Types of job interview

Behavioral Interview

A common type of job interview in the modern workplace is the behavioral interview or behavioral event interview. In this sort of interview, the interviewers tend to ask questions about general situations, with the candidate asked to describe how they did or would handle a specific problem. A bad hiring decision nowadays can be immensely expensive for an organisation – cost of the hire, training costs, severance pay, loss of productivity, impact on morale, cost of re-hiring, etc. (Gallup international place the cost of a bad hire as being 3.2 times the individual's salary). Structured selection techniques have a better track record of identifying the soundest candidate than the old-style 'biographical' interview.

Typical behavioural interview questions:

* "Describe a time you had to work with someone you didn't like."

* "Tell me about a time when you had to stick by a decision you had made, even though it made you very unpopular."

* "How would you handle a boss you suspected of performing unethical actions?"

* "Would you describe yourself as an innovative person? Give us an example of something particularly innovative that you have done that made a difference in the workplace."

* "What was the last time you were late with a project?"

The goal of the interview is to assess the candidate's ability to respond to the sorts of situations that the job may present them with. The questions asked will therefore be based on the job description, the performance indicators, the skills/personal qualities required and the interviewer's knowledge of operating in the role. Questioning will either be hypothetical (‘how would you deal with situation X?’) or based on historical examples from your current or previous experience (‘when situation X arose, how did you deal with it?’). Either way, the interviewer is interested in (a) the thought process used and (b) the values of the candidate and the outcome of the situation.

Stress Interview

Stress interviews are still in common use. One type of stress interview is where the employer uses a succession of interviewers (one at a time or en masse) whose mission is to intimidate the candidate and keep him/her off-balance. The ostensible purpose of this interview: to find out how the candidate handles stress. Stress interviews might involve testing applicant's behavior in a busy environment. Questions about handling work overload, dealing with multiple projects and handling conflict are typical.

Another type of stress interview may involve only a single interviewer who behaves in a disinterested or hostile style. For example, the interviewer may not give eye contact, may roll their eyes or sigh at your answers, interrupt you, turn his back to you as you speak, take phone calls during the interview, and ask questions in a demeaning or challenging style. The goal is to assess how the interviewee handles pressure or to purposely evoke emotional responses. This technique was also used in research protocols studying Stress and Type A (coronary-prone) Behavior because it would evoke hostility and even changes in blood pressure and heart-rate in study subjects. The key to success for the candidate is to de-personalise the process. The interviewer is acting a role, deliberately and calculatedly trying to 'rattle the cage.' Once the candidate realizes that there is nothing personal behind the interviewer's approach, it is easier to handle the questions with aplomb.

Example stress interview questions

* Sticky situation: "If you caught a colleague cheating on his expenses, what would you do?"

* Putting you on the spot: "How do you feel this interview is going?"

* Popping the balloon: "(deep sigh) Well, if that's the best answer you can give ... (shakes head) Okay, what about this one ...?"

* Oddball question: "What would you change about the design of the hockey stick?"

* Doubting your veracity: "I don't feel like we're getting to the heart of the matter here. Start again - tell me what really makes you tick."

Candidates may also be asked to deliver a presentation as part of the selection process. The 'Platform Test' method involves having the candidate make a presentation to both the selection panel and their competitors for the job. This is obviously highly stressful and is therefore useful as a predictor of how the candidate will perform under similar circumstances on the job. Academic, Training, Airline, Legal and Teaching selection processes frequently involve presentations of this sort.

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