The document discusses interviewing as a selection technique. It is the most popular selection method used due to being the most frequent and relied upon, though it can also be ineffective if not done properly. The document outlines different uses of interviews including information exchange, screening, and final selection. It also discusses structured versus unstructured interviews and their advantages and disadvantages. Key principles for effective interviewing are presented such as preparing, welcoming the candidate, controlling the discussion, probing for details, clarifying responses, taking notes, closing the interview, and reviewing afterwards. Common pitfalls are also outlined.

1. Interviewing
Chapter 11

2. Popularity
The interview is the most popular selection technique.
It is the most popular in two senses; it is the
technique most frequently used in selection
decisions and it is the technique upon which most
reliance is placed in formulating the selection
decision. It can also be one of the least effective
and most ill-used of selection tools.

3. USES
Information exchange
One purpose is to enable the candidate to find out more
about the role, about the organization, and other factors
which will be important in helping the candidate to make
a decision whether to apply to the organization or
accept the job. In a scarce labor market, where there
are many organization chasing a few candidates, certain
kinds of interview can be an effective technique for
‘hooking’ candidates and helping them to make
decisions about the organization based on a feel for it
and its people without having to make hard decisions
based on brochures or other impersonal data.

4. Screening
The second use of an interview may be for screening purposes.
Although it is a costly technique, in that it takes the valuable
resource of selectors to undertake, it can be very effective
particularly if there is not a very large volume of response in the
first place. A short 1 to 15 minute interview can cover more than
sufficient information to make decisions on whether to proceed
with the candidate’s application. It has the advantage of the
personal touch and provides the opportunity to give information
to candidates about the organization, and a ‘fee’ for whether
they wish to continue with their application. Using the interview
as a screening process needs to be a clear decision, however,
and not by default. Some organizations ask candidates to
complete an application form and proceed to a ‘first interview’
without taking more than a cursory glance at the application
form. In such circumstances it is better to decide whether to
place reliance on the form for screening or disregard the form
and use the interview as a screening process. Being half-hearted
about both means being productive on neither.

5. Selection
The third use of interviewing is for selection decisions,
which may be undertaken in tandem with other
techniques, such as testing or assessment exercises, or
as the sole decision point. Using the interview as the
final selection tool requires a greater degree of
sophistication and preparation but it remains the case
that whatever use is made of the interview it will be
more effective if it is properly prepared, has a clear
focus, and is undertaken by skilled people.

6. Interview Panels
There is no golden rule about the appropriate number
of interviewers for an interview, it is a matter of
organizational preference. Research does not prove
conclusively that panel interviews are per se more
effective than one-to-one interviews. Some
organizations prefer to have a series of one-t-one
interviews, other prefer to use a panel approach,
some more formal than others. It is the usual
practice for search and selection consultants to
undertake a one-to-one interview to prepare a
shortlist which is then submitted to the client for final
interview.

7. Types
Unstructured Interviews
Unstructured interviews follow a natural process of dialogue and,
although unstructured, may involve the interviewer in asking
some ‘favorite’ questions. The unstructured interview may
also pose some questions around the application or CV, or a
set of questions around aspects such as work history,
aspirations, personal circumstances etc. it is unstructured in
the sense that the candidate is encouraged to lead the
interview and talk freely in response to the set of questions or
even to just one opening question.

8. Structured Interviews
Structured interviews, although more effective, are generally
less common. They fall into two main types:
• Situational interview is almost like a verbal role play. The
candidate is presented with a potential future scenario and
asked how they would be likely to handle it.
• Behavioural Interview works on the premise that the best
indicator of future behaviour is past behaviour; and that
the way in which a person responded to a situation in the
past is the most likely indication of how he will respond in
the future.

9. Advantages &
disadvantages

10. 1. Unstructured interviews:
Advantages Disadvantages
Requires less training and
Less effective
preparation
Flexibility Uncomfortable for occasional
interviewers
Difficult to compartmentalize
Inconsistent between candidates
Often over non specific
generalizations

11. 2. Structured interviews:
Advantages Disadvantages
Effective predictor of performance Not a natural process
Better perceived by candidates Requires training and experience
Relevant and thorough Discriminatory
Prepare meaningful reports Unfamiliar artificial context
Difficult for people
More a test of English language
than an investigation.

12. Choice
The unstructured interview can be undertaken with a
minimum of training, requires less preparation, and allows
candidates a great degree of flexibility. The disadvantages
are that it is less effective at predicting performance than
structured interviews, it can be uncomfortable for
occasional interviewers such as line colleagues or clients,
and is difficult to compartmentalize into an overall
selection process. The lack of compartmentalization often
means that interview assessments are inconsistent
between candidates, and can be at odds with other parts of
the selection process, such as testing.
The advantage of the structured interview, whether
situational or behavioral, is that it is a more effective
predictor of performance than the unstructured interview.
In general, structured interviews are better perceived by
candidates who feel that the interview has been relevant
and thorough.

13. Interviewing Principles
Prepare
Before the interview the interviewer should ensure that he
or she is fully prepared to conduct the interview and
that all arrangements have been made to present a
professional image to the candidate. This involves a
thorough reading of the application form, making sure
there will be no interruptions during the interview, and
preparing the interview questions.
Welcome
A proper welcome creates the right atmosphere for mutual
confidence throughout the interview. The relationship
between the candidate and the interviewer should be
friendly, supportive and non-threatening. By building a
rapport and putting the candidate at ease the
interviewer will be more likely to get spontaneous, and
therefore honest, answers to questions.

14. Interviewing Principles
Control
Most interviews are designed to last a scheduled time. The
interviewer will need to ensure that information on the key
criteria is collected in that time. It is important that the
interviewers maintains control of the interview and may need
to encourage reticent candidates to provide more detail in
their answers, or restrict the output of more garrulous
candidates.
Probe
Interviewers should ask simple open-ended questions, trying to
avoid leading the candidate or suggesting the answer
required. Examples may be “how do you organize your work?”
or “what sort of problem did you have to tackle?”. The
questions should be indirect, using phrases such as “how,
when, where, why, who, what, which, tell me more, in what
way, explain, describe”. Indirect and open-ended questions
will generally yield a better response from candidates. Direct
questions and closed questions will be less productive.

15. Interviewing Principles
Clarify
It is important to pin down specific examples in the
candidate’s answers if they are to be relied upon.
All too often interviewers will be pleased to receive
an answer and move to the next question even
though that answer does not provide the
information required. Very often, interview
questions need to be followed up with several
probing questions before the required information
is provided with sufficient clarity.
Notes
No one has a perfect memory and not-taking is
therefore important. Taking notes is not easy and
needs practice but candidates do not consider it
rude for interviewers to take notes.

16. Interviewing Principles
Close
Interviewers need to bring interviews to a firm and
decisive close, after consulting their check-list to make
sure that there are no major gaps in the information
that has been provided. Candidates should be invited to
offer any other information that has not been covered in
the main part of the interview and that he or she thinks
important.
Review
Judging the candidate should not take place until the
interview has been completed. As soon as the interview
has finished the interviewer should take time to conduct
and evaluation rather than stepping straight into the
next interview. A scoring system, particularly one linked
to competencies, will help significantly. It is important to
avoid making an assessment of the candidate during the
course of the interview.

17. Interviewing Principles
Pitfalls
Research into the effectiveness of interviews has
revealed a number of pitfalls which are all too
common.
Snap judgments.
Judgments can be formed about the candidate far too
quickly within the first few seconds of meeting
them - and the interview process then becomes
the means by which evidence is gathered to
reinforce that judgment. Some research has shown
that many decisions on candidates are snap
judgments made in the first two minutes of the
interview.

18. Interviewing Principles
Concentration
The concentration span of many interviews follows a distinct
pattern of a sharp downward dip in the main part of the
interview with peaks of concentration in the first five minutes
and the last five minutes of the interviews. This is one of the
reasons for note taking during the interview, not only to
refresh the memory at a later stage but also as a prompt to
continued concentration.
Ignoring the context
Interviewers can often discount the environment in which the
candidate is working, when forming judgments. It is easy to
attribute dynamism to a candidate performing well in a high-achievement
organization or culture when they may be swept
away in the tide of performance rather than necessarily
contributing to it directly. Equally, candidates working in a
risk-averse culture may not be assessed as entrepreneurial or
innovative in comparison with other candidates. It is
important to seek information on the environment in which
they are working and to judge answers in context.

19. Interviewing Principles
Stereotyping
There is a danger in stereotyping both good and bad
groups. This can be a particular problem for
discriminating against ethnic minorities. Every candidate
deserves to be regarded as unique and individuals, and
assessed as such.
Mirroring
There is a great danger of subjectivity creeping into
the assessment of an interview so that people are
rated positively or negatively according to whether
they are similar or dissimilar to the interviewer.

20. Assessment Centers
chapter 12

21. The assessment center is a process that involves a number of
techniques and a number of assessors, breaking down the
assessment of candidates into a number of components and
then re-assembling them for a complete picture on which a
decision is based. There are two main purposes for development
centers:
•Development
•Selection
The distinction between the two is sometimes blurred but, in
essence, the development type will aim to assess the strengths
and weakness of the candidate and provide a framework for
utilizing the strengths and addressing the weaknesses through
developmental programs and training. The focus of the
development center is often on the provision of information to
the ‘candidate’ with great emphasis on feedback
The selection based assessment center may be used for external
selection or internal promotion or both. Its focus is on identifying
the suitability of the candidate for a current or future planned
position.

22. Definition
It is difficult to define an assessment center, its
nature and content may differ significantly from one
organization to another. It is probably fair to say,
however, that the key aspects are that:
•The assessment center uses multiple selection
techniques with each technique being only one piece
of the jigsaw building up to the complete picture of
the candidate.
•The assessment center uses a group of assessors,
with selection decisions usually being made on a
group basis.

23. Design
Stage 1 is to identify the key criteria upon which the
assessment will be based.
Stage 2 Will be the choice of techniques to incorporate in the
assessment center, identifying the most suitable technique
for each competency. Cost and time constraints may, of
course, influence these decisions.
Stage 3 Is the development of the techniques which may
involve ‘buying-in’ or developing ‘in-house’. For the interview
this will mean the preparation of interview questions of either
the situational type, based on the projected work for which
the candidate is being assessed, or a behavioural type to
identify the experiences of the candidates.
Stage 4 the final stage is involved in the selection and
training of assessors. In so doing consideration is given not
only to the resourcing of the assessment center (in having
sufficient assessors available to support the process) but also
to the involvement of line managers in the selection process.

24. Components
The components of the assessment center will include
the interview, testing and exercise. The range of
exercises can have their basis in:
•Work simulations or
•Competencies
And are characterized as either:
•Group exercises or
•Individual exercises.
It is usual to find more than one exercise involved in
an assessment center.

25. Advantages
There are many advantages to using assessment centers.
•They focus on the key elements of the role and are therefore
very specific in measuring the suitability of candidates.
•They are thorough, avoiding over-reliance on a single
technique but ensuring that a range of techniques is used to
gather a full picture and a range of assessors employed to
obtain a balanced picture. By using a variety of techniques
the overall validity of the process is enhanced.
•Assessment centers can be interesting for the candidates
since they provide a variety of activities and often the
opportunity to meet with other candidates and, through the
involvement of assessors, a greater number of people from
the organization than is usually available with other
techniques.
•The assessment exercises in particular can provide a useful
flavor of the work, which can be important in ensuring that
the candidate is making the right choice.

26. Advantages
•Some studies have shown that assessment centers
are more effective than other techniques at predicting
successful candidates (but care needs to be taken
with this conclusion since assessment centers are
most frequently used for the selection of high flyers
and there is therefore an element of self-fulfilling
prophecy in operation).

27. Disadvantages
Assessment centers also have some disadvantages.
•The process can feel uncomfortable to some candidates,
particularly at a senior level, and particularly where abstract
exercises are involved. Candidates can be offended by being
asked to build Lego blocks when decision about their career are
on the line.
•Assessment centers are sometimes transparent and it is all too
easy for candidates to ‘act’ in group exercises and other aspects,
which may be sustained for the few days or weeks of the
assessment center, but not fulfilled in the real world.

28. Disadvantages
• The centers can be time-consuming for the organization
and for the candidates. While school-leavers and graduates
may be able to devote time to assessment centers, those
currently in employment will have difficulty devoting more
than half a day.
• One of the prerequisites of assessment center exercise is
that they should be appropriate to the general level of
intellect and experience of the candidates. This therefore
means that some stereotyping has already taken place and
the danger of discrimination is present, but not easily
recognized. More easily recognized is the discrimination
implicit in exercises that involve physical activities.