Human Resource Management

Chapter 7: Interviewing Candidates

Dr Minhajul Islam Ukil

Assistant Professor
Graduate School of Management, Brac University
Email: minhaj.ukil@bracu.ac.bd

Session 6: 28 July 2021

Content: Chapter 7 – Interviewing Candidates

§ What is selection interview?

§ Types of selection interview
§ Ways to conduct interviews
§ Errors that can undermine the usefulness of an interview
§ How to design an effective interview
§ How to conduct an effective interview
§ Approaches and issues of developing job offer
 Selection Interview

A selection procedure design to predict future job performance

based on applicant’s oral responses to oral inquiries.
 Types of Selection Interview

§ Selection interview can be classified based on three

perspectives.
• Structure (how interviews are structured)
• Content (what types of questions to ask)
• Administration (how should the firm administer interviews)
Types of Selection Interview: Structure Perspective

§ Based on structure, selection interviews can be

categorised as follows.
• Unstructured interviews
• Semi-structured interviews
• Structured interviews
Types of Selection Interview: Unstructured Interviews

§ Unstructured interviews (or nondirective interviews): The

interviewer pursues points of interest as they come up in
response to questions.
• The interviewer/manager follows no set format
• A very few basic questions might be specified in advance
- Tell me about yourself
- Tell me about your strength and weaknesses
• It may involves subjectivity
Types of Selection Interview: Semi-structured Interviews

§ Semi-structured interviews
• The interviewer/manager follows a set format
• Some questions are specified in advance
• The interviewer pursues points of interest
§ Benefits of semi-structured interviews
• Opportunity to note important questions so that you don’t miss them
• Opportunity to pursue points of interest
• Opportunity to ask follow-up questions
• Disadvantages of semi-structured interviews
• May involve subjectivity
 Types of Selection Interview: Structured Interviews

§ Structured interviews (or directive interviews)

• The interviewer/manager follows a lists of predetermined questions
• All questions are specified in advance
• The interviewer may even weight possible alternative answers for
appropriateness
§ Benefits of structured interviews
• No chance to skip important questions
• Consistent and reliable as all applicants are asked same questions
• Can less experienced interviewer to interview effectively
• Reduces subjectivity
§ Disadvantages of structured interviews
• Lacks opportunity to pursue points of interest
• Unable to ask follow up questions
Types of Selection Interview: Content Perspective

§ Based on content (what types of questions to ask),

selection interviews can be categorised as follows.
• Situational
• Behavioural
• Job-related interview
• Stress interview
• Puzzle questions
 Types of Selection Interview: Content Perspective

§ Situational interview: A series of job related questions that focus

on how the candidate would behave in a given/hypothetical
situation.

§ Behavioural interview: A series of job-related questions that focus

on how the candidate reacted to actual situations in the past.

§ Job-related interview: A series of job-related questions that focus

on past experiences.
 Types of Selection Interview: Content Perspective

§ Example questions

• Situational interview: Suppose you were faced with the following

situation………, What would you do?

• Behavioural interview: Can you think of a time when………What

did you do?

• Job-related interview: What sorts of tasks did you like most?

 Types of Selection Interview: Content Perspective

§ Stress interview: An interview in which the applicant is made

uncomfortable by a series of rude questions.
• It helps identify hypersensitive applicants with low or high stress
tolerance
• Example: Why have you changed jobs three times in the past two
years?
§ Puzzle question: The interviewer sees how candidates think
under pressure.
• Example: an interviewer at Microsoft asked a tech service applicant
this: “Mike and Todd have $21 between them. Mike has $20 more than
Todd does. How much money has Mike, and how much money has
Todd?
Ways of Conducting/Administering Interviews

§ Face-to-face interviews
• One-on-one interview
• Panel interview
• Mass interview
§ Phone interviews
§ Computer-based interviews
§ Online video interviews
Ways of Conducting Interviews: One-on-one Interviews

§ One-on-one interview: Two people meet alone in which one person

interviews other by seeking oral responses to oral inquiries.
• All at once
• Sequential (or serial) interview: Several persons conduct one-on-
one interviews in sequence.
- Unstructured sequential interview: An interview in which each
interviewer generally asks questions as they come to mind and form an
independent opinion.
- Structured sequential interview: An interview in which the applicant is
interviewed sequentially by several persons and each person rates the
applicant on a standard form.
 Ways of Conducting Interviews: Panel Interviews

§ Panel interview (or board interview): An interview in which a group

of interviewers questions the applicant.
• Interviewers question each candidate and then combine their ratings
into a final panel score
• Panel interviews enable interviewers to ask follow-up questions
• Panel interviews can be stressful for some candidates
§ Mass interview: A panel interview in which a group of people interview
several candidates simultaneously.
 Ways of Conducting Interviews

§ Phone interviews: Interviews that are conducted via phone.

§ Computer-based interviews: An interview in which a candidate’s

oral and/or keyed responses are obtained in response to
computerised oral, visual or written questions.

§ Online video interviews: Web-based in-person interviews using

video apps such as Skype, Zoom, Google Meet and so on.
 Online Video Interviews

§ Things that interviewees should keep in mind regarding online

video interviews
• Look presentable
• Clean up the room
• Test your internet, audio and video
• To try a run: Record yourself before the interview to see how you are
coming across.
• Relax: Smile, look confident and enthusiastic, make eye contact and do
not shout but speak clearly.
 Factors that Make Interviews Useful

§ The following three factors may make an interview useful.

• Structured (or semi-structured) interviews
• Knowing what to ask
• Knowing and avoiding common interview errors
 Common Interview Errors

§ Common interview errors

• First impressions (snap judgement)
• Not clarifying what the job requires
• Candidate-order (or contrast) error
• Nonverbal behaviour
• Effect of personal characteristics: Attractiveness, gender, race
• Diversity count: Applicant’s disability, religion
• Interviewer’s behaviour
 How to Design an Interview

§ Structured situational interview: A series of job-related questions

with predetermined answers that interviewers ask to all applicants.
§ Designing a structured situational interview
• Step 1: Analyse the job
• Step 2: Rate the job’s main duties
• Step 3: Create interview questions
• Step 4: Create benchmark answers
• Step 5: Appoint the interview panel and conduct interviews.
 How to Conduct an Effective Interview

§ Conducting an effective interview

• Step 1: Know the job
• Step 2: Structure the interview
- Prepare some base questions on actual job
- Use job knowledge, situational or behavioural questions
- Use the same questions with all candidates
- If possible, have several ideal answers and a score for each
• Step 3: Get organized
• Step 4: Establish rapport
• Step 5: Ask questions
• Step 6: Take brief notes during the interview
• Step 7: Close the interview
• Step 8: Review the interview
 Toyota’s Total Selection Program

§ The Toyota way of hiring assemblers

• Step 1: An in-depth online application (20-30 minutes)
• Step 2: A 2- to 5-hour computer-based assessment
• Step 3: A 6- to 8-hour work simulation assessment
• Step 4: A face-to-face interview
• Step 5: A background check, drug screen and medical check
• Step 6: Job offer
 Developing a Job Offer

§ Approaches to developing job offer

• Judgemental approach: Subjectively weighs all the evidence about
the candidate.
• Statistical approach: Quantifies all the evidences and perhaps uses a
formula to predict job success.
• Hybrid approach: Combines statistical results with subjective
judgement.
 The Job Offer Main Parameters

§ The initial job offer shall include

• Pay rates
• Benefits
• Actual job duties
§ There may be some negotiations
§ When agreement is reached, the employer will extend a written job
offer to the candidate
Issues to Consider with Written Job Offer

§ A job offer letter

§ An employment contact
Issues to Consider with Written Job Offer

§ A job offer letter has the

• Welcome sentence
• Salary/Pay information
• Benefits information
• Paid leave information
• Terms of employment
• Closing sentence (welcomes again and mentions the
contact person)
 Issues to Consider with Written Job Offer

§ An employment contract includes

• Duration
• Grounds for termination/resignation and severance provisions
• Confidentiality
• Covenants not to compete
• Relocation provision