Job interviews are the first time a potential new hire has an in-depth interaction with a company, and thus they play a significant role in the hiring process. As an undergraduate senior, I have interviewed for many internship positions in the construction industry over the past few years, and I am currently in the process of interviewing for a full-time position. There are some interviews I have had that I thought went very well, and others that seemed as though they could have gone better.
What Made My Interviews Effective?
The most effective interviews I have participated in were structured and professional. As we learned in this week’s lecture, a structured interview is one where the interviewer has a predetermined set of questions that they ask in all of the interviews for potential candidates. I found the standard questions to be effective as they helped the interview stay on topic, and it eliminated problems that could occur with unstructured interviews. Further, asking the same interview questions can help with reliability by ensuring consistency, and asking only relevant questions assists with validity of the interview. I also found it effective when my interviewers kept the interviews professional, by using some of the tactics discussed in the lecture like taking notes while I was speaking, and asking appropriate questions while avoiding irrelevant questions. These actions made me feel that the interviewers were actively listening to me and considering everything I had to say, and that there was no bias. Lastly, I found it effective when I was asked questions about my soft skills, as this gave me an opportunity to demonstrate skills I have for the job that could not always be shown on paper. For example, determining whether a candidate has leadership skills can be a great indication on how well they would perform in a job (Friedman). Overall, when considering selection utility, my interviews that seemed worth the time and money of the recruiters and were therefore most effective were structured, asked relevant questions about the job, and were given professionally by recruiters who took the interview seriously and engaged with me throughout.
What Seemed Ineffective About My Interviews?
There are some things that I have noticed in my experience with interviewing that may contribute to ineffective interviews. One specific experience I had during an interview occurred with an interviewer who was not very talkative and seemed uninterested in the interview altogether. According to the article “How to Take the Bias Out of Interviews,” the way an interviewer acts can play a crucial role during an interview and can affect how the person being interviewed responds (Bohnet). While I feel that I was asked meaningful questions about the job during my interview, the way the interviewer acted affected how I answered the questions, and the interview felt rushed. In the lecture, we discussed the importance of selecting a recruiter who is warm and personable. These traits did not seem to apply to this recruiter, and therefore the interview was not as effective as it could have been.
My Recommendations to Employers For More Effective Interviews
- Obtain high-quality recruiters to perform interviews who are personable and act appropriately. All of my most enjoyable and successful interviews were with fantastic recruiters who were friendly and engaged with me during my entire interview.
- Review the resume during the interview as another method to assess the candidate for selection. I find it could be helpful for the interviewer to use my resume to determine my specific experiences and skills, and that addressing the resume during the interview can allow me to expand on my experience and demonstrate further my qualifications for the job.
- Establish rapport – Get to know the candidate to make them comfortable during the interview and to help determine if they would be a good fit for the company. I feel it is important for the company I am interviewing with to understand who I am as a person to assess how I would feel in their company culture. Additionally, I am more willing to be myself and give more in-depth answers during an interview if I have rapport with the interviewer.
Works Cited:
Bohnet, I. (2016). “How To Take the Bias Out of Interviews.” HBR, https://hbr.org/2016/04/how-to-take-the-bias-out-of-interviews.
Friedman, T. L. (2014). “How To Get a Job At Google.” The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/opinion/sunday/friedman-how-to-get-a-job-at-google.html.
