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Interviewing Candidates

中國經濟管理大學10个月前 (07-31)國際教育學院705

Lecture Outline:

Basic Types of Interviews

Structured versus Unstructured Interviews

Interview Content

How Should We Conduct the Interview?

Improving Performance though HRIS

Three Ways to Make the Interview Useful

Errors That Can Undermine an Interview’s Usefulness

First Impressions

Not Clarifying What the Job Requires

Candidate-Order (Contrast) Error and Pressure to Hire

Nonverbal Behavior and Impression Management

Effect of Personal Characteristics

Interviewer Behavior

Social Media and HR

How to Design and Conduct the Effective Interview

Designing the Structured Situational Interview

Talent Management: Profiles and Employees Interviews

Developing and Extending the Job Offer

Appendix

Interview Guide

In Brief:

This chapter gives an overview of types of interviews and their features. It discusses common mistakes in interviewing, and outlines effective interviewing techniques from the views of both interviewer and interviewee.

Interesting Issues:

While structured interviews have been shown to be more valid than non-structured ones, some managers tend to resist structured interviews in favor of trusting their own skills as interviewers.

Learning Objectives:

1.List and give examples of the main types of selection interviews.

2.List and explain main errors that can undermine an interview’s usefulness.

3.Define a structured situational interview and give examples of situational questions, behavioral questions, and background questions that provide structure.

4.What are the main points to know about developing and extending the actual job offer?

Annotated Outline:

I. Basic Types of Interviews

A. Structured versus Unstructured Interviews - Unstructured or nondirective interviews generally have no set format. Structured or directive interviews generally identify questions and all applicants are asked the same questions. Sometimes acceptable responses are specified in advance and the responses are rated for appropriateness of content.

B. Interview Content - Interviews can be classified according to the nature or content of their questions, such as situational interviews, job-related interviews, behavioral interviews, and stress interviews. Puzzle questions are also popular today, and they are used to see how candidates think under pressure.

C. How Should We Conduct the Interview?

1.Panel interviews occur when a group (panel) of interviewers questions the candidate together. A mass interview is where a panel interviews several candidates simultaneously.

2.Phone interviews are often conducted entirely by phone. Technology has also made interviewing by videoconferencing possible, saving time and travel costs.

D. Improving Performance though HRIS

1.Computerized interviews involve computers administering the interview. Typically the questions are presented in a multiple-choice format, one at a time, and the applicant is expected to respond to the questions on the screen by pressing a key.

E. Three Ways to Make the Interview Useful - Studies confirm that the validity of interviews is greater than previously thought. Structured interviews are more valid than unstructured interviews for predicting job performance. Some traits, however, are not able to be accurately assessed in an interview.

1.Structure the Interview – Structured interviews are more valid than unstructured interviews for predicting job performance.

2.Be careful what sorts of traits you try to assess – Interviews are better for revealing some traits than others.

3.Beware of committing interviewing errors – Understand and avoid the various errors that can undermine any interview’s usefulness.

II. Errors That Can Undermine an Interview’s Usefulness

A.First Impressions – One of the most consistent findings is that interviewers tend to jump to conclusions about candidates during the first few minutes of the interview.

B.Not Clarifying What the Job Requires – Interviewers who don’t know precisely what the job entails and what sort of candidate is best suited for it usually make their decisions based on incorrect or incomplete stereotypes of what a good applicant is.

C.Candidate-Order (Contrast) Error and Pressure to Hire –The order in which you see applicants affects how you rate them. Pressure to hire can undermine an interview’s usefulness.

D.Nonverbal Behavior and Impression Management – These factors can have a surprisingly large impact on an applicant’s rating. Inexperienced interviewers may try to infer the interviewee’s personality from vocal and visual cues such as energy level, voice modulation, and level of extraversion. Impression management includes ingratiation, agreeing with the interviewer’s opinions, and self-promotion to create an impression of competence are used by clever interviewees to manage the impression they present.

E.Effect of Personal Characteristics: Attractiveness, Gender, and Race – Interviewers have to guard against letting an applicant’s attractiveness, gender, and race play a role in candidate ratings.

F.Interviewer Behavior – Telegraphing refers to the interviewer inadvertently evoking the expected answers.

G.Social Media and HR – Both employer and job candidates use social media tools as part of the employment interview process.

III. How to Design and Conduct the Effective Interview

A. Designing the Structured Situational Interview

Step 1: Job Analysis;

Step 2: Rate the Job’s Duty;

Step 3: Create Interview Questions;

Step 4: Create Benchmark Answers; and

Step 5: Appoint the Interview Panel and Conduct Interviews.

1.Make Sure You Know the Job – do not conduct an interview unless you know what KSAs you are looking for.

2.Structure your Interview – a) base questions on job duties; b) use specific job-knowledge, situational, or behaviorally-oriented questions and objective criteria to evaluate the interviewee’s responses; c) use the same questions with all candidates; d) use rating scales to rate answers; and e) use a structured interview form.

3.Get Organized – The interview should take place in a private room where interruptions can be minimized. Prior to the interview, the interviewer should review the candidate’s application and resume, as well as the job duties and required skills and traits.

4.Establish Rapport – The interviewer should put the interviewee at ease so he/she can find out the necessary information about the interviewee. Studies show that people who feel more self-confident about their interviewing skills perform better in interviews.

5.Ask Questions – The interviewer should follow the interview guide.

6.Take Brief, Unobtrusive Notes – Notes will help the interviewer avoid snap judgments and remember more clearly what was discussed in the interview.

7.Close the Interview – Leave time to answer any questions the candidate may have and, if appropriate, advocate your firm to the candidate. Try to end the interview on a positive note.

8.Review the Interview – Once the candidate leaves, and while the interview is fresh on the interviewer’s mind, he/she should review his/her notes and fill in the structured interview guide.

B. Talent Management: Profiles and Employees Interviews - Talent Management: Profiles and Employee Interviews – Profiles include competencies, traits, knowledge, and experience. Using the same profile for multiple jobs will ensure an integrated, goal-oriented process.

IV. Developing and Extending the Job Offer - After all the interviews, background checks, and other tests, the employer decides who to offer the job to and will base his decision on the information gathered throughout the selection process. The employer will also need to decide if he will extend an offer of employment or a contract.

V. Appendix

A. Interview Guide for Interviewees

1.Preparation Is Essential

2.Uncover the Interviewers Real Needs

3.Relate Yourself to the Interviewers Needs

4.Think Before Answering

5.Remember That Appearance and Enthusiasm Are Important

6.Make a Good First Impression

Improving Performance Questions:

7-1: You have to hire dozens of wait staff every year for a new restaurant on Miami Beach. Explain how you would use a computerized interview, including questions and tasks for candidates

7-2: You are interviewing candidates in Bangladesh and you have a great candidate who unfortunately is 25 years old, when the job calls for someone at least 40. List three questions you would ask to see if the person is still qualified.

7-3: Write a one-paragraph (single-spaced) memo to the people who do your company’s recruiting on the topic, “The five most important things an interviewer can do to have a useful selection interview.”

Discussion Questions:

7-4: There are several ways to conduct a selection interview. Explain and illustrate the basic ways in which you can classify selections interviews.

Interviews can be classified according to:

1.Degree of structure - This is the extent to which interviews are, or are not, structured with previously designed questions so that each candidate must answer the same questions.

2.Purpose - Interviews may be designed to accomplish several purposes, including selection, performance appraisal, and feedback.

3.The content of the questions may be situational, job-related, or psychological.

4.The way the interview is administered - Interviews might be conducted by a panel of interviewers, sequentially or all at once, computerized, or personally. Students should also provide some illustrations of each.

7-5: Briefly describe each of the following possible types of interviews: unstructured panel interviews; structured sequential interviews; job-related structured interviews.

In the unstructured panel interview, the panel of interviewers asks questions as they come to mind. They do not have a list of questions or points that need to be covered but may follow many different directions. The structured sequential interview consists of the candidate being interviewed one by one with several different interviewers. Each interviewer conducts a structured interview that consists of pre-determined questions and a structured evaluation form to complete. The job-related structured interview consists of pre-determined questions, all of which are designed to assess the applicant's past behaviors for job-related information.

7-6: For what sorts of jobs do you think computerized interviews are most appropriate? Why?

The computerized interview can be used as a screening device for virtually any type of position that may generate a large number of applicants. It is less likely to be used for managerial positions. However, if there are large numbers of applicants, it could certainly be just as useful there as in skilled, professional, and unskilled positions.

7-7: How would you explain the fact the structured interviews, regardless of content, are generally more valid than unstructured interviews for predicting job performance?

The structured interview helps to keep the interviewer focused on the types of behaviors, traits, or answers that are desired and that are good predictors of job performance. Unstructured interviews allow interviewers to become sidetracked with things like common interests and other items that are not good predictors of job success.

7-8: Briefly discuss what an interviewer can do to improve his or her performance.

The students should refer to the section in the chapter on designing and conducting the effective interview to form his/her suggestions for how an interviewer can improve his/her perfomance.

7-9: What items shoud a letter of offer definitely contain?

Things to keep in mind here include understanding the difference between a job offer letter and a contract. A job offer letter lists the offer’s basic information, including details on salary and pay, benefits information, paid leave information, and terms of employment. There should be a strong statement specifying that the employment relationship is “at will.” In contrast to a letter of offer, it is not unusual for an employment contract to have a duration (such as 3 years).

Individual and Group Activities:

7-10: Prepare and give a short presentation titled, “How to Be Effective as a Selection Interviewer.”

There are several things you can do to prepare to be an effective interviewer. Some of the responses the students should give include: structure the interview; prepare for the interview; establish rapport; ask questions; close the interview; and review the interview.

7-11: Use the Internet to find employers who now do preliminary selection interviews via the Web. Do you think these interviews are useful? Why or why not? How would you improve them?

The students should use the Internet to search the Web sites of various companies to find examples of companies that use the Web for preliminary selection interviews. They should provide the pros and cons of using the Web for preliminary selection interviews. Challenge students to identify ways to improve the examples they have presented based on what has been discussed in this chapter.

7-12: In groups, discuss and compile examples of “the worst interview I ever had.” What was it about these interviews that made them so bad? If time permits, discuss as a class.

Based on their experiences, the students should come up with various examples. They should also discuss their suggestions for improving the interview.

7-13: In groups, prepare an interview (including a sequence of at least 20 questions) you’ll use to interview candidates for the job teaching a course in Human Resources Management. Each group should present their interview questions in class.

The students should use this opportunity to design their own interview questions using the suggestions given in the chapter.

7-14: Some firms swear by unorthodox interview methods. For example, Tech Planet, of Menlo Park, CA, uses weekly lunches and “wacky follow-up sessions” as substitutes for first-round job interviews. During the informal meals, potential staffers are expected to mingle, and they’re then reviewed by the Tech Planet employees they meet at the luncheons. One Tech Planet employee asks candidates to ride a unicycle in her office to see if “they’ll bond with the corporate culture or not.” Toward the end of the screening process, the surviving group of interviewees has to solve brainteasers, and then openly evaluate their fellow candidates’ strengths and weaknesses. What do you think of a screening process like this? Specifically, what do you think are its pros and cons? Would you recommend a procedure like this? If so, what changes, if any, would you recommend?

The students should use the information they’ve learned in this chapter to make judgments about this screening process.

7-15: Several years ago, Lockheed Martin Corp. sued the Boeing Corp. in Orlando, Florida, accusing it of using Lockheed’s trade secrets to help win a multibillion-dollar government contract. Among other things, Lockheed Martin claimed that Boeing had obtained those trade secrets from a former Lockheed Martin employee who switched to Boeing. But in describing methods companies use to commit corporate espionage, one writer says that hiring away the competitor’s employees or hiring people to go through its dumpster are just the most obvious methods companies use to commit corporate espionage. As he says, “one of the more unusual scams – sometimes referred to as ‘help wanted’ – uses a person posing as a corporate headhunter who approaches an employee of the target company with a potentially lucrative job offer. During the interview, the employee is quizzed about his responsibilities, accomplishments, and current projects. The goal is to extract important details without the employee realizing there is no job.”

Assume that you are the owner of a small high-tech company that is worried about the

possibility that one or more of your employees may be approached by one of these sinister “headhunters.” What would you do (in terms of employee training, or a letter from you, for instance) to try to minimize the chance that one of your employees will fall into that kind of trap? Also, compile a list of five or ten questions that you think such a corporate spy might ask one of your employees.

Students may suggest that the employer educate employees that tactics such as the ones described here are used by competitors, suggest an appropriate response, and encourage employees to report any such contact to management. Building trust and loyalty is clearly important in order for this strategy to be effective. Brainstorm with the class a list of questions that may be asked, and perhaps conduct a role play to demonstrate how the conversation may play out, and facilitate a discussion on how the employee and employer could respond.

7-16: Appendix A, PHR and SPHR Knowledge Base at the end of this book lists the knowledge someone studying for the HRCI certification exam needs to have in each area of human resource management (such as in Strategic Management, Workforce Planning, and Human Resource Development). In groups, do four things: (1) review Appendix A; (2) identify the material in this chapter that relates to the required knowledge Appendix A lists; (3) write four multiple-choice exam questions on this material that you believe would be suitable for inclusion in the HRCI exam; and (4) if time permits, have someone from your team post your team's questions in front of the class, so that students in all teams can answer the exam questions created by the other teams.

Material from this chapter that may be included in the HRCI certification exam includes interviewing procedures, federal, state, and local employment-related laws, and interviewing techniques.

Experiential Exercise: The Most Important Person You’ll Ever Hire

Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to give you practice using some of the interview techniques you learn from this chapter.

Required Understanding: You should be familiar with the information presented in the chapter, and to read this: “For parents, children are precious.” It's therefore interesting that parents who hire “nannies” to take care of the children usually do little more than asked several interview questions and conduct what is often, at best, a perfunctory reference check. Given the often questionable validity of interviews, and the (often) relative inexperience of the father or mother doing the interviewing, it's not surprising that many of these arrangements are disappointments. You know from this chapter that it is difficult to conduct a valid interview unless you know exactly what you are looking for. Most parents simply aren't trained to do this.

How to Set up the Exercise/Instructions:

Set up groups of five or six students. Two students will be the interviewees, while the other students in the group will serve as panel interviewers. The interviewees will develop an interviewer assessment form, and the panel interviewers will develop a structured situational interview for a “nanny.”

7-17: Instructions for the interviews: The interviewees should leave the room for about 20 min. While out of the room, the interviewees should develop an “interviewer assessment form” based on the information presented in the chapter regarding factors that can undermine the usefulness of an interview. During the panel interview, the interviewees should assess the interviewers using the interviewer assessment form. After the panel interviewers have conducted the interview, the interviewees should leave the room to discuss their notes. Did the interviewers exhibit any of the factors that can undermine the usefulness of an interview? If so, which ones? What suggestions would you (the interviewees) make to the interviewers on how to improve the usefulness of the interview?

7-18: Instructions for interviewers: while the interviewees are out of the room, the panel interviewers will have 20 min. to develop a short structured situational interview form for a “nanny.” The panel interviews team will interview two candidates for the position. During the panel interview, each interviewer should be taking notes on a copy of the structured situational interview form. After the panel interview, the panel interviewers should discuss their notes. What were your first impressions of each interviewee? Were your impressions similar? What candidate would you all select for the position and why?

Video Case Appendix:

Video Title: Interviewing Candidates (Zipcar)

Synopsis:

Zipcar is a company that allows customers to share a car for a fee as small as a short cab ride. Individuals who become Zipcar members are able to reserve a vehicle with as little advance notice as one hour through any wireless device, unlock a car with a card that members carry with them, and drive for the reserved period of time. The goal of Zipcar is to reduce the number of cars being driven and thereby reduce environmental pollution.

Zipcar is a fast-growing innovative company that supports the environment and is socially responsible. This makes it an attractive place to work for many who are looking for a company that is doing something new. When selecting new employees, Zipcar aims to find people who are passionate about the brand, professional, courteous, and presentable. It wants someone who can understand the value of the organization and the culture within which the company operates.

Discussion Questions:

7-19: What makes Zipcar an attractive employer for which to work?

7-20: What do those doing the actual hiring at Zipcar feel are important characteristics to find in potential employees?

7-21: List three behavioral and three situational questions that you would use to interview Zipcar employment applicants.

7-22: According to the video, which practices should you avoid during an interview? How do these compare with those discussed in this chapter?

Application Case: The Out-of-Control Interview

7-23: How would you explain the nature of the panel interview Maria had to endure? Specifically, do you think it reflected a well-thought-out interviewing strategy on the part of the firm, or carelessness on the part of the firm's management? If it was carelessness, what would you do to improve the interview process at Apex Environmental?

It is fairly clear that the panel interview was a stress interview designed to see how well she could handle difficult situations. In this respect, it seems to have been a well-thought-out interviewing strategy, but there was a very clear element of carelessness on the part of the firm's management. The panel was obviously not well-trained and was careless in the choice of questions that they used. Many of the questions were clearly discriminatory and could be used against them in a gender-based discrimination suit.

7-24: Would you take the job offer if you were Maria? If you're not sure, what additional information would help you make your decision?

Maria needs additional information. What she does know is the nature of the job and the clear fit with her training and skills. The additional information that she should seek involves the number of women who work at Apex, the levels of management which they have attained, and the satisfaction of those women with their treatment by Apex management. The fact that the entire interview panel was composed of men and their choice of questions leaves us with reservations about how she would be treated once hired.

7-25: The job of applications engineer for which Maria was applying requires: (a) excellent technical skills with respect to mechanical engineering; (b) a commitment to working in the area of pollution control; (c) the ability to deal well and confidently with customers who have engineering problems; (d) a willingness to travel worldwide; and (e) a very intelligent and well-balanced personality. List 10 questions you would ask when interviewing applicants for the job.

There are a wide variety of specific questions that could be posed to address these issues. Questions need to be job-related, specifically to the requirements listed above. They also need to clearly avoid any discriminatory areas.

Continuing Case: Carter Cleaning Company - The Better Interview

7-26: In general, what can Jennifer do to improve her employee interviewing practices? Should she develop interview forms that list questions for management and non-management jobs, and if so what form should these take and what questions should be included? Should she initiate a computer-based interview approach? If so, why and how?

Carter Cleaning Company has an inadequate, unstructured way of interviewing and hiring. One solution students could suggest is to utilize a structured interview guide such as the one provided in Figure 7-1 as an example of a tool that managers could use to improve their interviewing practices. Have students brainstorm a list of questions to be included in the structured interview guide. A computer-based approach is also a possibility; students should explore the pros and cons of this given the nature of the organization and weigh the cost/benefit of utilization of this technology.

7-27: Should she implement a training program for her managers, and if so, specifically what should be the content of such an interview-training program? In other words, if she did decide to start training her management people to be better interviewers, what should she tell them and how should she tell it to them?

The obvious answer to this question is yes, a training program should be designed and delivered. Students should include suggestions from the section on designing and conducting effective interviews, including training in preparation, utilization of a structured interview process, and interviewing techniques discussed in this chapter. She should educate managers in the potential pitfalls that come up in the interviewing process as outlined in the text. She should also provide an opportunity for practice with mock interviews in the training session so that managers can use the skills they learn and become comfortable with the process.

Hotel Paris: Improving Performance at the Hotel Paris - The New Interviewing Program

7-28: For the jobs of security guard or valet, develop 5 situational, 5 behavioral, and 5 job knowledge questions, with descriptive good/average/poor answers.

Examples may be found in Figures 7-2 and 7-3. Student answers will vary. For the security guard, questions might focus on ascertaining the level of dependability, responsibility, initiative, and cool-headedness under pressure. The car hop position’s desired behaviors may include detail orientation, friendliness, and ability to follow directions.

7-29: Combine your questions into a complete interview process that you would give to someone who must interview candidates for these jobs.

Students should follow the outline for interviewing in Figure 7-1 and in the Chapter Appendix.

Key Terms:

Unstructured or Nondirective Interview - An unstructured conversational-style interview - The interviewer pursues points of interest as they come up in response to questions.

Structured or Directive Interview - An interview following a set sequence of questions.

Situational Interview - A series of job-related questions which focus on how the candidate would behave in a given situation.

Behavioral Interviews - 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 which focuses on relevant past job-related behaviors.

Unstructured Sequential Interview - An interview in which each interviewer forms an independent opinion after asking different questions.

Stress Interview - An interview in which the applicant is made uncomfortable by a series of often rude questions.

Structured Sequential Interview- An interview in which the applicant is interviewed sequentially by several supervisors and each rates the applicant on a standard form.

Panel Interview - An interview in which a group of interviewers questions the applicant.

Mass Interview - A panel interviews several candidates simultaneously.

Candidate Order Error - An error of judgment on the part of the interviewer due to interviewing one or more very good or very bad candidates just before the interview in question.

Structured Situational Interview - A series of job-relevant questions with predetermined answers that interviewers ask of all applicants for the job.