More about interviewing

 Evaluating methods

How do we judge the value or effectiveness of interviewing - or any other method of selection? Practicality and cost-effectiveness are important and partly explain why the interview is such a common technique. But there are other factors. Reliability is a measure of the consistency of results. Validity is about whether or not the method achieves its purpose in distinguishing the most suitable applicants from the others. Until the 1980s research seemed to show that interviews had a low degree of validity.

In Canada, for example, if a test which has not been validated rejects a disproportionate number of people from an ethnic group, race, sex, religion, or national origin, it violates the Canadian Human Rights Act.

 Interviews revisited

There has been a major revision in opinion on the value of interviews since the 1980s. Structured interviews, in particular, have been shown to have as high a degree of validity as any other selection method. This section of Human Resource Management in a Business Context goes into ways of improving the validity of interviews.

  Preparation for interviews

Training for interviewers stresses the need to put the candidate at ease, have a comfortable environment, etc. The interviewer should ensure that relevant information (e.g. application forms) is read beforehand - it is surprising how many interviewers are found reading such material for the first time during the interview.

A major change in recent years has been the improvement in applicants' interview techniques. Learn from advice given in the following articles:

 When Bad Interviews Happen to Good Candidates by Linda Matias

 So, why don't you tell me about yourself? by Linda Matias

 Interviewing Like a Pro in Five Easy Steps by Linda Matias

  Interview techniques

This section of Human Resource Management in a Business Context goes into further detail about: singleton, panel and sequential interviews; training for interviewing; and questioning styles. 

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