During the last year, I’ve been able to not only interview for a new position, but also be the interviewer for a new candidate for my current employer. So, what makes an interview effective for everyone?
In my interviewing experience, all with the same company, the interview is very structured, and did not deviate from that structure during the interview. The interviewers always had a document with a list of questions, had gone through all of the questions, and ended the interview with giving me the opportunity to ask them questions. There were both effective and ineffective factors within these interviews. I found that there was a high level of validity in the interviews, for competencies they felt matched the job description and what they were looking for in a candidate. It also showed a high level of reliability in that they had a set structure of which they were basing their interview off of and the questions that they were asking. For me, being an internal transfer, they didn’t ask me role specific questions, but instead were more general to the role I was interviewing for. However, one thing that I found ineffective was the sequencing of the interview. For me, it makes more sense to start off with the “tell me a little bit about yourself” and more personal questions. In all but one of the interviews, it started off more with the role specific questions, even when they only knew me from what they read on my resume. Beginning the interview with the more personal questions eases the candidate into the interview and feels more effective for me in that order. In terms of interview utility, each interview showed a complete level of utility, in that I feel that both the interviewer and I found value in the entirety of the interview process.
Overall, to me what is most effective is standardizing your interviews, while also making it personable and making the candidate comfortable. In standardizing your interviews, you create an environment of defined questions, and it helps eliminate bias as well (Knight, 2018). Interview reliability is what made the interviews I was a part of so effective, as it’s something I could more easily prepare myself for and use my knowledge and experience to answer. Focusing on interview reliability, validity, and utility are key to creating an effective interview environment.
Works Cited:
Knight, R. (2018, April 19). 7 Practical Ways to Reduce Bias in Your Hiring Process. SHRM; SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/Pages/7-Practical-Ways-to-Reduce-Bias-in-Your-Hiring-Process.aspx
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