Interviewing

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Interviewing
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Roles of the Interviewer

• Planner
• Manager
• Measurer

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Planning an Effective Interview

• Step 1 Identify the Purpose
• Be as specific as possible
• Consider possibility of multiple purposes

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Planning an Effective Interview

• Step 2 Identify Initial Questions
• Start with job responsibilities
• Identify qualities needed to fulfill those
  responsibilities

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Types of Applicant Qualities

• Who the applicant IS Attitude, character,
  disposition, temperament, etc.
• What the applicant KNOWS Education, general
  knowledge, experience, training, insight, etc.
• What about can do qualities???
• Note Do not word is or knows qualities as
  Ability to

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Be Specific When Identifying Qualities

• Unspecific quality Computer skills
• Specific quality Experience creating graphics
  using PowerPoint, graduate level course work in
  Pascal programming language, personal interest in
  technological advancement, etc.

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Planning an Effective Interview

• Step 2 Identify Initial Questions
• Start with job responsibilities
• Identify qualities needed to fulfill those
  responsibilities
• Create questions for assessing those qualities

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Guidelines for Good Questions

• Be careful about word choice
• Write out questions precisely, but be ready to
  adjust as needed.
• Be sure the question assesses the actual quality
  and is not simply related to the quality topic.
• Example If quality is creativity, then
  asking Who is the most creative person you have
  ever worked with? is NOT an effective question.

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Guidelines for Good Questions

• Be careful about word choice
• Write out questions precisely, but be ready to
  adjust as needed.
• Be sure the question assesses the actual quality
  and is not simply related to the quality topic.
• Example If quality is honesty, then asking
  Have you ever cheated on a quiz or exam in
  school? is NOT an effective question. A person
  who has never cheated on an exam might still be
  generally dishonest.

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Guidelines for Good Questions

• Be careful about word choice
• Write out questions precisely, but be ready to
  adjust as needed.
• Be sure the question assesses the actual quality
  and is not simply related to the quality topic.
• Avoid wording questions indirectly.
• Example If quality is creativity, then
  asking how someone would handle a work situation
  to see if they would choose a creative approach
  is NOT an effective question.

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Guidelines for Good Questions

• Consider both open-ended and closed-ended
  questions
• Rely most heavily on open-ended.
• Use a closed-ended question as a question set
  lead-in to open-ended questions
• Example Have you ever prepared a speech
  knowing you were to face a hostile audience? How
  did you prepare your speech to deal with the
  hostility?

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Guidelines for Good Questions

• Avoid the following

Asking for information available from other
application material (resume, cover letter, etc.).
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Guidelines for Good Questions

• Avoid the following

• Asking for self-assessment of qualities without
  verification.
• Use these checks
• Situational questions What would you do in this
  kind of situation?
• Behavioral questions In this kind of situation,
  what have you previously done?

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Guidelines for Good Questions

• Avoid the following

Asking questions with obvious answers. Example
Are you a committed employee?
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Guidelines for Good Questions

• Avoid the following

Asking questions that are poorly constructed.
Leading question What do you think of our long
held belief that commission is the best form of
sales incentive?
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Guidelines for Good Questions

• Avoid the following

Asking questions that are poorly constructed.
Bi-polar question Do you approve or disapprove
of using commission as a sales incentive system?
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Guidelines for Good Questions

• Avoid the following

Asking questions that are poorly constructed.
Double-barreled question What is your
experience with the use of commission as a sales
incentive system, and what is your opinion about
its effectiveness?
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Guidelines for Good Questions

• Avoid the following

Asking illegal questions.
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Planning an Effective Interview

• Step 3 Structure the Interview
• Introduction
• Set the climate
• Identify purpose of the interview
• Define roles of participants

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Planning an Effective Interview

• Step 3 Structure the Interview
• Body
• Limit the number of questions
• Organize questions into logical categories
• Arrange questions within each section
• Include a section for information giving
  (orientation) and applicant questions
• Plan transitions between sections

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Planning an Effective Interview

• Step 3 Structure the Interview
• Conclusion
• Summarize and close smoothly
• Determine future action to be taken and by whom

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Planning an Effective Interview

• Step 4 Plan the Interview Setting
• Where will it take place?
• When will it take place?
• How will the environment be arranged?

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Probing
Directive Probes are Explicit and Specific

• Clarification
• For ambiguous responses. Seeking better
  understanding through explanation.

Im not sure what you mean when you say you have
experience as a team leader. Could you explain
that?
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Probing
Directive Probes are Explicit and Specific

• Elaboration
• For incomplete responses. Seeking more detail or
  example through extension or amplification.

Tell me about some other projects you worked on
that you thought were particularly successful.
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Probing
Directive Probes are Explicit and Specific

• Repetition
• For irrelevant or potentially untruthful
  responses. Seeking accuracy or consistency
  through duplication.

Thats interesting, but what I was really asking
is . . . Now, tell me again . . .
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Probing
Directive Probes are Explicit and Specific

• Confrontation
• For potentially untruthful responses. Challenging
  contradiction or inconsistency directly.

Im confused. Your references didnt indicate
that you had the sort of supervisory
responsibility you are suggesting. Could you
explain that for me?
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Probing
Non-directive Probes are Implicit and Nonspecific

• Silence
• Body language
• Neutral statements
• Mirror statements
• Paraphrasing

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Effective Interviewee Communication Qualities

• Be ready to answer common open-ended questions
  thoroughly and with confidence.
• When you are asked an open-ended question, they
  are giving you the ball.
• Show them what you can do, without coming across
  as a showoff or ball-hog!

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Effective Interviewee Communication Qualities

• Refer to the organization.
• That means you have to know something about it.
• Do your homework!

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Effective Interviewee Communication Qualities

• Support your claims.
• Give specific detailed examples to support
  qualities you claim to possess.
• Anyone can claim to be a real team player, but
  could you handle a good follow-up behavioral
  question?

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Effective Interviewee Communication Qualities

• Be an active participant in the process.

• Be direct.
• Direct means straightforward, candid, decisive,
  frank, and sincere.
• Direct does not mean blunt, rude, abrupt,
  tactless, or harsh.
• Answer questions you are asked, not questions you
  would like to answer.

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Effective Interviewee Communication Qualities

• Be an active participant in the process.

• Be responsive.
• Cooperate to allow the interviewer to guide the
  interaction to meet his/her goals.
• Ask for clarification and check for
  understanding Dont assume you understanddont
  assume you are understood.
• Be mentally and physically refreshed and prepared.

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Effective Interviewee Communication Qualities

• Be an active participant in the process.

• Be open.
• Be honest with your strengths and limitations.
  Dont share limitations that are really
  excessive strengths (e.g., Im just way too
  committed to excellence in everything I do!).
• Some relevant self-disclosure is appropriate
  (i.e., examples and illustrations), but dont
  overdo it.
• It is fine to take time to consider responses,
  but be sure you do not seem to be filtering,
  hiding, or contriving responses.

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Effective Interviewee Communication Qualities

• Have natural and enthusiastic delivery.
• Delivery is important here, just as with any
  other planned presentation.
• Use affirming nonverbals (head nods, neutral
  statements, etc.) to indicate active involvement.
• Demonstrate enthusiasm with strong eye contact,
  good posture, gestures, and vocal energy.

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Effective Interviewee Communication Qualities

• Be prepared to ask good questions.
• These may be more revealing than your answers to
  questions.
• Don't ask questions that reflect inexcusable
  ignorance.
• Don't ask about salary, benefits, etc. (until
  after offer that is).
• Ask questions that show you are interested in the
  same thing they are a good fit!