Interviewing Candidates
• Interview
An interview is a procedure designed to obtain
information from a person through oral responses to oral
inquires.
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Types of Interviews
 Unstructured or nondirective Interview
An unstructured conversational-style interview in which the
interviewer pursues points of interest as they come up in
response to questions.
 Structured or directive Interview
An interview following a set sequence of questions
Situational Interview
A series of job-related questions that focus on how the
candidate would behave in a given situation.
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Types of Interviews (Contd...)
• Behavioral Interviews
A series of job-related questions that focus on how they
reacted to actual situations in the past.
• Job-related Interview
A series of job-related questions that focus on relevant
past job-related behaviors.
• Stress Interview
An interview in which the applicant is made uncomfortable
by a series of often rude questions. This technique
helps identify hypersensitive applicants and those with
low or high stress tolerance.
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Administering the Interviews
• Unstructured sequential Interview
An interview in which each interviewer forms an
independent opinion after asking different questions.
• Structured Sequential Interview
An interview in which the applicant is interviewed
sequentially by several persons; each rates the applicant
on a standard form.
• Panel Interview
An interview in which a group of interviewers questions
the applicant.
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Types of Interviews (Contd...)
• Mass Interview
A panel interviews several candidates simultaneously.
• Computerized Interviews
Today, it’s often computers; not people, that administer
selection interview is one in which a job candidate’s oral
and/or computerized responses are obtained in
response to computerized oral, visual, or written
questions and/or situations.
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Factors Affecting Interviews
• First Impressions
One of the most consistent findings is that interviewers
tend to jump to conclusions-make snap judgments-about
candidates during the first few minutes of the interview
(or even before the interview starts, based on test score
or resume data.
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Factors Affecting Interviews. . .
• Misunderstanding the Job
It is also important to know what you’re looking
for in an ideal candidate. 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 stereotypes of what a good applicant is. They then
erroneously match interviewees with their
incorrect stereotype.
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Factors Affecting Interviews. . .
• Candidate-order error
An error of judgment on the part of the
interviewer due to interviewing one or more very
good or very bad candidates just before the
interview in question.
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Factors Affecting Interviews. . .
•
Nonverbal Behavior and Impression
Management
– Interviewers’ inferences of the interviewee’s
personality from the way he or she acts in the
interview have a large impact on the
interviewer’s rating of the interviewee.
– Clever interviewees attempt to manage the
impression they present to persuade
interviewers to view them more favorably.
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Factors Affecting Interviews. . .
• Effect of Personal Characteristics:
Attractiveness, Gender, race
Interviewers tend have a less favorable view of
candidates who are:
• Physically unattractive
• Female
• Of a different racial background
• Disabled
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Factors Affecting Interviews. . .
• Interviewer behaviors affecting interview
outcomes
– Inadvertently telegraphing expected answers.
– Talking so much that applicants have no time
to answer questions.
– Letting the applicant dominate the interview.
– Acting more positively toward a favored (or
similar to the interviewer) applicant.
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DESIGNING AND CONDUCTING THE
EFFECTIVE INTERVIEW
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The structured Situational Interview
 Step: 1
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Step: 2
Step: 3
Step: 4
Step: 5
Interviews
Job Analysis
Rate the Job’s main Duties
Create Interview Questions
Create Benchmark Answers
Appoint the Interview Panel and Conduct
The panel usually consists of three to six members,
preferably the same employees who wrote the questions
and answers.
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How to conduct a more effective
Interview?
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Structure your Interview:
Base questions on actual job duties.
Use job knowledge, situational, or behaviorally oriented
questions and objective criteria to evaluate the
interviewee’s responses.
Train Interviewers. For example, review EEO laws with
prospective interviewers .
Use the same questions with all candidates.
Use rating scales to rate answers. For each questions,
provide a range of possible ideal answers and a
quantitative score for each. Then you can rate each
candidate’s answers against this scale. This ensures
that all interviewers are using the same standards.
Control the interview.
Take brief, unobtrusive notes during the interview.
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How to conduct a more effective
Interview? …
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Prepare for the Interview
The interview should take place in a private room where
telephone calls are not accepted and you can minimize
interruptions.
Prior to the interview, review the candidate’s
applications and resume, and note any areas that are
vague or that may indicate strengths or weaknesses.
Establishing Rapport
The main reason for the interview is to find out about the
applicant. To do this, you need to put the person at
ease. Greet all applicants-even drop-ins-courteously
and start the interview with a non-controversial
question-perhaps about the weather.
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How to conduct a more effective
Interview? …
• Ask Questions.
Follow your list of questions.
• Close the Interview
• Review the interview
• Some Questions to Ask Interviewees
 Why do you want to change jobs or why did you leave
your last job?
 What do you identify as your most significant
accomplishment in your last job?
 What did you like and dislike about your last job?
 What best qualifies you for the available position
 What interests you most about the available position
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