Job interview

Job interview

A job interview is a process in which a potential employee is evaluated

by an employer for prospective employment in their company, organization,

or firm, and was established in the late 16th century[citation needed].

Role

A job interview typically precedes the hiring decision, and is used to

evaluate the candidate. The interview is usually preceded by the

evaluation of submitted résumés from interested candidates, then

selecting a small number of candidates for interviews. The job interview

is considered one of the most useful tools for evaluating potential

employees. It also demands significant resources from the employer, yet

has been demonstrated to be notoriously unreliable in identifying the

optimal person for the job.

Multiple rounds of job interviews may be used where there are many

candidates or the job is particularly challenging or desirable. Earlier

rounds may involve fewer staff from the employers and will typically be

much shorter and less in-depth. A common initial interview form is the

phone interview, a job interview conducted over the telephone. This is

especially common when the candidates do not live near the employer and

has the advantage of keeping costs low for both sides.

Once all candidates have been interviewed, the employer typically selects

the most desirable candidate and begins the negotiation of a job offer.

Preparation

It is very important to be well prepared for an interview. According to

the University of Delaware's career center, a common reason employers give

for not hiring an applicant is the inability of the applicant to fully

explain the contents of his or her résumé. Therefore it is paramount to

be able to discuss in detail every item listed on one's resume, and if

possible to give examples when appropriate. It is also wise to research

the company before the interview. To avoid being nervous, the applicant

should practice answering difficult questions. Good sources of interview

questions can be found by searching the Internet.

Process

A typical job interview has a single candidate meeting with between one

and three persons representing the employer; the potential supervisor of

the employee is usually involved in the interview process. A larger

interview panel will often have a specialized human resources worker.

While the meeting can be over in as little as 15 minutes, job interviews

usually last less than two hours. The bulk of the job interview will entail

the interviewers asking the candidate questions about his or her job

history, personality, work style and other factors relevant to the job.

The candidate will usually be given a chance to ask any questions at the

end of the interview. These questions are strongly encouraged since they

allow the interviewee to acquire more information about the job and the

company, but they can also demonstrate the candidate's strong interest

in them. A candidate should follow up the interview with a thank-you letter,

expressing his or her appreciation for the opportunity to meet with the

company representative.[1] The thank you letter ensures that the candidate

will stay fresh in the interviewer's mind. The primary purpose of the job

interview is to assess the candidate's suitability for the job, although

the candidate will also be assessing the corporate culture and demands

of the job.

Candidates for lower paid and lower skilled positions tend to have much

simpler job interviews than do candidates for more prestigious positions.

For instance, a lawyer's job interview will be much more demanding than

that of a retail cashier. Most job interviews are formal; the larger the

firm, the more formal and structured the interview will tend to be.

Candidates generally dress slightly better than they would for work, with

a suit (called an interview suit) being appropriate for a white-collar

job interview.

Additionally, some professions have specific types of job interviews; for

performing artists, this is an audition in which the emphasis is placed

on the performance ability of the candidate.

In many companies, Assessment Days are increasingly being used,

particularly for graduate positions, which may include analysis tasks,

group activities, presentation exercises, and Psychometric testing.

Types of Interview

Behavioral interview

A common type of job interview in the modern workplace is the behavioral

interview or behavioral event interview. This type of interview is based

on the notion that a job candidate's previous behaviors are the best

indicators of future performance. In behavioral interviews, the

interviewer asks candidates to recall specific instances where they were

faced with a set of circumstances, and how they reacted. Typical

behavioral interview questions:

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"Tell me about a project you worked on where the requirements

changed midstream. What did you do?"

"Tell me about a time when you took the lead on a project. What did

you do?"

"Describe the worst project you worked on."

"Describe a time you had to work with someone you didn't like."

"Tell me about a time when you had to stick by a decision you had

made, even though it made you very unpopular."

"Give us an example of something particularly innovative that you

have done that made a difference in the workplace."

"What happened the last time you were late with a project?"

A bad hiring decision nowadays can be immensely expensive for an

organization – cost of the hire, training costs, severance pay, loss of

productivity, impact on morale, cost of re-hiring, etc. (Gallup

international places the cost of a bad hire as being 3.2 times the

individual's salary). Structured selection techniques have a better track

record of identifying the soundest candidate than the old-style

"biographical" interview.

Stress interview

Stress interviews are still in common use. One type of stress interview

is where the employer uses a succession of interviewers (one at a time

or

en masse) whose mission is to intimidate the candidate and keep him/her

off-balance. The ostensible purpose of this interview: to find out how

the candidate handles stress. Stress interviews might involve testing an

applicant's behavior in a busy environment. Questions about handling work

overload, dealing with multiple projects, and handling conflict are

typical.

Another type of stress interview may involve only a single interviewer

who behaves in an uninterested or hostile manner. For example, the

interviewer may not make eye contact, may roll his eyes or sigh at the

candidate's answers, interrupt, turn his back, take phone calls during

the interview, or ask questions in a demeaning or challenging style. The

goal is to assess how the interviewee handles pressure or to purposely

evoke emotional responses. This technique was also used in research

protocols studying Stress and Type A (coronary-prone) Behavior because

it would evoke hostility and even changes in blood pressure and heart rate

in study subjects. The key to success for the candidate is to

de-personalize the process. The interviewer is acting a role,

deliberately and calculatedly trying to "rattle the cage." Once the

candidate realizes that there is nothing personal behind the

interviewer's approach, it is easier to handle the questions with aplomb.

Example stress interview questions:

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Sticky situation: "If you caught a colleague cheating on his

expenses, what would you do?"

Putting you on the spot: "How do you feel this interview is going?"

Popping the balloon: "(deep sigh) Well, if that's the best answer

you can give ... (shakes head) Okay, what about this one ...?"

Oddball question: "What would you change about the design of the

hockey stick?"

Doubting your veracity: "I don't feel like we're getting to the

heart of the matter here. Start again - tell me what

really makes

you tick."

Candidates may also be asked to deliver a presentation as part of the

selection process. The "Platform Test" method involves having the

candidate make a presentation to both the selection panel and other

candidates for the same job. This is obviously highly stressful and is

therefore useful as a predictor of how the candidate will perform under

similar circumstances on the job. Selection processes in academic,

training, airline, legal and teaching circles frequently involve

presentations of this sort.

Technical Interview

Further information: Microsoft Interview

This kind of interview focuses on problem solving and creativity. The

questions aim at your problem-solving skills and likely show your ability

and creativity. Sometimes these interviews will be on a computer module

with multiple-choice questions.

Telephone Interviews

Telephone Interviews take place if a recruiter wishes to dwindle down the

number of prospective candidates before deciding on a shortlist for

face-to-face interviews. They also take place if a job applicant is a

significant distance away from the premises of the hiring company such

as abroad or in another state.

Controversies

This article may contain original research or unverified claims. Please

improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details.

(April 2008)

In many countries, employment equity laws forbid discrimination based on

a number of classes, such as race, gender, age, and marital status. Asking

questions about these protected areas in a job interview is generally

considered discriminatory, and constitutes an illegal hiring practice.

However, many employers ask questions that touch on these areas.

There is extended data[citation needed] which puts in question the value of job

interviews as a tool for selecting employees. Where the aim of a job

interview is ostensibly to choose a candidate who will perform well in

the job role, other methods of selection provide greater predictive power

and often lower costs. Furthermore, given the unstructured approach of

most interviews they often have almost no useful predictive power of

employee success.