{"id":1,"date":"2025-02-08T07:04:26","date_gmt":"2025-02-08T07:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/effectiveinterviewingpractices\/?p=1"},"modified":"2025-02-08T07:26:13","modified_gmt":"2025-02-08T07:26:13","slug":"hello-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/effectiveinterviewingpractices\/2025\/02\/08\/hello-world\/","title":{"rendered":"What makes an effective interview?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reflecting on my personal experiences as both an interviewer and interviewee, I have observed both effective and ineffective practices.<\/span><\/p>\n

In my line of work, I have found that structured interviews are the most effective. Situational questions gauge how a candidate would handle specific scenarios, while behavioral questions assess how well they align with the core values of our organization. I find this process to be consistent and reliable because we ask each interviewee the same situational and position-specific questions, in addition to core value questions that evaluate behaviors. The situational questions also enhance validity by aligning with the competencies needed for success.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

For example, one question we ask is: <\/span>\u201cImagine you are behind on your monthly sales goal, and the deadline is approaching. What steps would you take to close the gap and meet your target?\u201d<\/b> Similarly, we incorporate ethical questions by asking: <\/span>\u201cImagine you are behind on your monthly sales goal, and the deadline is approaching. A member comes in requesting a product that you believe they do not need. What would you do?\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

These questions ensure a fair hiring process and allow the hiring manager to assess each candidate\u2019s skills equally, as all candidates are given the same opportunity to respond.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, ineffective hiring practices included irrelevant job questions and a lack of structure. For example, I once shadowed a hiring manager who conducted interviews in an overly casual manner. The questions asked were too vague or unrelated to the position, making it difficult to evaluate the candidate\u2019s strengths and weaknesses. At one point Star Wars was a topic of conversation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By the end of the interview, I felt confused, and I could only imagine how the interviewee must have felt. This lack of structure reduced the interview\u2019s <\/span>utility, making it a poor experience for both parties. Despite this, the hiring manager proceeded with the candidate. Unfortunately, after only a few months, the employee resigned because the questions asked during the interview did not accurately represent the responsibilities of the role\u2014the manager had sugarcoated the position.<\/span><\/p>\n

I recognize that unstructured interviews can be beneficial in certain situations, such as for creative roles, high-level executive hiring where strategic thinking is necessary, or networking interviews. However, in most cases, I believe they lack <\/span>reliability and validity compared to structured interviews.<\/span><\/p>\n

Overall, I believe an effective interview is structured, job-related, and consistent, using validated questions to fairly assess candidates’ skills, experience, and cultural fit while minimizing bias.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reflecting on my personal experiences as both an interviewer and interviewee, I have observed both effective and ineffective practices. In my line of work, I have found that structured interviews are the most effective. Situational questions gauge how a candidate would handle specific scenarios, while behavioral questions assess how well they align with the core […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14725,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/effectiveinterviewingpractices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/effectiveinterviewingpractices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/effectiveinterviewingpractices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/effectiveinterviewingpractices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14725"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/effectiveinterviewingpractices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/effectiveinterviewingpractices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/effectiveinterviewingpractices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions\/4"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/effectiveinterviewingpractices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/effectiveinterviewingpractices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/effectiveinterviewingpractices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}