Interviews October 30th, 2021
I’ve been a part of various types of interviews over the years and our readings this week have helped me understand those companies more and why they chose the tactics they did. In terms of utility, I recall a group interview back in 2014 with a large banking institution. I was pretty nervous about the idea of a group interview and was not excited about the idea. I understand now that due to the amount of positions that needed to be filled and the cost of time, a group interview made the most sense for that company. However, I found that a group setting is most beneficial for applicants that display more extrovert qualities. In order to stand out in a group of 15+, individuals need to speak up and get noticed. This setting set me up for success since I’m naturally apt to take part in group discussion but for people who don’t strive in that type of competitive environment, the organization may have lost out on talented hires. Over-all, this group interview choice may not cater to all personalities but in reference to utility, it makes sense. Being that the positions to be filled were going to be entry-level jobs, this company saved resources by combining multiple applicants that met certain criteria and were able to select promising candidates all at once. While this effort succeeds in hiring for positions that have a higher rate of turnover than other career opportunities within the company, it may also be a narrow choice for personality types.
When it comes to one-on-one interviews, I have had some contrasting experiences. Where one process, I did three separate one-on-one interviews with multiple managers for the same location, I’ve also experienced just one interview with the leading manager. I found interviewing with all manager types for the same company to be a great example of reliable validity. This process was able to be repeated with similar questions but multiple outlooks from management that would be involved in my day-to-day activities. That way, each manager could do their own evaluation and then they were able to come together to see if their experiences, with me, aligned. In the event that I was interviewed with only one manager before being hired, their tactics still displayed reliable validity even though he didn’t have the resources for other leaders to evaluate my behavior. Instead of having multiple outlooks, he chose to have me complete a personality test immediately before the sit down interview. This choice asked an arrangement of questions, many of which were the same idea phrased differently to be able to find solid qualities to see if I would fit in the environment for the job.
Between the different types of interviews, the utility choices made sense for each company. Although multiple variations were implemented, each experience provided reliable validity through the type of questions and tools that were used.
Citations
Lecture 2: Introduction to Selection
Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Steinmetz, C. (2013). The perfect hireLinks to an external site. . Scientific American Mind , 24 (3), 42-47
