Interview Types and Structure

Interview Types and Structure

• Structured interviews eliminate bias.
• Structured interviews make assessment and decision-making easier for the interviewer.
• Structured interviews allow interviewers to easily take notes.
• Unstructured interviews gauge competencies and perspectives on the organization.
• The higher the position, the more unstructured the interview should be.
• Interview questions should assess competencies like stakeholder management.
• Candidates may present a portfolio of past work.

Case Study Insights

• A compassion culture is being established.
• Testing empathy and understanding candidate values is important.
• The hiring manager shifted to a compassionate approach.
• Interview questions/cases should test candidate empathy and assess work-life balance preferences.
• Relationships in the organization are important.
• Behavioral questions are helpful.
• Case questions should be more systematic and avoid legal implications.

Interviewing in Selection

• Interviews gather information and rigorous details not in resumes.
• Noncognitive attributes like teamwork and organizational fit are assessed in interviews.
• Interviews are a recruitment tool used to sell the job to qualified applicants.
• Interviews provide a realistic job preview.
• Interviews tease out attributes and characteristics
• Interviews market the vacant position
• Interviews level expectations and provide realistic job previews.

Interview Formats

• Structured vs unstructured interviews exist.
• Situational vs behavioral interviews exist.
• Panel interviews are conducted by 2+ interviewers simultaneously.
• Panel interviews may allow biases to be heard in one room.
• Serial interviews involve separate interviews by 2+ interviewers.
• Mini interviews break the interview into shorter conversations.
• Mini interviews may be structured or unstructured.

Unstructured Interviews

• Unstructured interviews involve open-ended conversations without systemic rating procedures.
• Unstructured interviews lead to a subjective evaluation of the candidate, susceptible to bias.
• Unstructured Interviews involve casual conversations.
• Unstructured interviews focus on the subjective impression of the candidate.

Structured Interviews

• Structured Interviews have greater validity
• Questions are prepared based on job analysis and focus on work samples.
• All applicants receive the same questions, evaluated individually using a standardized rating system.
• Standardized notes are taken and questions are asked later in the interview
• Structured Interviews are standardized across all interviewees
• Structured interviews use a predetermined rating scale
• Structured interviews have less room for back and forth questions
• Structured interviews involve extensive note taking
• Systematic approaches in structured interviews lead to high validity

Situational Interviewing

• Structured interviews present hypothetical situations for applicants to respond to.
• Interviewers set the situation.
• Taylor and Smalls’ (2002) meta-analysis reported a mean criterion validity of 0.45 for this approach.

Behavioral Interviewing

• Structured interviews ask applicants to describe their conduct in past experiences.
• Interviewers set the competency of interest for the interviewee to choose an experience.
• Past behavior is considered the best predictor of future behavior.
• Taylor and Smalls’ (2002) meta-analysis reported a mean criterion validity of 0.56.
• Behavioral interviewing has a greater amount of validity compared to other methods.

Testing Purposes

• Testing aims to select candidates who possess KSAOs that bring value to the organization.
• Abilities are enduring attributes that an applicant brings, like finger dexterity or logical reasoning.
• Skill is an individual's proficiency on a task, based on ability and practice.
• Aptitude refers to learning potential or raw talent.
• Natural ease with numbers or artistry are examples of aptitude.
• Cognitive ability gauges verbal, numeral, reasoning, and problem-solving skills. -Cognitive ability testing is predictive of performance across a variety of jobs.
• Used for Internships with Graduates they have a cutoff for the second round to windle down the resumes
• Psychomotor ability involves control of muscle movements, like finger dexterity.
• Sensory/perceptual ability involves vision and audition.
• Sensory/perceptual ability relies on vision and audio.
• A high awareness for sensory and perceptual ability is good for a Pilot
• Physical ability involves muscle force and gross body coordination.

Medical/Physical Exams

• Medical/physical fitness exams need proper rationale.
• The goal is to ensure applicants meet health standards for the job.
• Employment offers are conditional on passing the exam.
• General testing monitors genetic material for illness susceptibility.
• There are narrow conditions for pre-employment drug/alcohol testing in Canada.
• Testing can only follow a conditional employment offer.
• Tests should be rooted in a solid performance rationale
• Safety sensitive positions may require tests.

Personality Tests

• Personality traits are stable characteristics that shape behavior.
• The Big Five or Five-Factor Model includes:
  • Openness to experience
  • Conscientiousness (strongest job performance predictor, r=0.31)
  • Extraversion
  • Agreeableness
  • Emotional stability (or neuroticism)
• Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive and regulate emotions.
• There is a lack of consensus on how to define and measure emotional intelligence.
• Measuring EQ requires pause and caution to inform selection decisions.

Honesty/Integrity Tests

• Polygraph tests assume physiological changes occur when people lie.
• Polygraph tests lack reliability and validity.
• Polygraph results rely on the skills of the operator.
• Honesty tests are self-report inventories to assess employee honesty.
• Covert tests (e.g., Hogan Personality Inventory) exist.
• Overt tests (e.g., Reid Report) exist.
• Integrity tests predict dysfunctional job behaviors like absenteeism and substance abuse.
• Integrity tests predict counterproductive behaviors.

Work Samples and Simulations

• Work samples require candidates to produce job-related behaviors.
• Simulations duplicate relevant job features, such as an air traffic controller simulation.
• In-basket exercises assess organizational and problem-solving skills.
• Role-play simulates interpersonal interactions for assessing communication, leadership, and problem-solving abilities.

Assessment Centers

• Leaderless group discussions assess leadership, organizational, and communication skills.
• Situational Judgment Tests (SJTs) measure an applicant's judgment, and give behavioral responses.
• Assessment centers use multiple measurement techniques to evaluate candidates.
• Assessment centers typically involve 1-3 day assessments.
• Examples of modules include: interview, group activity, ice breaker, role playing, etc
• Assessment centers provide information benefiting candidates and the organization.
• Assessment centers may reveal strengths and weaknesses, assist with succession planning, assess a wide range of competencies, and provide a realistic job preview.

Knowledge, Gamified and Conditional Testing

• Job knowledge includes knowledge of essential issues/procedures for performance.
• Declarative knowledge includes job-relevant facts and procedures.
• Procedural knowledge involves applying knowledge.
• Tacit knowledge is implicit and derived from experience.
• Gamified assessment assesses traits/abilities through decision/performance-based games.
• Supporting research remains scarce for gamified assessment.
• Conditional reasoning tests (CRTs) indirectly measure personality traits through short scenarios/problems.