Transcript Employment Interview • Frequently used to make selection decisions (over 90% usage) • Social exchange (interpersonal) process • Search for information.

Employment Interview
• Frequently used to make selection decisions (over 90% usage)
• Social exchange (interpersonal) process
• Search for information
COMMON PROBLEMS WITH THE “TRADITIONAL” INTERVIEW
• Variety of Interviewer Biases
* 1st Impressions
* Expectancy Effect
* Contrast Effect
* Stereotype Matching
• Different Questions Asked to Applicants
(Lack of standardization)
• Disagreement on the Desirability of Interview Responses
• Little Formal Interviewer Training
• Subjective (or no) Scoring System
• Interview Conducted and Scored by One Person
• Poor Reliability, Validity, and Job Relevancy (Open to Legal Challenge)
Overview of Situational Interview Process
1)
Perform a Job Analysis Using the Critical Incident Technique
2)
Place Critical Incidents into Relevant Job Dimensions (e.g., Safety, Responsibility,
Interpersonal Skills)
3)
Reword Critical Incidents Into Question Format
Incident: The employee was married for a year and a half and used any excuse to
stay home. One day the employee’s children got colds and no one was around to care
for them. So, the employee didn’t show up for work and didn’t phone in.
Question: Your two teenage children are home in bed sick with colds. No friends or
relatives are available to watch them. Your shift starts in two hours. What would you
do in this situation?
4)
Decide on the desirability of responses [Think of how good, average, and mediocre workers
would have answered such a question]
_____
1
Stay home
_____
_____
_____
3
Phone in &
explain the problem
_____
5
Go in, they just
have colds
5) Conduct interviews in groups of two or more. Each interviewer scores applicant
independently. A single score is given after group discussion
Pre-Interview Phase
•
Interviewers Knowledge Structure [experience, education,
training, stereotypes, schemas, implicit personality theories]
•
Ancillary data about the applicant
Initial impressions formed based on:
1) Physical appearance (any 1st impression information)
2) Behavior
3) Interpersonal relationships
4) Context of behaviors
5) Personal origins
6) Internal characteristics
• Interviewer’s pre-interview evaluation of KSAs
Interview Phase
• Actual interviewer behavior during the interview
[role of pre-interview impressions; they often influence the way the
interviewer performs the interview]
• Behavior of applicant [affected by the behavior of the interviewer,
verbal and non-verbal; self-fulfilling prophecy]
• Processing of interview data by the interviewer
[role of knowledge structures, initial impressions]
Post-Interview Phase
• Post-interview evaluation of the applicant by the
interviewer [role of knowledge structures, amount and
clarity of information on job requirements and applicant
characteristics]
• Final evaluation of the applicant [role of decision rules]
Discrimination Cases Regarding the Interview
Key Factors
• Demographic composition of the interviewers (e.g., all White, all male)
• Unstructured format
• No objective criteria for making decisions (e.g., pass/fail) *
• Content of interview questions (e.g., different questions asked to males
vs. females, biased questions)
• No guidelines for conducting and scoring the interview
• No operational definitions of KSAs
• Lack of similarity between interview questions and work environment
• Vague instructions for rating applicant performance
• No scoring standards or cutoff scores
Ways To Structure Interview Content
• Base questions on a job analysis
• Ask the same questions of each candidate
• Limit prompting, follow-up questions, and elaboration on questions
• Ask better types of questions (e.g., hypothetical situations, ones indicative of past
behavior, indicating relevant background of candidates, requiring specific
demonstration of knowledge)
• Sufficient interview length and number of questions
• Withhold/control ancillary information
• Do not allow questions from candidate until after the interview
Ways To Structure The Evaluation Process
• Rate Each Answer or Use Multiple Scales
• Use Detailed, Anchored Rating Scales
• Take Detailed Notes
• Use Multiple Interviewers
• Use Same Interviewer(s) for All Candidates
• Don’t Discuss Candidates or Answers Between Interviews
• Provide Detailed Interviewer Training
• Use Statistical Versus Clinical Prediction