Week 10 – Most Important Thing You’ve Learned

The most important thing that I have gained from this class is regarding the topic of structured interviews and the limitations that come from this type of performance predictor. All of the performance predictors that we have learned today are interesting and unique to me, but structured vs unstructured interviews are the most important to me because it is the most common one that I have encountered during the four years that I have spent here at Oregon State. I learned that this form of performance predictor is the most commonly used one, and is great as it can identify whether the applicant fits into the overall culture of the company. This was one of the pros that I learned, and I think it is crucial to ensure that the applicant is not only qualified for the role, but fits into the organizational culture as well as contributing their skill sets and experiences towards progressing the values of the company.

Additionally, it was interesting and enlightening to learn about our human tendencies as well as biases we may have when it comes to the usage of structured and instructed interviews. There were eight limitations of unstructured interviews that we learned back in week 8. I will briefly mention the three that I found to be the most helpful in navigating my interviews with potential companies. The first is the primacy effect. This effect advocates for the best information to be said first, as we tend to place more weight on information that is presented earlier in the interview. Next, I enjoyed the contrast effect, where the placement of the individual interviews matters as well. Going before or after a confident or anxious individual does matter. This is crucial, as this could be a beneficial strategy to employ if the interview is in person. Lastly, I enjoyed learning the negative information bias, as we tend to place more weight on the negative items over the positives. Therefore, try not to bring up a negative experience if not needed.