Chapter 5 Interviewing Candidates

➢ Basic Types of Interviews

• An interview is more than a discussion.
• Interview “is a procedure designed to obtain information from a person through
oral responses to oral inquiries”
• Employers use several interviews at work, such as:
▪ Performance appraisal interviews. ▪ Exit interviews.
• A selection interview “Is a selection procedure designed to predict future job
performance based on applicants' oral responses to oral inquiries”.
➢ Classification Selection Interview
Classification Selection Interview:
▪ How Structured they are ▪ Interview content. ▪ Types of Questions to ask.
▪ How the firm Administers the interviews

➢ Structured Versus Unstructured Interviews

• First, most interviews vary in the degree to which the interviewer structures or
standardizes the interview process.

Unstructured (or Nondirective) interviews Structured (or Directive) interviews,

▪ The manager follows no set format. ▪ The employer lists the questions ahead
▪ A few questions might be specified in of time, and may even list and score
advance, but they are usually not, and possible answers for appropriateness.
there is seldom a formal guide for ▪ The interviewer followed a printed form
scoring right or wrong answers. to ask a series of questions, such as
▪ This type of interview could even be how was the person’s present job
described as little more than a general obtained?
conversation.
• Some experts still restrict the term structured interview to:
o Interviews which are based on carefully selected job-oriented questions
with predetermined answers.
• But in practice:
o Interview structure is a matter of degree.
o Sometimes the manager may just want to ensure he or she has a standard
set of questions to ask in order to avoid skipping any questions.
➢ Which to use , Structured interviews or Unstructured interviews?
Structured interviews are generally superior because:
1. All interviewers generally ask all applicants the same questions.
2. These interviews tend to be more reliable and valid.
3. Structured interviews can also help less talented interviewers conduct better
interviews.
4. Standardizing the interview also increases consistency across candidates,
enhances job relatedness.
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➢ Interview Content
• We can also classify interviews based on the content or the types of questions to
ask:
Interviewers tend to ask relatively unfocused questions. For example:
a) What are your main strengths and weaknesses?
b) What do you want to be doing 5 years from now?

At work, the most important questions are:

▪ Situational Questions ▪ Behavioral Questions ▪ Job-related Questions

▪ you ask the candidate what his or her behavior would be in a

given situation.
situational interview
▪ ask applicants to describe how they would react to a
hypothetical situation today or tomorrow.
▪ behavioral interviews ask applicants to describe how they
Behavioral Questions
reacted to actual situations in the past.
▪ Job-Related interviews, “Ask applicants questions about
relevant past experiences”.
▪ The questions here don’t revolve around hypothetical or actual
situations or scenarios.
Job-Related Questions ▪ The interviewer asks job related questions such as:
o Which courses did you like best in business school?
o The aim is to draw conclusions about, say, the candidate's
ability to handle the financial aspects of the job the
employer seeks to fill.
▪ The interviewer seeks to make the applicant uncomfortable
with occasionally rude questions.
stress interview
▪ The aim is supposedly to spot sensitive applicants and those
with low (or high) stress tolerance.

➢ How Should We Administer the Interview?

One-on-one ▪ Two people meet alone, and one interviews the other by seeking
interview oral responses to oral inquiries.
▪ 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.
Sequential
▪ In a structured sequential interview, each interviewer rates the
(or serial) interview candidates on a standard evaluation form, using standardized
questions.
▪ The hiring manager then reviews and compares the evaluations
before deciding whom to hire

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 ▪ A Panel interview, also known as a board interview, is an interview
conducted by a team of interviewers (usually two to three), who
together interview each candidate and then combine their ratings
into a final panel score.
▪ The Panel format enables interviewers to ask follow-up questions,
Panel Interviews
much as reporters do in press conferences.
▪ Advantage: This may elicit more meaningful responses than are
normally produced by a series of one-on-one interviews.
▪ Disadvantage: On the other hand, some candidates find panel
interviews more stressful, so they may actually inhibit responses.
▪ Employers do some interviews entirely by telephone.
▪ These can actually be more accurate than face-to-face interviews
for judging an applicant’s conscientiousness, intelligence, and
interpersonal skills.
▪ In a typical study, interviewers tended to evaluate applicants more
Phone Interviews favorably in telephone versus face-to-face interviews, particularly
where the interviewees were less physically attractive.
▪ However, the interviewers came to about the same conclusions
regarding the interviewees whether the interview was face-to-face
or by video conference.
▪ The applicants themselves preferred the face-to-face interviews.
Video/Web- ▪ Firms have long used the Web to do selection interviews.
Assisted ▪ With iPad-type video functionalities and the widespread use of
Interviews Skype , their use is growing.

There are things that interviewees should keep in mind during Video Interviews:
1. Make sure you look presentable: You might feel silly sitting at home wearing a suit,
but it could make all the difference.
2. Clean up the room: Whether the interview is from your own home or a busy office
environment, the interviewer does not want to see you sitting in front of a pile of
junk.
3. Test first: Five minutes before the video interview is not a good time to realize that
your Internet is down, Skype isn’t working.
4. Do a dry run: Try recording yourself before the interview to try answering some
imaginary questions.
5. Relax: The golden rule with a Skype interview is to treat it like any other face-to-
face meeting.
Computerized Interviews
• A Computerized Selection Interview “is one in which a job candidate’s oral and/or
computerized replies are obtained in response to computerized oral, visual, or
written questions and/or situations”.
• Most Computerized Interviews present the applicant with a series of questions
regarding his or her background, experience, education, skills, knowledge, and
work attitudes that relate to the job for which the person has applied.

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 • Some (video-based) Computerized Interviews also confront candidates with
realistic scenarios (such as irate customers) to which they must respond. Such
interviews are most often taken online.
• Typical Computerized Interviews present questions in a multiple-choice format,
one at a time.
➢ Designing a Structured Situational Interview
• There is no doubt that the structured situational interview is a series of job-
relevant questions with predetermined answers that interviewers ask of all
applicants that lead to superior results.
The procedure for Designing a Structured Situational Interview is as follows:
▪ Write a job description with a list of job duties; required
Step 1 Analyze the Job
knowledge, skills, and abilities; and other worker qualifications
Step 2 Rate the Jobs' ▪ Rate each job duty, say from 1 to 5, based on its importance to
Main Duties job success.
▪ Create interview questions for each of the job duties.
Step 3 Create
▪ The people who create the questions usually write them in
Interview Questions terms of critical incidents.
Step 4 Create ▪ For each question, develop ideal (benchmark) answers for good
Benchmark Answers (a 5 rating), marginal (a 3 rating), and poor (a 1 rating) answers.
▪ Employers generally conduct structured situational interviews
Step 5 Appoint The
using a panel.
Interview Panel And
▪ The panel members generally review the job description,
Conduct Interviews questions, and benchmark answers before the interview

➢ How to Conduct an Effective Interview

• You may not have the time to create a structured situational interview.
• However, there is still much you can do to make your interviews more systematic
and effective.
Step one ▪ Do not start the interview unless you understand the job and what
Make Sure You human skills you’re looking for.
Know the Job ▪ Study the job description
▪ Base questions on actual job duties.
▪ Use job knowledge, situational, or behavioral questions.
Step 2
▪ Use the same questions with all candidates.to improve quality and
Structure The
reduce bias.
Interview ▪ Use descriptive rating scales (excellent, fair, poor) to rate answers
▪ If possible, use a standardized interview form.
▪ Hold the interview in a private room where telephone calls are not
Step 3
accepted, and you can minimize interruptions (including text
Get Organized messages)
▪ To do this, start by putting the person at ease.
Step 4
▪ Greet the candidate and start the interview by asking a
Establish Rapport noncontroversial question.

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 Step 5 ▪ Try to follow the situational, behavioral, and job
Ask Questions knowledge questions you wrote out ahead of time.
Step 6 ▪ Doing so may help avoid making a snap decision early in
Take Brief, Unobtrusive the interview and may also help jog your memory once
Notes During The Interview the interview is complete.
▪ Leave time to answer any questions the candidate may
Step 7
have and, if appropriate, to advocate your firm to the
Close the Interview candidate.
▪ After the candidate leaves, review your interview notes,
Step 8
score the interview guide answers (if you used one), and
Review the Interview make a decision.

The End of Chapter 5

‫ال تنسوا الدعاء لوالدي بالرحمة والمغفرة‬
‫ال تنسوا الدعاء لزميلنا عبدهللا حسام بالرحمة والمغفرة‬

A.Hossam