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6.1comprehensive Interviews

The comprehensive interview probes areas not addressed in applications or tests, such as motivation, values, ability to work under pressure, attitude, and cultural fit. While skills and aptitudes get candidates in the door, how well they adapt to the organizational culture often determines how long they will stay. Different types of interviews include traditional, telephone, panel, informational, meal, group, video, and nondirective interviews. The right type depends on the job and can be used to effectively screen and evaluate candidates.

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41 views

6.1comprehensive Interviews

The comprehensive interview probes areas not addressed in applications or tests, such as motivation, values, ability to work under pressure, attitude, and cultural fit. While skills and aptitudes get candidates in the door, how well they adapt to the organizational culture often determines how long they will stay. Different types of interviews include traditional, telephone, panel, informational, meal, group, video, and nondirective interviews. The right type depends on the job and can be used to effectively screen and evaluate candidates.

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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Comprehensive Interviews

Applicants who pass the initial screening, application form, and required tests typically
receive a comprehensive interview. The applicant may be interviewed by HRM
interviewers, senior managers within the organization, a potential supervisor,
colleagues, or some or all of these.
The comprehensive interview is designed to probe areas not easily addressed by the
application form or tests, such as assessing a candidate’s motivation, values, ability to
work under pressure, attitude, and ability to “fit in” with the organizational culture. Fit
cannot be overstated. Ironically, in many cases, employees are hired based on their
competencies and how likely they are to be successful performers. The majority of
those who fail do so because they cannot fit within the organization’s culture.
Accordingly, skills and aptitudes may get candidates in the door, but how well they
adapt to the organization frequently determines how long they’ll stay.

Types of Interviews
Interview processes can be time-consuming, so it makes sense to choose the right type
of interview(s) for the individual job. Some jobs, for example, may necessitate only one
interview, while another may necessitate a telephone interview and at least one or two
traditional interviews. Here are different types of interviews:

Traditional interview
This type of interview normally takes place in the office. It consists of the interviewer
and the candidate, and a series of questions are asked and answered.

Telephone interview
A telephone interview is often used to narrow the list of people receiving a traditional
interview. It can be used to determine salary requirements or other data that might
automatically rule out giving someone a traditional interview. For example, if you receive
two hundred résumés and narrow these down to twenty-five, it is still unrealistic to
interview twenty-five people in person. At this point, you may decide to conduct phone
interviews of those twenty-five, which could narrow the in-person interviews to a more
manageable ten or so people.

Panel interview
A panel interview occurs when several people are interviewing one candidate at the
same time. While this type of interview can be nerve racking for the candidate, it can
also be a more effective use of time. Consider some companies who require three to
four people to interview candidates for a job. It would be unrealistic to ask the candidate
to come in for three or four interviews, so it makes sense for them to be interviewed by
everyone at once.
Information interview
Informational interviews are usually used when there is no specific job opening, but the
candidate is exploring possibilities in a given career field. The advantage to conducting
these types of interviews is the ability to find great people ahead of a job opening.

Meal interviews
Many organizations offer to take the candidate to lunch or dinner for the interview. This
can allow for a more casual meeting where, as the interviewer, you might be able to
gather more information about the person, such as their manners and treatment of
waitstaff. This type of interview might be considered an unstructured interview, since it
would tend to be more of a conversation as opposed to a session consisting of specific
questions and answers.

Group interview
In a group interview, two or more candidates interview at the same time. This type of
interview can be an excellent source of information if you need to know how they may
relate to other people in their job.

Video interviews
Video interviews are the same as traditional interviews, except that video technology is
used. This can be cost saving if one or more of your candidates are from out of town.
Skype, for example, allows free video calls. An interview may not feel the same as a
traditional interview, but the same information can be gathered about the candidate.

Nondirective interview
Sometimes called an unstructured interview, in a nondirective interview, the candidate
essentially leads the discussion. Some very general questions that are planned ahead
of time may be asked, but the candidate spends more time talking than the interviewer.
The questions may be more open ended; for example, instead of asking, “Do you like
working with customers?” you may ask, “What did you like best about your last job?”
The advantage of this type of interview is that it can give candidates a good chance to
show their abilities; however, the downside is that it may be hard to compare potential
candidates, since questions are not set in advance. It relies on more of a “gut feeling”
approach.
It is likely you may use one or more of these types of interviews. For example, you may
conduct phone interviews, then do a meal interview, and follow up with a traditional
interview, depending on the type of job.

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