Kinds /Types of Employment Interview

PSYCH-105 Industrial Psychology

Chapter 16: Psychological Tests

Unit 1

Unit 2

Unit 3

Unit 4

Appendix

Kinds /Types of Employment Interview

1. Preliminary Interview

It is a few minutes duration in order to see the worth of a candidate. This must be conducted vary carefully be some expert as many desirable applicants may be eliminated at the outset.

2. Formal Interview

Formal interviews may be held in the employment office in a more formal atmosphere with the help of well – structured questions, the time and place of the interview will be stipulated by the employment office.

3. Informal Interview

An informal interview is an oral interview and may take place anywhere. The manager or the personnel manager may ask a few almost inconsequential questions like name, place of birth, name of relatives etc. either in the respective offices or any where out the company. It is not planned and nobody prepares for it.

4. Structured Interview

A structured interview is a standardized method of comparing job candidates. A structured interview format is typically used when an employer wants to assess and compare candidates impartially. If the position requires specific skills and experience, the employer will draft interview questions focusing exactly on the abilities the company is seeking. This interview is also called as guided or patterned interview.

5. Unstructured Interview

An unstructured interview is a job interview in which questions may be changed based on the interviewee’s responses. While the interviewer may have a few set questions prepared in advance, the direction of the interview is rather casual, and questions flow is based on the direction of the conversation.

6. Non directive Interview

Non directive interview is designed to let the interviewee speak his mind freely. The interviewer has no formal or directive questions, but his all attention is on the candidate. He encourages the candidate to talk, whenever he is silent.

7. In-depth Interview

It is designed to intensely examine the candidate’s background and thinking and to go into considerable detail on particular subjects of an important nature and of special interest to the candidate. 

8. Group Interview

In a group interview you will be along side other candidates. This is your chance to demonstrate your leadership potential, communication skills and how well you work with others. Sometimes, you may even be challenged to solve a problem as a group and be asked to work as a team to solve the problem. This allows those interviewing to help determine if you are reserved, pushy or have a balance between offering and listening to ideas. This is perhaps one of the most overwhelming interviews and is easy to get lost in the rest of the faces. 

9. Panel Interview

In this type of interview the candidate is interviewed by a group of panellists representing the various stakeholders in the hiring process. This interview pools the collective judgment and wisdom of the panel in the assessment of the candidate and also in questioning the faculties of the candidate.

10. Sequential Interview

The sequential interview, the interviewer takes the interviewee one step further and involves a series of interviews, usually utilizing the strength and knowledge base of the interviewer, so that each interviewer can ask questions in relation to his / her subject area to each candidate, as the candidate moves from room to room.

11. Telephone Interview

Telephone interviews take place if a recruiter wishes to reduce the number of prospective candidates before deciding on a shortlist for face-to-face interviews. They also take place if a job applicant is a significant distance away from the premises of the hiring company, such as abroad or in another state or province. Employers use telephone interviews as a way of identifying and recruiting candidates for employment. Phone interviews are often used to screen candidates in order to narrow the pool of applicants who will be invited for in-person interviews. They are also used as a way to minimize the expenses involved in interviewing out-of-town candidates.

12. Written Interview

Written interview involves the applicant answering a series of written questions and then sending the answers back through regular mail or email. 

13. Background Information Interview

This type of interview is conducted when the history of applicant has to be known in terms of his experience, education, health, interests, likes and dislikes etc. it is more or less like the preliminary interview.

14. Discussion Interview

It is a non directive interview conducted immorally by giving an opportunity to the interviewee to speak his mind freely. 

15. Stress Interview

Stress interviews are still in common use. One type of stress interview is where the employer uses a succession of interviewers (one at a time or en masse) whose mission is to intimidate the candidate and keep him/her off-balance. The ostensible purpose of this interview: to find out how the candidate handles stress. Stress interviews might involve testing an applicant’s behaviour in a busy environment. Another type of stress interview may involve only a single interviewer who behaves in an uninterested or hostile manner. For example, the interviewer may not make eye contact, may roll his eyes or sigh at the candidate’s answers, interrupt, turn his back, take phone calls during the interview, or ask questions in a demeaning or challenging style. The goal is to assess how the interviewee handles pressure or to purposely evoke emotional responses. 

Author – Dr. Niyati Garg

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