As the year winds down, many Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) firms are taking a hard look at their project pipelines, workforce needs, and strategic plans for the new year. With bids being prepared, new contracts kicking off, and project schedules tightening, now is a critical moment to examine how you interview and hire talent.

The AEC workforce remains highly competitive, with ongoing skilled labor shortages, increased demand for specialty roles, and rising expectations from candidates. That means the ability to interview effectively—quickly, fairly, and with confidence—is more important than ever. To help you strengthen your hiring strategy as you plan for the year ahead, here are timely, practical interviewing tips tailored specifically for AEC leaders.

Prepare With the Current Workforce Landscape in Mind

Today’s AEC workforce shortage affects nearly every discipline—estimators, project managers, superintendents, BIM specialists, architects, and trades alike. Because of this, preparation is key.

• Clarify your immediate and long-term staffing needs, especially for upcoming projects.
• Identify which skills are non-negotiable (e.g., BIM proficiency, field supervision experience, knowledge of local codes) and which can be developed on the job.
• Review resumes before the interview, highlighting areas that relate directly to your project pipeline or technical requirements.

In a tight labor market, understanding exactly what you need helps you identify the right candidates efficiently.

Starting the Interview

First impressions matter, and candidates in the AEC industry often juggle busy jobsite responsibilities or multiple interview processes. Beginning with a clear explanation of the interview structure, role expectations, and your project pipeline establishes transparency and professionalism right away.

This helps candidates understand the context behind your questions and creates a more productive conversation. A clear, intentional start also demonstrates respect for the candidate’s time and helps them feel more at ease.

Ask High-Impact Questions that Reflect Today’s Realities

An effective AEC interview goes beyond “Tell me about yourself.” It digs into experiences that mirror real-world challenges happening on job sites right now.

Consider incorporating:

Behavioral questions

• “Tell me about a time you handled significant schedule pressure due to material or labor shortages.”
• “Describe a conflict between subcontractors or team members and how you resolved it.”

Situational questions

• “What would you do if a subcontractor delayed a critical-path activity?”
• “How would you manage communication when a design change impacts the jobsite schedule?”

Technical questions

• BIM software proficiency
• Plan-reading skills
• RFIs and submittal management
• QA/QC processes
• Field documentation tools

These questions help differentiate candidates who can talk about the work from those who can perform it.

Listen Actively and Seek Real-World Examples

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Performance reviews are supposed to reflect an employee’s work over an entire year—yet, all too often, they mostly reflect the last few weeks or months.

That’s the recency trap: when the most recent wins (or mistakes) overshadow everything that came before. It’s common, it’s human, and it quietly erodes trust in your review process.

The good news? With a few simple habits, you can dramatically reduce recency bias and make performance reviews more fair, accurate, and useful—for both managers and employees.

What Is the “Recency Trap”?

The recency trap is our tendency to put more weight on recent events than on things that happened earlier—even when we’re supposed to be looking at the full picture.

In performance reviews, it looks like:

• A strong Q4 wiping away a year of missed deadlines.
• One recent error overshadowing months of solid, reliable work.
• A flashy, high-visibility project getting more credit than steady contributions all year long.

When that happens, the review stops being a year in review and becomes a last quarter in review—which isn’t fair to anyone.

Why Recency Bias Is a Problem

Recency bias isn’t just a technical flaw—it has real consequences:

• It feels unfair. Employees know when important early-year projects are ignored. That frustration sticks.
• It hurts motivation. If people believe only the last few weeks count, there’s less incentive to sustain strong performance across the whole year.
• It distorts decisions. Promotions, raises, and development opportunities may go to the person who happened to have a good stretch at the end—not the one who consistently delivered.

If reviews are going to guide pay, promotions, and growth, they have to be based on more than short-term memory.

How Recency Bias Shows Up for Managers and Employees

For Managers

Managers fall into the recency trap when they:

• Rely mostly on memory instead of notes or data.
• Focus heavily on the most recent project, client interaction, or fire drill.
• Let a “noisy” event (a big win or a big problem) dominate their perception.

You might notice it if your review discussions include a lot of,

“Let’s talk about what happened in the last couple of months…”

and not much about the rest of the year.

For Employees

Employees can unintentionally reinforce recency bias by:

• Writing self-reviews that only highlight recent accomplishments.
• Forgetting to mention early-year wins, stretch assignments, or learning moments.
• Downplaying long-term projects because they wrapped up months ago.

If the self-review only reflects the latest chapter, the whole story gets lost.

Simple Systems to Capture the Whole Year

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Here are some of the greatest threats facing the construction industry heading into 2026 — especially relevant for the AEC world you move in — along with how firms (and you, as a leader) might respond. I’ll frame each threat with what to watch + strategic implications for your role in the St. Louis/AEC community. In the following issues a deeper dive into each will be shared. Stay tuned in!

1. Workforce & Skilled Trade Shortages

Why it matters: In Missouri, 77% of contractors cited rising labor-costs and 70% cited worker shortages as top concerns. MU Extension Aging craft-workers and fewer younger workers entering trades compound the issue.

What firms should do:

• Partner with local trade schools, high schools and apprenticeship programs to build pipeline. Support the local efforts to start the process of trade careers early!
• Offer cross-training and multi-skilling (so fewer people can cover more roles).
• Consider modular or pre-fabrication methods (which reduce reliance on on-site craft labor).

2. Rising Input Costs & Supply‐Chain Vulnerability

Why it matters: Material cost inflation, tariffs and logistics delays are national threats, and regional firms may feel them acutely when sourcing from global or long-haul supply-chains.

What firms should do:

• Lock-in pricing or include escalation clauses in contracts.
• Develop relationships with local/regional suppliers to reduce shipping risk.
• Review inventory, lead-times, and alternative materials (while balancing quality).



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