Interview Methods

Job Content Method

A technique for developing interview questions is the job content method.  One main difference between this technique and the previous two is that it does not use critical incidents as the major job analysis method.  Instead, the steps are as follows:

1. Identifying and rating critical job tasks.
2. Identifying and rating KSAs necessary for task performance.
3. Linking KSAs to job tasks.
4. Choosing selection measures appropriate for the KSAs to be measured.

The completion of these four steps results in the listing of those KSAs that should be measured by an interview and those that should be measured by other instruments.  As suggested in prior discussions, that means that the interview primarily would be used for what we have defined as  personal relations, good citizenship, and job knowledge.  After the scope of the interview has been narrowed to specific KSAs, the critical-incidents technique is used to gather information to form questions only for these KSAs.  In other words, supervisors and job incumbents are asked to write incidents for only those few (usually three to five) dimensions appropriate for the interview.  It is recommended that questions measuring KSAs that reflect good citizenship and personal relations be phrased so that the answers do not require specific experience in a job very similar to the one of interest.  Follow-up questions should be used when appropriate.  These should stress the personal decisions and actions of the interviewee in the situation.  Multiple questions for each KSA to be measured in the interview are recommended.

Skill Definition

Skills
A skill is a set of behavior which leads to the attainment of a predetermined goal or objective.  In other words, a skill refers to a category of related behavior that you perform in a job.  Typing, negotiating, predicting the weather, and sweeping floors are some examples of skills.

Skill Definition
A skill definition describes a set of behavior which is required by the job.  A broad listing of skill definitions is useful to the interviewer in skills analysis and selecting interview questions.  Also, the precise definitions of skills help the interviewer know what to look for in an applicant.

Skills Assessed
Performance Skills:  The  interviewing system should use the performance skills definitions to summarize work habits and behaviors that are used  in the workplace. 
Technical/Job Skills:  These are the specific knowledge and skills required to perform the work.  A typist must know how to type, an accountant must know accounting principles, etc.   

Develop Interview Questions

Purpose of Questions
Questions should generate responses that can be used to rate skills.  In particular, candidates are asked to provide examples from their past showing a specific time when the skill was used.

Selection of Questions
Questions should be selected to maximize the interviewer’s ability to obtain information about the selected skills.

Creation of the Interview
Fit questions to the job and add additional questions you feel are necessary. 

Check for Bias
Be sure all questions are job-related and legal.  Conduct equivalent interviews for different applicants.  Ask the same questions of both men and women.  Stick to your predetermined questions.

Panel Interviewing Method

• Increase the Validity of the Interviewing Process
• Reduce costs, time associated with an assessment center
• Bring together group of managers to evaluate current interviewing and work to develop a stronger alternative.
• Increases consistency and defensibility of the selection process
• Fosters high level of buy-in of selection and promotion decisions by management and job candidates
• Make panels strictly voluntary which reduces negative reactions.
• Group consensus means applicant would need to establish that several interviewers were biased in their evaluations
• Use 3-5 interviewers. 
• Include HR professionals and representatives from EEO/AA who can coordinate the process to ensure consistency and fairness
• Highly flexible and can be applied to a broad range of purposes and settings, from on-site final decision interviews to initial campus recruiting
• Split decision  3-5 panel members which reduces likelihood of a split decision
• Questions are selected by panel members and final questions are incorporated into a structured interview guide

The Computer-Assisted Interview Method

Ultimately, there is no substitute for a structured job interview administered by a hiring manager. As a result of the GCAI, the concept of using computers to assist humans in the interview process has enjoyed wide acceptance in many of America's largest and most successful corporations for these following reasons:

• Computers are more objective than human interviewers.
• Applicants prefer computer-assisted interviews to other methods of information retrieval.
• Computers efficiently gather three times more information than human interviewers during the same time period.
• Applicants provide more accurate information to computers, especially in sensitive areas.

The information gathered gives the human interviewer a customized interview guide for each applicant that:

• Summarizes all applicant interview responses organized by behavioral job dimensions such as teamwork and customer service.
• Reveals any contradictory information.
• Notifies interviewers of any questions the applicant hesitated to answer.
• Structures and organizes customized, open-ended interview questions for the interviewer to use in a face-to-face interview.

All in all, the customized interview guide increases organizational productivity while simultaneously increasing the probability that the best candidates are identified.

Internet Interview Method

Through the Internet, it not only captures applicant, applications, and interviews; it uses the dimensional analysis and ranking algorithms to make order out of an otherwise overwhelming situation. On-line, it automatically converts screens into Web pages, giving applicants the freedom to submit applications and skills inventories, and even to complete job interviews from the comfort of their homes. This is extremely valuable to a recruiter who, with this feature, can retrieve information from a global pool of applicants stored in one database. For example, a Texas recruiter who is planning to conduct interviews in Chicago can query the database for all Chicago-area applicants who meet the specified qualifications. The recruiter can then use electronic notification and scheduling feature to notify those applicants of the next step. It can even instantly send an E-mail or page message to a recruiter if a highly qualified applicant submits an on-line application.

Another feature is automatic applicant notification of the next step in the selection process. Managers can simply point and click on applicants' names from the dimensional ranking list and communicate with them via letter, E-mail, or Fax. The notification might be a rejection letter or instructions to call a toll-free number to schedule a face-to-face interview. Imagine a recruiter who can electronically collect complete résumés and applications from applicants. The recruiter can use the behaviorally anchored analysis to rank and screen, instantly and fairly, all the applicants at multiple levels, always being sure that the process is in compliance. The recruiter can then automatically communicate with the applicants to reject or to schedule interviews, without ever so much as touching a piece of paper.

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