The Employment Interview

1. The Employment Interview

2. The Employment Interview • One of the most widely used hiring tools in the public and private sector • Used for selection and recruiting • Involve an interaction between the job applicant and one or more interviewers

3. The Employment Interview • Well-designed interviews are good measures of: • Job knowledge • Job relevant experience that demonstrates essential KSAs (e.g., problem solving, planning and organizing) • Applicant reactions to job relevant situations • Oral communication ability

4. The Employment Interview • Interviews are poor measures of: • Actual task performance (e.g., cash register operation) • Quantitative abilities (e.g., mathematics, statistics) • Specific personality traits (e.g., extraversion, conscientiousness) • Written communication ability • Physical ability

5. Types of Interviews • Unstructured • Structured • Puzzle

6. Types of Interviews • Unstructured Interviews • Contents and sequence of topics are not planned • Topics covered depend on the interaction between the interviewer and candidate • Format is typically conversational • Lack standardization (e.g., time limit, question ordering, scoring)

7. Example Unstructured Interview Questions • Why do you want this job? • What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses? • Where do you see yourself in 5 years? • Do you like the Kings or the Lakers?

8. Pitfalls of Unstructured Interviews • Unprepared interviewer • Application/Resume driven • Not gathering job-related information • Relying on intuition or gut feelings • Excessive talking by the interviewer

9. Types of Interviews • Structured Interviews • Contents (behavioral or situational), sequence of topics, and scoring criteria are established in advance • Apply the same questions and scoring criteria to all applicants • Use multiple interviewers • Interviewer training to reduce outside factors that may influence candidate ratings

10. Structured Interview Question Formats • Background Questions • Focus on work experience, education, or other qualifications required for successful job performance “Please discuss your work experience in the banking industry”

11. Structured Interview Question Formats • Job Knowledge Questions • Focus on the candidate’s command of a specialized job knowledge domain “Please describe the steps that must be taken to appeal a judicial ruling”

12. Structured Interview Question Formats • Behavioral Description Questions • Focus on past behaviors related to the requirements and/or competencies for the job “Please describe a time when you were able to remain calm in a stressful work situation”

13. Structured Interview Question Formats • Situational Questions • Focus on work experience, education, or other qualifications required for successful job performance “If you are the bank manager, how would you handle a request from an employee for a special rate on a loan for his or her friend?”

14. Example Structured Interview Question • It is often necessary to work together in a group to accomplish a task. Please describe an experience you had working as part of a group. • What was the task? • How many people were in the group? • What difficulties arose as a result of working as a group? • What role did you play in resolving the difficulties? • What was the outcome of the project/experience?

15. Developing Rating Criteria • Examples – Checklist Format • 5 (Well Qualified) • Uses different approaches when working with others • Resolves interpersonal conflicts at an early stage • Solicits ideas and opinions of others • Goes out of the way to help fellow workers • 3 (Qualified) • Takes into account needs and values of others • Handles interpersonal conflicts by talking with involved parties • 1 (Low) • Shows limited flexibility in dealing with others • Fails to keep lines of communication open

16. Research on Interview Structure • Validity and Reliability • What do they measure? • How is the process perceived?

17. Validity – Do They Predict Job Performance? • Validity Estimates: Meta-analyses • Conway, Jako, and Goodman (1995) • Poorly structured interviews .34 • Moderately structured interviews .56 • Highly structured interviews .67 • Wiesner and Cronshaw (1988) • Unstructured interviews .20 • Structured interviews .63

18. Reliability – Are They Consistent? • Reliability: Meta-analyses • Taylor and Small (2002) – Interrater Reliability • Situational questions .79 • Behavioral questions .77 • Note: Reliabilities apply to descriptively anchored rating scales • Conway, Jako, and Goodman (1995) • Interview structure moderated internal consistency reliability

19. What Do They Measure? • Huffcutt, et al (2001) – Structure Influences Focus • Low Structure: Focus is general intelligence, education and training, experience, and interests • High Structure: Focus is job knowledge and skills, organizational fit, interpersonal and social skills, and applied mental skills (e.g., problem solving, decision making)

20. What Do They Measure? • Huffcutt, et al (2001) – Structure Influences Validity • The types of constructs measured in structured interviews tended to have higher validity coefficients across jobs than the constructs measured in unstructured interviews • Recommended focusing interviews on applied mental skills, interpersonal skills, and conscientiousness

21. How Is The Process Perceived? • Seijts and Jackson (2001) • Interview structure influences perceptions of fairness • College students rated written scenarios of selection procedures • The use of a situational, structured interview resulted in higher perceptions of fairness than an unstructured interview

22. Types of Interviews • Puzzle Interviews • Popularized by Microsoft • Used in the traditional, unstructured interview • Purportedly measure intelligence, creative problem solving, critical thinking ability, flexibility, stress tolerance, bandwidth, inventiveness, etc.

23. Example Puzzle Interview Questions • Why are manhole covers round? • How would you weigh an elephant without a scale? • How many gas stations are there in the United States? • Which of the 50 states would you eliminate? Why?

24. Interview Development: Best Practices • Interview content: • Base questions on a thorough job analysis • Ask all interviewees the exact same questions • Limit prompting and follow-up questions • Utilize behavioral and/or situational questions • Include multiple questions in the interview • Control use of ancillary information (e.g., applications, resumes, test scores) • Do not allow applicants to ask questions during the interview Campion, Palmer, & Campion (1997)

25. Interview Development: Best Practices • Interview evaluation: • Rate candidates on each interview question • Make ratings on detailed, anchored rating scales • Require interviewers to take notes • Use multiple interviewers • Use the same interviewers to evaluate all candidates • Discourage interviewers from discussing candidates between interviews • Train the interviewers • Use statistical rather than clinical combination of interview ratings Campion, Palmer, & Campion (1997)