INTERVIEW

 A selection interview:
 It is a selection procedure designed to predict future job performance based
on applicants’ oral responses to oral inquiries
 Selection interviews are classified according to
 1. How structured they are
 2. Their “content”—the types of questions they contain
 3. How the firm administers the interviews (for instance, one-on-one or via a
committee)
Structured Versus Unstructured
Interviews
 Unstructured (or nondirective) interviews, the manager follows no set format. A
few questions are specified in advance, but they’re usually not, and there is
seldom a formal guide for scoring “right” or “wrong” answers. Typical questions
here might include, for instance, “Tell me about yourself,” “Why do you think
you’d do a good job here?” and “What would you say are your main strengths and
weaknesses?” Some describe this type of interview as little more than a general
conversation
 Structured (or directive) interviews, the employer lists questions ahead of time,
and may even weight possible alternative answers for appropriateness. The
interviewer followed a printed form to ask a series of questions, such as “How was
the person’s present job obtained?” Comments printed beneath the questions
(such as “Has he/she shown self-reliance in getting his/her jobs?”) then guide the
interviewer in evaluating the answers. Some experts still restrict the term
structured interview to interviews like these, which are based on carefully
selected job-related questions with predetermined answers
 Structured interviews are generally considered best
 In such interviews, generally ask all applicants the same questions
 Interviews tend to be more consistent, reliable, and valid
 Having a standardized list of questions can also help less talented interviewers
conduct better interviews
 Standardizing the interview also enhances job relatedness (provide insights into
how the person will actually do the job), reduces overall subjectivity and thus the
potential for bias, and may “enhance the ability to withstand legal challenge
 However, blindly following a structured format may not provide enough
opportunity to pursue points of interest
 The interviewer should always have an opportunity to ask follow-up questions and
pursue points of interest as they develop
Interview Content (What Types of
Questions to Ask)
 Interviews based on the “content” or the types of questions interviewers ask
 Many interviewers ask relatively unfocused questions, such as “What do you
want to be doing in 5 years?
 Questions like these generally do not provide much insight into how the
person will do on the job. That is why situational, behavioral, and job-related
questions are best
 Situational interview, ask the candidate what his or her behavior in a given
situation. For example, ask a supervisory candidate how he or she would act
in response to a subordinate coming to work late 3 days in a row. Whereas
situational interviews ask applicants to describe how they would react to a
hypothetical situation today or tomorrow, behavioral interviews ask
applicants to describe how they reacted to actual situations in the past
 Situational questions, A series of job-related questions that focus on how the
candidate would behave in a given situation
 The questions start with phrases such as, “suppose you were faced with the
following situation…. What would you do?
 Behavioral questions, A series of job-related questions that focus on how the
candidate reacted to actual situations in the past
 Such questions start with phrases like, “Can you think of a time when…. What
did you do?
 In one variant, Vanguard uses an interviewing technique it calls STAR.
situation (S), task (T) they faced to uncover the actions (A) the candidates
took, and the results (R) of their actions
 Behavioral interviews are increasingly used
 Job-related interview: A series of job-related questions that focus on
relevant past job-related behaviors
 The interviewer asks applicants questions about job-relevant past experiences
 The questions here don’t revolve around hypothetical or actual situations or
scenarios. Instead, the interviewer asks questions such as, “Which courses did
you like the best in business school?” The aim is to draw conclusions about,
the candidate’s ability to handle the financial aspects of the job in question
 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
 Thus, a candidate for a customer relations manager position who obligingly
mentions having had four jobs in the past 2 years might be told that frequent job
changes reflect irresponsible and immature behavior. If the applicant then
responds with a reasonable explanation of why the job changes were necessary,
the interviewer might pursue another topic
 if the formerly tranquil applicant reacts explosively, the interviewer might deduce
that the person has a low tolerance for stress
 The stress interview’s invasive and ethically dubious nature demands that the
interviewer be both skilled in its use and sure the job really requires handling
stress. This is definitely not an approach for amateur interrogators or for those
without the skills to keep the interview under control
 Puzzle questions are popular. Recruiters see how candidates think under
pressure. For example, an interviewer at Microsoft asked a tech service
applicant this: “Mike and Todd have $21 between them. Mike has $20 more
than Todd does. How much money has Mike, and how much money has Todd?
How Should We Conduct the Interview?

 Employers also administer interviews in various ways: one-on-one or by a panel of

interviewers, sequentially or all at once, computerized or personally, or online
 Most selection interviews are probably still one-on-one and sequential
 In a one-on-one interview, two people meet alone, and one interviews the other
by seeking oral responses to oral inquiries. Employers tend to schedule these
interviews sequentially
 In a sequential (or serial) interview, several persons interview the applicant, in
sequence, one-on-one, and then make their hiring decision
 In an unstructured sequential interview, each interviewer generally just asks
questions as they come to mind
 In a structured sequential interview, each interviewer rates the candidates on a
standard evaluation form, using standardized questions. The hiring manager then
reviews these ratings before deciding whom to hire
 A panel interview, also known as a board interview, is an interview
conducted by a team of interviewers (usually two to three), who together
question each candidate and then combine their ratings of each candidate’s
answers into a final panel score
 This contrasts with the one-on-one interview (in which one interviewer meets
one candidate) and a serial interview (where several interviewers assess a
single candidate one-on-one, sequentially
 The panel format enables interviewers to ask follow-up questions, much as
reporters do in press conferences. This may elicit more meaningful responses
than a series of one-on-one interviews. On the other hand, some candidates
find panel interviews more stressful, so they may actually inhibit responses
 An even more stressful variant is the mass interview. Here a panel
interviews several candidates simultaneously. The panel might pose a
problem, and then watches to see which candidate takes the lead in
formulating an answer
 Whether panel interviews are more or less reliable and valid than sequential
interviews depends on how the employer actually does the panel interview.
For example, structured panel interviews in which members use scoring
sheets with descriptive scoring examples for sample answers are more
reliable and valid than those that don’t. Training panel interviewers may
boost interview reliability
 For better or worse, in some cases employers use “speed dating”
interviewing. One sent e-mails to all applicants for an advertised position.
Four hundred (of 800 applicants) showed up. Over several hours, applicants
first mingled with employees, and then (in a so-called “speed dating area”)
had one-on-one contacts with employees for a few minutes. Based on this,
the recruiting team chose 68 candidates for follow-up interviews
 Phone interviews: Employers also conduct interviews via phone
 These can actually be more useful than face-to-face interviews for judging
one’s conscientiousness, intelligence, and interpersonal skills. Because they
needn’t worry about appearance or handshakes, each party can focus on
answers and perhaps candidates—somewhat surprised by an unplanned call
from the recruiter— give more spontaneous answers
 The applicants preferred the face-to-face interviews
 Computer-based Job Interviews: A computerized selection interview is one in
which a job candidate’s oral and/or keyed replies are obtained in response to
computerized oral, visual, or written questions and/or situations
 Most such interviews present a series of multiple-choice questions regarding
background, experience, education, skills, knowledge, and work attitudes. Some
confront candidates with realistic scenarios (such as irate customers) to which
they must respond
 Web-based Video Interviews With phone and tablet video functionalities and
FaceTime™ and Skype™, Web-based “in-person” interview use is widespread. A
study conclude that about 18% of candidates took such interviews in one recent
year
 Candidate can use InterviewStream’s live videoconference platform for a live
interview. Employers including Microsoft use the virtual community Second Life to
conduct job interviews
 An online video interview requires little special preparation for employers,
but the interviewees should keep in mind the following things:
 Look presentable: It might seem silly sitting at home wearing a suit, but it
could make a difference
 Clean up the room: Do not let the interviewer see clutter
 Test first: Five minutes before the video interview is not a good time to
realize that your Internet is down
 Do a dry run: Record yourself before the interview to see how you’re
“coming across
 Relax: The golden rule with such interviews is to treat them like face-to-face
meetings. Smile, look confident and enthusiastic, make eye contact, and
don’t shout, but do speak clearly
Avoid errors that can undermine an
interview usefulness
 Keep three things in mind:
I. use structured interviews
II. know what to ask
III. avoid the common interviewing errors
 Use structured interviews:
 Structured interviews (using situational questions) are more valid than
unstructured interviews for predicting job performance
 They are more valid and are more reliable
 The same interviewer administers the interview more consistently from candidate
to candidate
 Situational structured 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 (which focus more on motives and interests
II. Know what to ask:
 interviews are better at revealing some things than others, so it is important
to know what to focus on
 In one study, interviewers were able to size up the interviewee’s extroversion
and agreeableness
 What they could not assess accurately were the traits that often matter most
on jobs—like conscientiousness and emotional stability
 One implication seems to be, focus more on situational and job knowledge
questions that help you assess how the candidate will actually respond to
typical situations on that job
 3. Common interview errors:
a) First Impressions Bias (Snap Judgments): It is probably the most widespread
error. The 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 candidates’ applications, personal
appearance, test scores or résumé data.
b) Not Clarifying What the Job Requires: Interviewers without accurate picture
of what the job entails and what sort of candidate is best for it usually make
their decisions based on incorrect impressions or stereotypes of what a good
applicant is. They then erroneously match interviewees with their incorrect
stereotypes. It should be clarified what sorts of traits one’s looking for.
C. Candidate-order (or contrast) 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. In one study, managers had to evaluate a sample
candidate who was “just average” after first evaluating several “unfavorable”
candidates. They scored the average candidate more favorably than they might
otherwise because, in contrast to the unfavorable candidates, the average one looked
better than he actually was. This contrast effect can be huge.
D. Nonverbal Behavior and Impression Management: The applicant’s nonverbal
behavior (smiling, avoiding your gaze, and so on) can also have a surprisingly large
impact on his or her rating. Nonverbal behaviors are probably so important because
interviewers infer the candidates’ personality from the way he/she acts in the
interview. Exhibition of minimal eye contact, a low energy level, and low voice
modulation affect the interviewers negatively. Interviewees should look alive.
Impression Management Clever candidates capitalize on this fact. One study found
that some used ingratiation to persuade interviewers to like them. For instance, the
candidates praised the interviewers or appeared to agree with their opinions, thus
signaling they shared similar beliefs. Sensing that a perceived similarity in attitudes
may influence how the interviewer rates them, some interviewees try to emphasize
on such similarities
d. Effect of Personal Characteristics: Attractiveness, Gender, Race Unfortunately,
physical attributes also distort assessments. For example, people usually ascribe more
favorable traits and more successful life outcomes to attractive people. Similarly,
race can play a role, depending on how you conduct the interview. In one study, for
example, the white members of a racially balanced interview panel rated white
candidates higher, while the black interviewers rated black candidates higher. But in
all cases, structured interviews produced less of a difference between minority and
white interviewees than did unstructured ones. Interviewers’ reactions to minority
stereotypes are complex.
e. Interviewer Behavior Finally, the interviewer’s behavior affects interviewee
performance and rating. For example, some interviewers inadvertently telegraph
the expected answers, like “This job involves a lot of stress. You can handle that,
can’t you?”. Some interviewers talk so much that applicants have no time to
answer questions. At the other extreme, some interviewers let the applicant
dominate the interview, and so don’t ask all their questions. When interviewers
have favorable pre-interview impressions of the applicant, they tend to act more
positively toward that person (smiling more, for instance) Some interviewers play
amateur psychologist, unprofessionally probing for hidden meanings in what the
applicant says. Others ask improper questions, forgetting that discriminatory
questions “had a significant negative effect on participant’s reactions to the
interview and interviewer.
How to Design and Conduct an effective
Interview
 Structured situational interview—a series of job-relevant questions with
predetermined answers that interviewers ask of all applicants for the job
 The basic idea is to (1) write situational (what would you do), behavioral
(what did you do), or job knowledge questions, and (2) have job experts (like
those supervising the job) also write several answers for each of these
questions, rating the answers from good to poor
 The people who interview the applicants then use rating sheets anchored with
these examples of good or bad answers to rate the interviewees’ answer
Designing a Structured Situational
Interview
 The procedure is as follows:
 Step 1: Analyze the job. Write a job description with a list of job duties;
required knowledge, skills, and abilities; and other worker qualifications
 Step 2: Rate the job’s main duties. Rate each job duty, say from 1 to 5, based
on how important it is to doing the job
 Step 3: Create interview questions. Create situational, behavioral, and job
knowledge interview questions for each of the job duties, with more
questions for the important duties. The people who create the questions
usually write them as critical incidents. For example, to probe for
conscientiousness, the interviewer might ask this situational question: Your
spouse and two teenage children are sick in bed with colds. There are no
relatives or friends available to look in on them. Your shift starts in 3 hours.
What would you do?
 Step 4: Create benchmark answers. Next, for each question, develop ideal
(benchmark) answers for good (a 5 rating), marginal (a 3 rating), and poor (a
1 rating) answers. Three benchmark answers (from low to high) for the
example question above might be, “I’d stay home—my spouse and family
come first” (1); “I’d phone my supervisor and explain my situation” (3); and
“Since they only have colds, I’d come to work” (5)
 Step 5: Appoint the interview panel and conduct interviews. Employers
generally conduct structured situational interviews using a panel, rather than
one-on-one. The panel usually consists of three to six members, preferably
the same ones who wrote the questions and answers. It may also include the
job’s supervisor and/or incumbent, and a human resources representative.
The same panel interviews all candidates for the job
Examples of Questions that Provide interview structure
 Behavioral (Past Behavior) Questions
 5. Tell me about a time when you had to deal
with a particularly obnoxious person. What
was the situation, and how did you handle it?
 Job Knowledge Questions
 6. Tell me about a time when you were under
 1. What steps would you follow in a great deal of stress. What was the
changing the fan belt on a Toyota situation, and how did you handle it?
Camry?
 situational (what would you do) Questions
 2. What factors would you consider in  7. Suppose your boss insisted that a
choosing a computer to use for work? presentation had to be finished by tonight,
 experience Questions but your subordinate said she has to get
home early to attend an online class, so she
 3. What experience have you had is unable to help you. What would you do?
actually repairing automobile engines?  8. The CEO just told you that he’s planning
on firing your boss, with whom you are very
 4. What experience have you had
close, and replacing him with you. What
creating marketing programs for would you do?
consumer products?
 Asking Profile-Oriented interview Questions
profile example Sample Interview Questions
Component
Skill Able to use computer drafting Tell me about a time you used CAD Pro
software computerized design software.
Knowledge How extreme heat affects Suppose you have an application where
hydrochloric acid (HCl) HCl is heated to 400 degrees Fahrenheit at
2 atmospheres of pressure; what happens
to the HCl?
Trait Willing to travel abroad at least 4 Suppose you had a family meeting to
months per year visiting facilities attend next week and we informed you
that you had to leave for a job abroad
immediately. How would you handle that?
Experience Designed pollution filter for acid- Tell me about a time when you designed a
cleaning facility pollution filter for an acid-cleaning facility.
How did it work? What particular problems
did you encounter?
How to conduct an effective Interview?

 step 1: First, know the job. Do not start the interview unless you understand
the job’s duties and what human skills you’re looking for. Study the job
description
 step 2: structure the interview. Any structuring is better than none. Use the
same questions with all candidates. This improves reliability. It also reduces
bias.
 step 3: get organized. Hold the interview in a private place to minimize
interruptions
 step 4: establish rapport. Start by putting the person at ease. Greet the
candidate and start the interview by asking a noncontroversial question
 step 5: ask questions. Try to follow the situational, behavioral, and job
knowledge questions
 step 6: Take brief, unobtrusive notes during the interview. Doing so may help
avoid making a snap decision early in the interview
 step 7: Close the interview. Leave time to answer any questions the candidate
may have and, if appropriate, to advocate your firm to the candidate. Try to
end the interview on a positive note. Tell the applicant whether there is any
interest and, if so, what the next step will be. Make rejections
diplomatically—“Although your background is impressive, there are other
candidates whose experience is closer to our requirements.” Remember, as
one recruiter says, “An interview experience should leave a lasting, positive
impression of the company, whether the candidate receives and accepts an
offer or not
 step 8: Review the interview. Once the candidate leaves, review your
interview notes, score the interview answers, and make a decision
Extending the job Offer

 After all the interviews, background checks, and tests, the employer decides to
whom to make an offer using one or more approaches
 The judgmental approach subjectively weighs all the evidence about the
candidate
 The statistical approach quantifies all the evidence and perhaps uses a formula to
predict job success
 The hybrid approach combines statistical results with judgment
 Statistical and hybrid are more defensible
 Judgmental is better than nothing
 The actual offer is based on, the candidate’s apparent attractiveness as a
prospective employee, the level of the position, and pay rates for similar positions
 There may be some negotiations like pay rates, benefits, and actual job duties
 Once agreement is reached, a written job offer is extended to the candidate