3.Case Style - Consulting firms commonly use this style. In the case interview you are given a business problem and asked to offer a solution and/or recommendation. The purpose is to assess your problem-solving abilities.
Walk-in interviews:
They are used where junior positions have to be filled in large numbers and a large pool of willing candidates exists. It can also save time. Evidence as to its effectiveness is mixed. Its effectiveness will depend on variables like the kind of candidates required, the type of the employer, the availability of time, and the budget.
Campus interviews:
They are the favored method for recruitment to entry positions. It is also expensive since three to four senior executives visit a large number of institutes across the country giving pre placement talks and undertaking the selection process. The turn over of candidates from prestigious schools tends to be high and some companies do not participate in them as a matter of policy.
Telephonic interviews:
Managers these days are investing more time in preparing for and conducting telephone-screening interviews because of the time and money saved by the procedure.
Telephone screens are useful because they allow an interviewer to quickly assess the relative merits of multiple candidates. The interviewer has to create a list of questions to ask each candidate. These questions should elicit information about their qualifications, cultural fit, and salary expectations. He must make sure he asks every candidate the same questions so that he can compare them all from a similar base of information.
Stress interviews:
. Stress questions put the candidate on the spot with a complicated, challenging, or seemingly accusatory question. They are often as much about how he/she responds to being asked such a tough question as they are about the answer itself. Since off-the-wall or confrontational questions tend to jolt his/her equilibrium or put him/her in a defensive posture, this technique tests a candidate's ability to be articulate and graceful under pressure. An example would have the interviewer speak quickly and aggressively, perhaps opening with "why should we hire you?" These are generally meant to see how would the candidate perform under a pressure situation and are very apt for high-pressure jobs.
Case method model:
This type of interview involves questions in which the candidate will be asked to solve a hypothetical industry-related problem.. The purpose is not necessarily seeking a "correct" answer to the problem, but to evaluate the candidate’s problem solving and analytical reasoning skills. Investment banks and consulting firms most commonly use this type of interview
The Appraisal interview:
It is conducted with the following objectives:
- To agree with the interviewee the level of performance attained during the period under review
- To identify and discuss both weak and strong aspects of performance.
- To agree approaches and methods of training and development.
Desired behavior from the appraiser:
- Set the interviewee at ease before the interview.
- Ask the interviewee to describe how he sees his achievements and success over the period.
- Appraiser should remember that the appraisal is being made of the individual’s performance and not of the individual as an individual.
- The interviewer should record all details as soon as possible.
- Testing understanding
- Disagreeing- as little as possible but whenever necessary always with reason being stated.
Appraisal interviews are most useful when employees and supervisors achieve a common understanding about important job-specific issues. Conducted properly, appraisal interviews motivate employees to do their best.
The counseling interview:
It is initiated by the person who has the problem, rather than the manager. It can be work related or personally based. In order to produce the desired behavior from the interviewee the interviewer should:
- Seek information: ask for a description of the problem
- Probe: obtain a complete definition of the problem
- Reflect: encourage the interviewee to talk
- Seek ideas: how might the problem be solved
- Support/build/disagree with reasons: reactions to the proposal made
- Summarize the agreed actions
Hence the problem can be solved in two ways:
First, is to give a solution to the problem since he has a higher level of skill and a greater experience than the problem owner. But with this option there is a danger that the manager has lost an excellent opportunity to coach and develop the worker.
Second option is to let the worker work through the problem rather than the boss.
Discipline interview:
Earlier discipline interviews were synonymous with reprimand or discharge and employers could impose the latter. Now, they are seen as an opportunity for rehabilitation and improvement of the offender rather than a reprimand alone.
Guidelines for the interviewer:
- The interview should be conducted in private rather than demeaning the individuals by “telling him off” in public.
- The interviewer should possess the full facts about the nature of the misdemeanor or, failing that, when it occurred, to what extent, who was involved.
Exit interviews:
The exit interview is an interview given to departing employees, usually done for employees that voluntarily quit instead of those that are fired or laid off. Since the employee is leaving, they will often be more open and frank in their discussions about the company. Those companies that do not conduct exit interviews miss out on a great opportunity!
Some tips which experts have found useful with respect to exit interviews are as follows:
- Interviews can be conducted orally or written
- The interviewer should listen well and with open-minded.
- A good question to break the ice is ‘would you like us to be a reference/recommendation for you’? Do not make this offer if you would not recommend the employee.
- Interviewer should stay focused on the employee.
- Expect the unexpected – if it ever is to happen it will happen in an exit interview.
- Try to get a good feel for how they viewed their compensation and benefits package, and other things. Look for open-ended questions that allow for plenty of expression. An example of this might be "how did you feel you were managed during your employment with us?" or "how do you feel the company is run?"
- Try to find out if there were things the departing employee would suggest improving: conditions, production or morale. At some point in the interview ask ‘why are you leaving?’ if you do not already know.
- Save the hardest questions for the latter part of the interview. Some good questions are ‘under what conditions would you have stayed?’ and ‘if you had had a magic wand, what would you have changed?’
- Take notes of the high points. It is more important to listen than write.
- Leave time at the end of the interview for general comments.
- Make use of the information gathered. If you do not use this new information then why do an exit interview?
INTERVIEW TECHNIQUES
Opening Question Put the subject at ease with a question designed to draw out energy and enthusiasm for the topic. For example, “Thank you for agreeing to talk with us. What excites you most about ___________.” Never start by asking name, father’s name and other information which is already contained in the application form as this might give an impression that you have not even bothered to go through the application form and thus, might show your disinterest.
Factual Questions Create a record of all the important details of the story even if you won’t use all the answers in the final cut. Use the basic questions “who, what, where, when, why and how?” Examples include:
- What do you do in your present job?
- How long have you worked there?
- What attracted you to our company?
Probing Questions This is where good preparation pays off. Listen to the answers you are getting. Even more important than being prepared with knowledge about the job and having good questions, is the ability to listen. Probe further, ask for more details. Talks for at most 25% of the time -- for the rest, listen. Ask tell-me-more questions. Examples
include:
- Can you be more specific?
- What other approaches did you consider before you tried that?
- Then what happened?
Checking Questions Checking questions allow you to make sure you understand the other person's answer. They are useful at any point in the interview but most useful at the end to help you check any assumptions you have made about the applicant. Examples include:
- Is this what you mean?
- As I understand it, your plan of action is this. Am I right?
- Are you saying that was a negative experience?
Feeling Questions Feeling questions are designed to obtain subjective data on the other party's feelings, values and beliefs. They are useful as follow-ups to probing or Factual Questions. Make sure that the applicant responds by describing an emotional state, not by describing what they thought. Examples include:
- How did you feel about that reaction?
- What do you like best (least) about your present job?
Hypothetical Questions Such questions encourage the other party to speculate or dream. They give you an idea of the creativity and aspirations of the candidate. One view is that you should invite the subject to do their own probing beyond personal experience. For example, “What if you had the moment to live over again. Is there anything you would have done differently?” According to the second view, no hypothetical questions should be asked. They only get abstract answers.
Behavioral/Situational Questions You can tell much more regarding a person’s attitudes ,work habits, and skills by hearing him describe real action taken in real circumstances—mostly people tend to behave in future as they have behaved in past, It will also ,with careful questioning , reveal his values, and leadership behaviors.
The issue with both the initial and final interview remains the same: are interviews effective means for gathering accurate information from which selection decisions can be made?
ARE INTERVIEWS EFFECTIVE?
Surveys and researches have concluded that interviews have a low reliability and validity and points to be considered in this regard are:
1. Prior knowledge about the applicant will bias the interviewer’s evaluation. Based on the information received before the interview, like application form, test scores, or appraisals of other interviewer’s, an image is already created of the applicant in the mind of the interviewer. Therefore in the early part of the interview, interviewer mostly compares the actual applicant with the image formed earlier.
2. Sometimes interviewers take one quality of the candidate and judge others on the basis of that quality. This is called halo effect.
3. The interviewer may hold a stereotype of what represents a “good” applicant
4. The interviewer tends to favor applicants who share his or her own attitude. Attitude similarity may even significantly affect the recommendations for the starting salary offer made to the applicants.
5. The order in which the applicants are interviewed will influence evaluations. Interviewers often use other applicants as a standard. Therefore, a candidate’s appraisal may be unjustly raised if he or she was directly preceded by two or three very poor candidates and vice versa. This is called contrast effect.
6. The order in which information is elicited will influence evaluations with early information being given more weight.
7. Negative information may be given unduly high weight and has more permanent
effect.
8. The interviewer makes a decision as to the applicant’s suitability early in the interview and this it rarely changes after first four or five minutes of the interview.
9. Interviewer forgets much of the interview’s content within minutes after its conclusion.
10. Structured and well organized interviews are more reliable
11. Interview is most valid in determining applicant’s intelligence, level of motivation, and interpersonal skills. Other than these, few of the dimensions evaluated in an interview have much relation to the work of most of the people.
12. Lastly, they are a costly and inefficient means of eliciting job related information.
HOW TO MAKE INTERVIEWS MORE EFFECTIVE?
The problems that we have analyzed above pertain mostly to the interviewer and not the interview itself. But they can prove to be valuable tool for eliciting important information about the candidates with some qualified suggestions. For better understanding, it would be useful to divide the interview process into various stages or modules as follows:
STAGE 1: DETERMINING THE PURPOSE
The interviewer should have in-depth understanding about the job for which he is interviewing the candidates so that they rely on job-relevant factors in making the selection. Having a job description at hand will be a good idea.
STAGE 2: STRUCTURING THE INTERVIEW
1. Structure the interviews so that interviewer follows a set procedure. Interviewers often elicit different information from the same applicant and hence, arrive at different conclusions. A fixed set of questions should be presented to all applicants. This increases the reliability of the interview.
2. Keep other information away from the interviewer which might bias his judgment. E.g. Interests, background, test scores etc.
STAGE 3: CONDUCTING THE INTERVIEW
PREPARATION FOR INTERVIEW
1.Choose a setting with little distraction. Often personal offices are the best place to conduct interviews.
2.Interviewer should know the purpose of the interview .
3 Interviewer should know the format of the interview.
4.He should know the duration of the interview which is allowed.
THE ACTUAL PROCESS
1. Be professional. Arrive on time, dress appropriately, speak clearly, maintain eye contact with the subject and sit or stand straight with neutral body language. The interview has already begun once the candidate opens the door. Remember that seventy percent of all communications is nonverbal
2. Divide the personal interview into four parts: first, put the candidate at ease, i.e., make friends; second, ask your questions; third, answer the candidate's questions; finally, as appropriate, sell.
3. Do not hasten to put the candidate at ease.. The mental and emotional state of candidates as they enter into the interviewing process is important data. It can tell you a lot about how they relate to new people, how they handle themselves in introductions, and what their own self-concept is, and so forth.
4. Interviewer should carry standardized evaluation forms. This ensures that the same frame of reference is applied to all candidates uniformly.
5. Interviewer should make notes during the interview so that they don’t forget what was actually spoken during the interview.
6. Don't lose control of the interview. This can occur when respondents stray to another topic where they have command.
7. Avoid very short interviews in order to avoid premature decisions. The interview should extend to at least fifteen to thirty minutes.
STAGE 4: CLOSE THE INTERVIEW
While closing the interview be sure to tell candidates of any relevant personnel policies terms, such as probationary periods. Ask them if they have any questions to ask before they leave and tell them how to get in touch with you if they want. Finally, thank the candidate for taking the time to meet with you.
STAGE 5: EVALUATING
The best data are of no use at all if they are not properly interpreted. Many interviewers, unfortunately, see the discussion process as the most important aspect of interviewing. However the true meaning of the interview will only emerge with skillful interpretation of the data so that the right candidate who can fit in the companies culture is chosen. It is also important, at the end, to list potential concerns which have been left out un addressed, i.e., questions to be addressed during reference calls and/or as part of a second interview.
SOME HELPFUL HINTS
1. It is interesting to be ready for certain interviewee types whose nonfunctional behavior may have to be handled tactfully:
Attacker Interview to him is a battlefield to be won at any cost. He sits back, chin aggressive, and raises his voice.
Impatient He interrupts with answers before questions are completed. He sits with crossed legs, twitching feet, and fingers drumming.
Inarticulate Answers only half the question due to anxiety.
Windbag He is slow to start, but cannot stop once started. He seldom gets to the point and repeats himself again and again.
Neurotic He is emotionally highly strung. He sits down before invited, seldom looks the interviewer in the eye, and his fingers never still.
Positive, Confident He sits comfortably, with his arms and legs uncrossed. He listens attentively and maintains eye contact.
Tense, anxious, frightened Fidgets, Scratches; Covers his mouth.
Threatened He crosses his arms and legs (ankles for women), clasps the arms of the chair, and balls his hands in a fist.
2. The purpose of asking questions for an interviewer for all types of applicants should nevertheless be the same and that is:
- Encourage interviewee to talk freely and openly.
- Help interviewee to focus.
- Where required, get him to explain and expand.
- To get behind a mere recital of facts.
- To pick up those points that have been overlooked.
- To control the direction of interview.
3. The interviewing style should also be practiced carefully
- Have a conversation, keep it informal. Let the interviewee feel at ease to obtain maximum information from him. Don’t interrupt while he is answering.
- Attempt to ask open-ended questions, i.e., avoid "yes-no" questions.
4. Consider having multiple people at the interview; although this can be intimidating to the interviewee, this practice can ensure them a much more objective and fair presentation. Have the same people as interviewers in all of the interviews. Have all interviewers share/record their impressions of the candidate right after the interview meeting.
5. Here are the life categories in which you should go fishing for data about each candidate:
* Work
* Education
* Health
* Social life
* Childhood
* Family
* Personality
6. Consider the interview a real-life or on-the-job process. The ideal way to look upon an interview is as a laboratory to sample projected workplace behavior by the candidates.
7. Be professional, be courteous, and demonstrate a genuine interest in the person you are interviewing. This is the way to build trust, and trust is critical to success in gaining insight into each candidate.
SUMMARY
As noted earlier, interview is most valid in determining applicant’s intelligence, level of motivation, and interpersonal skills. Therefore, it is a valuable input in jobs which are less routine, particularly middle and upper level managerial positions where these skills are more important. However, in non-routine activities, especially senior management positions, failure is frequent not because of the lack of competence of the individual but because of the poor fit between the individual and the organization. Interviews can be successful therefore, if they emphasize the candidate’s ability to fit into the organization rather than specific technical skills.
REFERENCES
Rae Leslie, The Skills Of Interviewing
Decenzo, D.A, Personnel Human Resource Management
