coach through that, I would love to help you out.”
Why Sarah’s Advice Works
Sarah’s perspective comes from experience on both sides of the desk. Nearly a decade in accounting before transitioning to recruiting means she understands what it’s like to be the candidate in the hot seat and the hiring manager making tough decisions.
That background gives her a practical, no-nonsense approach to hiring. She’s not here to lecture, she’s here to help you avoid the mistakes she made and find the right people for your team.
Now, as Division Leader at G.A. Rogers and Associates and PrideStaff Financial in North Dallas, part of a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing award-winning organization, she helps hiring managers throughout Las Colinas, Richardson, Addison, Irving, Plano, and the surrounding areas fill accounting, finance, and executive roles with qualified candidates. For over 25 years, PrideStaff Dallas has combined local market expertise with national resources to help companies build better teams.
Your Hiring Manager Interview Checklist
Based on Sarah’s expert advice, here’s your complete guide to running better interviews:
Before the Interview
- Review your questions and remove anything that doesn’t relate directly to job performance
- Test your camera and audio for virtual interviews
- Confirm how many interview rounds are truly necessary (aim for 2-4 maximum)
- Prepare to give candidates your full attention
During the Interview
- Keep your camera on and stay present (no multitasking)
- Focus on job-related questions only
- Avoid questions about family, religion, age, or other protected characteristics
- Treat every candidate with respect and professionalism
After the Interview
- Move efficiently, don’t lose great candidates to slow processes
- Communicate next steps clearly
- Seek training or mentorship if you’re unsure about interview best practices
Need Help Finding the Right Candidates?
Whether you’re building an accounting team in Irving, filling finance roles in Richardson, or searching for executive talent anywhere in the Dallas area, our team at G.A. Rogers and Associates and PrideStaff Financial can help.
We work with hiring managers every day to streamline their hiring process, pre-screen qualified candidates, and fill roles faster. And because we’re local, we’ve been in Dallas for over 25 years, we understand your market.
Ready to make your next hire? Connect with Sarah directly: Website | LinkedIn
Video Transcripts
Virtual interviews, as a hiring manager, what should I never do?
“Okay. You’re a hiring manager. You show to a virtual interview. You think I don’t need my camera on? It’s not a big deal because I’m not the one interviewing. I am the hiring manager, and I get to make the decision. No. If you’re showing up to a virtual interview, and unless you don’t expect the candidate to be on video, you too need to be on video.
You need to show up the way that you would expect them to show up. So that means if you don’t expect them to show up in a sweatshirt, you two can’t show up in a shirt and a sweatshirt. I think it’s really important for us to understand the candidates deserve respect within a process, and it is not fair for them to have to talk to a black screen.
And I’m so surprised that so many people are still doing this. So a candidate will log in to the interview. They’re so prepared. They’re nervous, they’re excited, ready to connect, and they spend 30 to 45 minutes talking to a black screen. And all they have is someone asking questions towards them. They have no idea if the person is multitasking.
They cannot see their face. There is no connection and it’s just not a very good experience. So please keep in mind candidates deserve your respect and they deserve your connection. And if you want them to pick your team to join. That starts from the very first meeting.”
What is the perfect amount of interviews?
“One that’s actually for hiring managers and candidates. I asked a question, a few weeks back around how many rounds of interviews you feel is necessary from both sides of the desk. And what’s interesting is we are in agreement. We do not need 8 to 12 interviews in order to determine if a candidate is going to be successful.
And I think we’re still hearing a lot of organizations are requiring 8 to 12 interviews in order to determine if they’re going to make a hiring decision. But both hiring managers and candidates both equally agreed. In my poll on LinkedIn that they would prefer someplace between 3 and 4 interviews in order to determine if it’s the right fit for both sides.
Something to keep in mind.”
New hiring managers: What can you and can you not ask in an interview?
“This video is for new managers who are recently learning how to hire. So you are recently promoted to leadership. You’re interviewing people, and people may not have ever equipped you to be effective in an interview. And I can tell you, I know firsthand if anyone has ever gone on LinkedIn and read one of my stories and my article that I posted.
I was a baby hiring manager who had no training whatsoever and asked all the wrong questions. The illegal ones. The ones you really don’t want to ask to an employee who was so gracious and loving and kind and ended up accepting our offer, that goodness. And she literally said, I’m not really sure you can ask that. Sara and I had no idea.
So there are some questions that you absolutely cannot ask in an interview. And of course, we understand that those are protected questions and we really shouldn’t want to know the answers anyways. So those are related to age and all of the things related to religion and sex and origin and, all of the things that, we shouldn’t care about in an interview and for some reason, they’re still getting brought up.
There have been some really creative ways that these questions have been asked. Like, tell me what your weekends look like. Do you have a lot of time with your family? Do you need to leave work by a certain time? In order to understand if someone has children, you have to be very careful when you’re interviewing to ask yourself first.
Do I need this information in order to ensure this person will be effective and make a difference? If I were to offer them the job and that is all you need to know. None of those questions impact the success of the role. Therefore, they don’t need to be asked.
So if you are a new manager and you want additional ideas on what you can and cannot ask in an interview, and you do not feel like you have the leadership or the mentorship above you to be able to coach through that. I would love to help you out. Send me a note.”