Chapter: 7 Interviewing Candidates
I.
Basic Features of Interviews
A.
Types of Interviews include:
 Appraisal interviews: an appraisal interview is a
discussion, following a performance appraisal, in
which supervisor and employee discuss the
employee’s ratings and possible remedial actions.
 Exit interviews: When an employee leaves a
firm, one often conducts an exit interview. This
aims at eliciting information that might provide
some insight into what’s right or wrong about the
firm.
 Selection interviews: This chapter focuses on
selection interviews.
1. Structured vs. Unstructured Interviews –
Unstructured or nondirective interviews
generally have no set format. Structured or
directive interviews generally identify
questions and all applicants are asked the
same questions. Sometimes acceptable
responses are specified in advance and the
responses are rated for appropriateness of
content. Examples of structured interview
guides are provided in Figure 7-1.
2. Interview Content: Types of Questions –
Interviews can be classified according to the
nature or content of their questions, such as:
 Situational
interviews:
situational
interviews are based on how an applicant
might behave in a hypothetical situation.
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 Job-related interviews: ask job-related
questions to assess the applicant's ability to
perform the job.
 Behavioral interviews: ask applicants to
describe how they reacted to actual
situations in the past.
 Stress interviews: try to make an applicant
uncomfortable by asking rude questions
periodically.
B.
Administering the Interview
1. In-person Interviews – tend to be one-on-one
where two people meet alone and one
interviews the other by seeking oral
responses to oral inquiries. Frequently,
candidates are interviewed by several
persons sequentially.
2. Panel Interviews – occur when a group
(panel) of interviewers questions the
candidate together. A mass interview is
where a panel interviews several candidates
simultaneously.
3. Phone and Video Interviews – are often
conducted entirely by phone.
Technology
has
also
made
interviewing
by
videoconferencing possible, saving time and
travel costs.
4. Computerized
Interviews
–
involve
computers administering the interview.
Typically the questions are presented in a
multiple-choice format, one at a time, and
the applicant is expected to respond to the
questions on the screen by pressing a key.
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5. Web Assisted Interviews – utilize PC video
cameras to conduct interviews on line via
Webcasts.
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Are Interviews Useful? – Studies confirm that the
validity of interviews is greater than previously thought.
Structured interviews are more valid than unstructured
interviews for predicting job performance. Some traits,
however, are not able to be accurately assessed in an
interview.
II. What Can
Usefulness?
Undermine
An
Interview’s
A. First Impressions –interviewers tend to jump to
conclusions about candidates during the first
few minutes of the interview.
B. Misunderstanding the Job – Interviewers who
don’t know precisely what the job entails and
what sort of candidate is best suited for it
usually make their decisions based on incorrect
or incomplete stereotypes of what a good
applicant is.
C. Candidate-Order (Contrast) Error and Pressure
to Hire – means that the order in which you see
applicants affects how you rate them.
D.
Nonverbal Behavior – Inexperienced
interviewers may try to infer the interviewee’s
personality from vocal and visual cues such as
energy level, voice modulation and level of
extraversion
E. Impression Management – Ingratiation,
agreeing with the interviewer’s opinions, and
self-promotion to create an impression of
competence are used by clever interviewees to
manage the impression they present,
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F. Effect
of
Personal
Characteristics:
Attractiveness, Gender, Race – Interviewers
have to guard against letting an applicant’s
attractiveness, gender, and race play a role in
their rating.
G. Interviewer Behavior - the interviewer
inadvertently evoking the expected answers.
III. Designing
Interview
and
Conducting
the
Effective
A. The Structured Situational Interview procedure is
as follows: Step 1: Job Analysis; Step 2: Rate the
Job’s Duty; Step 3: Create Interview Questions;
Step 4: Create Benchmark Answers; and Step 5:
Appoint the Interview Panel and Conduct
Interviews. Web-based programs are available to
help interviewers design and organize behavior
based selection interviews.
B. How to Conduct a More Effective Interview
1. Structure Your Interview – a) base questions
on job duties; b) use specific job-knowledge,
situational,
or
behaviorally-oriented
questions and objective criteria to evaluate
the interviewee’s responses; c) train
interviewers; d) use the same questions with
all candidates; e) use rating scales to rate
answers; f) use multiple interviewers or
panel interviews; g) design questions that
reduce subjectivity, inaccurate conclusions,
and bias; h) use a structured interview form;
i) control the interview; and j) take brief
notes.
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2. Prepare for the Interview – The interview
should take place in a private room where
interruptions can be minimized. Prior to the
interview, the interviewer should review the
candidate’s application and resume, as well
as the job duties and required skills and
traits.
3. Establish Rapport – The interviewer should
put the interviewee at ease so he/she can find
out the necessary information about the
interviewee. Studies show that people who
feel more self-confident about their
interviewing skills perform better in
interviews.
4. Ask Questions – The interviewer should
follow the interview guide.
5. Close the Interview – Leave time to answer
any questions the candidate may have and, if
appropriate, advocate your firm to the
candidate. Try to end the interview on a
positive note.
6. Review the Interview – Once the candidate
leaves, and while the interview is fresh on
the interviewer’s mind, he/she should review
his/her notes and fill in the structured
interview guide.
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1. Explain and illustrate the basic ways in
which you can classify selection interviews.
Interviews can be classified according to: (1) degree
of structure. This is the extent to which interviews
are, or are not, structured with previously designed
questions so that each candidate must answer the
same questions. (2) purpose. Interviews may be
designed to accomplish several purposes, including
selection, performance appraisal, and feedback. (3)
content. The content of the questions may be
situational, job-related, or psychological. (4) the way
the interview is administered. Interviews might be
conducted by a panel of interviewers, sequentially or
all at once, computerized, or personally. Students
should also provide some illustrations of each. (LO
7.1; AACSB: Analytic Skills; Learning Outcome:
Describe effective interviewing techniques)
2. Briefly describe each of the following
possible types of interviews: unstructured panel
interviews; structured sequential interviews; jobrelated structured interviews. In the unstructured
panel interview, the panel of interviewers asks
questions as they come to mind. They do not have a
list of questions or points that need to be covered but
may follow many different directions. The structured
sequential interview consists of the candidate being
interviewed one by one with several different
interviewers. Each interviewer conducts a structured
interview that consists of pre-determined questions
and a structured evaluation form to complete. The
job-related structured interview consists of predetermined questions, all of which are designed to
assess the applicant's past behaviors for job-related
information. (LO 7.1; AACSB: Communication
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Abilities & Reflective Thinking Skills; Learning
Outcome: Describe effective interviewing techniques)
3. For what sorts of jobs do you think
computerized interviews are most appropriate?
Why? The computerized interview can be used as a
screening device for virtually any type of position that
may generate a large number of applicants. It is less
likely to be used for managerial positions. However,
if there are large numbers of applicants, it could
certainly be just as useful there as in skilled,
professional, and unskilled positions. (LO 7.1;
AACSB: Analytic Skills; Learning Outcome: Describe
effective interviewing techniques)
4. Why do you think situational interviews yield
a higher mean validity than do job-related or
behavioral interviews, which in turn yield a higher
mean validity than do psychological interviews?
The situational interview allows the candidate to
answer situational questions based on past
experiences in which he or she might have made
mistakes but learned from them. The job-related (or
behavioral) interview focuses primarily on past
situations, but it does not allow for changes in the
candidate due to the lessons that he or she might
have learned from those experiences. The
psychological interview tends to be more speculative
regarding traits that are difficult to measure. (LO 7.3;
AACSB: Analytic Skills; Learning Outcome: Describe
effective interviewing techniques)
5. Similarly, how do you explain the fact that
structured interviews, regardless of content, are
more valid than unstructured interviews for
predicting job performance? The structured
interview helps to keep the interviewer focused on
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the types of behaviors, traits, or answers that are
desired and that are good predictors of job
performance. Unstructured interviews allow
interviewers to become sidetracked with things like
common interests and other items that are not good
predictors of job success. (LO 7.3; AACSB: Analytic
Skills; Learning Outcome: Describe effective
interviewing techniques)
6. Briefly discuss and give examples of at least five
common interviewing mistakes. What
recommendations would you give for avoiding
these interviewing mistakes?
 Snap Judgments: This is where the interviewer jumps to
a conclusion about the candidate during the first few
minutes of the interview. Using a structured interview is
one way to help avoid this, as well as training
interviewers.
 Negative Emphasis: When an interviewer has received
negative information about the candidate, through
references or other sources, he or she will almost
always view the candidate negatively. The best way to
avoid this is to keep references or other information
from the interviewer. If possible, have different people
perform the reference checks and the interviews and
not share the information until afterwards.
 Misunderstanding the Job: When interviewers do not
have a good understanding of the job requirements,
they do not make good selections of candidates. All
interviewers should clearly understand the jobs and
know what is needed for success in those jobs.
 Pressure to Hire: Anytime an interviewer is told that
they must hire a certain number of people within a short
time frame, poor selection decisions may be made.
This type of pressure should be avoided whenever
possible.
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 Candidate-Order (Contrast) Error: When an adequate
candidate is preceded by either an outstanding, or a
poor candidate, by contrast he or she looks either less
satisfactory or much better. This can be countered by
training interviewers, allowing time between interviews,
and structuring interviews with structured rating forms.
 Influence of Nonverbal Behavior: Candidates who
exhibit stronger nonverbal behavior, such as eye
contact and energy level, are perceived as stronger by
the interviewers. This can be minimized through
interviewer training and structured interviews.
 Telegraphing: An interviewer might "give" the right
answers to candidates that they hope to hire. This can
be combated through structured interview questions,
multiple interviewers, and interviewer training.
 Too Much / Too Little Talking: On either end of these
extremes, the interviewer may not gather all the
information that is really needed to make an appropriate
selection decision. Structured interviews help keep this
from happening.
 Playing District Attorney or Psychologist: Some
interviewers misuse their power by turning the interview
into a game of "gotcha" or by probing for hidden
meanings in everything the applicants say. Structured
interviews help keep this from happening.
(LO 7.2; AACSB: Communication Abilities; Learning
Outcome: Describe effective interviewing techniques)
7. Briefly discuss what an interviewer can do to
improve his or her performance. The students
should refer to the section in the chapter on designing
and conducting the effective interview to form his/her
suggestions for how an interviewer can improve his/her
perfomance. (LO 7.4; AACSB: Communication Abilities;
Learning Outcome: Describe effective interviewing
techniques)
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