Interviewing

 Interviewing

The interview is a social ritual which is expected by all participants, including applicants. It is such a 'normal' feature of filling vacancies that candidates for a job would be extremely surprised not to be interviewed at least once.

 Informal Interviews

Many employers invite applicants for informal interviews prior to the main selection procedure. These interviews are useful for information exchange, particularly in the case of professionals. They provide an opportunity to discuss the full nature of the job, the working environment, prospects for further development and promotion.

(...)There seems to be some ambiguity as to whether informal interviews should be used as part of the pre-selection process by the employer rather than self-selection by the candidate. The crux of the issue depends on what interviewees have been told. If they have been led to believe that it is a truly informal information session they will not consider the process to be fair if they are subsequently told that they have not been shortlisted as a result.

 Formal Interviews

Despite the existence of alternative methods of selection most employers regard the formal selection interview as the most important source of evidence in making the final decision. A selection interview can be neatly defined as a conversation with a purpose, but not infrequently the purpose is obscure to the point of invisibility. More often than not, pointless chat would be nearer the mark. (...) the interview has attracted severe criticism for a very long time - being attacked on the grounds of its subjective nature, questionable validity and unreliability.

  Types of interview on the JobSkills.info site looks at a wide range of interview types and how to deal with them.

  Standard questions on the JobSkills.info site suggests the most effective ways of answering the most common interview questions.

  Difficult questions on the JobSkills.info site. Everything is going well and then the interviewer lifts her head from her notes and, pen in hand, asks: what are your weaknesses? 

  What not to do at interview. 150 executives and human resource managers were surveyed about the strangest things they have ever heard of happening in a job interview.  No doughnuts, dogs or dates on the HRM Guide Canada site

  Candidates Who Perform Last Finish First: Participants appearing towards the end of juried competitions seem to do better than those performing at the beginning - and this finding has implications for recruitment and selection.

  What Is Your Greatest Weakness?: The fastest way to make a good interview go bad is to avoid questions posed by the hiring manager.

  When Bad Interviews Happen to Good Candidates: Going through the motions of a bad interview is like peeling back the layers of an onion.

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