Interviews
An interview is a method used for selection purpose , which allows an employer to view the overall personality of an individual and openly review his behaviour . Interview is a mode of making face - to - face contact in order to acquire a basic idea about the personality of an applicant identifying his intelligence , span of interests , and general attitude towards life .
According to Scott , " An interview is a purposeful exchange of ideas , the answering of questions and communication between two or more persons " . In simple words , an interview can be described as an effort to obtain maximum information about the candidate regarding his fitness for the job .
Types of Interviews .
There are various types of interviews , which are used for obtaining various kinds of information and to evaluate the candidate's skills , knowledge , etc. , on a variety of bases . Employment interviews can be categorised into following types :
Types of Interviews
Preliminary Interview
Informal Interview
Unstructured Interview
Core Interview
Background Information Interview. Stress Interview
Formal and Structured Interview .
Panel Interview
Group Interview
Job and Probing Interview
Depth Interview
Decision - Making
Interview
1 ) Preliminary Interview :
Preliminary interview is a conversation between the candidate and the personnel manager regarding the basic aspects of the job such as job characteristics , working conditions , salary , and other benefits , etc. This helps an organisation in removing inadequate people , and helps the candidate to decide whether to accept or reject the job . Preliminary interviews can be divided into following types :
i ) Informal Interview :
An informal interview can be conducted at any place by HR personnel to obtain the fundamental and non - job related information .
ii ) Unstructured Interview :
An unstructured interview provides freedom to the candidates so that they can reveal about their knowledge in various topics / fields , their background , expectations , interests , etc. Likewise , the interviewer is also allowed to share information on various topics enquired by the candidate .
2 ) Core Interview :
Core interviews are generally a communication between the candidate and the line manager or experts on different areas of job knowledge , skills , talent , etc. Core interviews can be divided into following types :
i ) Background Information Interview :
These interviews are aimed at gathering the information which cannot be obtained through the application form . It is also used to verify the information which is collected through the application form such as educational background , domicile , family , health , interests , hobbies , likes , dislikes , extracurricular activities , etc. of the applicant .
ii ) Stress Interview :
Stress interview is designed for evaluating the candidate's behaviour on the job and the survival level during the time of pressure or stress , i.e. , his pressure handling capacity . In this kind of interview , the candidate is put to aggressive , apathetic or threatening situations , whose objective is to demoralise the candidate and check his ability to deal with difficult situations .
iii ) Formal and Structured Interview :
Formal and structured interviews strictly follow all the formalities and procedures related to conducting of interview such as determination of value , time , panel of interviewers , opening and closing , informing the candidates officially , etc. They are pre - planned and organised , based on job requirements .
iv ) Panel Interview :
Panel interviews include a panel of specialists to interview each and every candidate . evaluate their performance separately and to form a combined decision on the basis of evaluation by every specialist and by way of giving weightage to each factor .
v ) Group Interview :
Group interview is a special situation for interviewing a candidate where numerous candidates are called for interview at the same time . For example , in cases , where there are a large number of candidates for interview on the same day , group interview facilitates the interviewers with a capability to evaluate a large number of candidates . It is also a time - saving tool for the organisation . Group interview also provides an opportunity to evaluate the behaviour of a candidate in a group .
vi ) Job and Probing Interview :
Job and probing interviews are mainly designed for evaluating the candidate's knowledge with respect to the duties , functions . job methods , critical problems , ways to resolve those problems , etc.
vii ) Depth Interview :
Depth interviews are the type of interviews in which a candidate is evaluated mainly in the core areas of knowledge and skills of the job . Candidates are evaluated by the experts in the respective fields by putting up appropriate questions in order to obtain significant responses from them while initiating the discussion pertaining to some problematic areas of the job , and by asking them to describe even minute activities of the job performance .
3 ) Decision - Making Interview :
Decision - making interview is another kind of interview taken by concerned departmental head . Generally , this kind of interview is conducted through informal discussion . The HR manager is also supposed to take an interview of the candidate in order to take his decision with respect to the salary , allowances , benefits , promotions , etc. The departmental head and the HR manager exchange their views ; thereafter they mutually notify the head of interview board about their decision . The head of interview board takes the final decision about the candidate's performance and his respective rank in the interview .
Steps in Interview Process
The several steps followed while conducting an interview are as follows :
1 ) Preparation for the Interview :
The preparation of the interview should be made well in advance because it not only helps in covering the most important aspects but also helps the interviewer to learn relevant facts that may be required during the interview . The preparations that are required to be done by an organisation are as follows :
i ) The type of interview to be conducted should be selected according to the requirements of the job .
ii ) The main focus of the interview process should be to determine the understanding and skills encompassed by the candidate as per the demands and nature of the job .
iii ) The number of interviewers while conducting interview should be clearly specified .
Steps in Interview Process
Preparation for the Interview
Conducting the Interview
Closing the Interview
Evaluation of Interview Results :
iv ) The data collected about the applicants through other selection processes should be reassessed . Besides this , the scores obtained should be re - evaluated and the reliability of the methods used must be checked .
v ) All the decisions regarding the techniques to be used , the area to be covered , and the questions to be asked , the timing to be set , etc. , should be prepared well in advance and as per the organisational planning .
vi ) The place where the interview is to be conducted should be set in such a way that the interviewer and the applicant both feel comfortable .
2 ) Conducting the Interview :
This step , although most important one , is a very difficult task . Maximum numbers of managers do not wish to perform this job as they find this function the most complicated one in entire interview process . There are certain tasks that are to be performed by the interviewer while carrying out the interview . Some of them are as follows :
i ) Opening the Interview : In order to make the interviewee comfortable and confident , the interviewer opens the interview with great enthusiasm , effective voice and personality . By this , he is able to achieve the confidence of the candidate .
ii ) Get Complete and Accurate Information : The interviewer must accumulate complete and exact information about the applicant regarding his qualification , experience , knowledge , behaviour , outlook and skills using the planned interview .
iii ) Recording of Observations and Impressions : To check whether the applicant is suitable according to the job requirement or not , the interviewer needs to record the remarks and impressions about the candidate that came into his mind during the interview process .
3 ) Closing the Interview :
Obviously , concluding the interview is equally important as its starting . The closing of the interview process should be friendly and must be finished in a certain time limit without giving any negative vibes to the applicants .
4) Evaluation of Interview Results :
After the closure of interview , the evaluation is done by a group of experienced interviewers . This evaluation is carried - out in order to determine the positive as well as negati aspects of the candidate . Appraisal of interview grades mainly affects the selection process and is based on the observations made by the interviewer and the information collected during the entire process While assessing the results of the interview , the interviewers should make sure that the skills and qualifications of the applicant should fulfil the requirements of the job .
*The interview process is one of the main part of before joining job this check for our communication knowledge and work related knowledge *
