Employment Interview

1. Employment Interview • Frequently used to make selection decisions (over 90% usage) • Social exchange (interpersonal) process • Search for information

2. Source: Hausknecht, Day, & Thomas (2004). Personnel Psychology, 57, 639-683.

3. (Furnham, 2008)

4. Common Dimensions Measured in the Interview Dimension Frequency of Use Definition General Intelligence 16% Ability to learn and evaluate information quickly; ability to effectively plan and organize work; application of mental ability for solving problems. Job Knowledge and Skills 10% Declarative information (i.e., terms, values, names, and dates) and procedural knowledge (i.e., actions, skills, and operations) specific to the job; technical knowledge. Personality 35% Long-term disposition to act in certain ways; reflection of habitual behavior with regard to five dimensions: conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, openness to experience, emotional stability. Applied Social Skills 28% Ability to function effectively in social situations; includes interpersonal skills, oral communication skills, leadership, and persuasiveness. Interests and Preferences 4% Tendency toward certain activities; preference for certain work environments or a particular type of work or profession; interest in certain topics or subjects. Organizational Fit 3% Match between candidate and the organization’s values, goals, norms, and attitudes; fit with unique organizational culture or climate. Physical Attributes 4% Evaluation of stamina and agility; and general characteristics, like an evaluation of physical appearance.

6. ~ Common Problems With the Traditional Interview ~ • Variety of Interviewer Biases • * 1st Impressions • * Expectancy Effect • * Contrast Effect • * Stereotype Matching • Different Questions Asked to Applicants (Lack of standardization/structure) • Use of structure? • 29% (Terpstra & Rozelle, 1993, 201 companies) • 72% (Drogan & Yancey; 2011, 122 credit unions) • 94% (Wang & Yancey, 2012, N = 94, top HR professionals in credit unions) • Disagreement on the Desirability of Interview Responses • Little Formal Interviewer Training (44% receive such training: Wang & Yancey, 2012) • Subjective (or no) Scoring System (50%: Wang & Yancey, 2012) • Interview Conducted and Scored by One Person • Poor Reliability, Validity, and Job Relevancy (Open to Legal Challenge)

7. Overview of Situational Interview Process • Perform a Job Analysis Using the Critical Incident Technique • Place Critical Incidents into Relevant Job Dimensions (e.g., Safety, Responsibility, Interpersonal Skills) • Reword Critical Incidents Into Question Format • 4) Decide on the desirability of responses [Think of how good, average, and mediocre workers would have answered such a question] • 5) Conduct interviews in groups of two or more. Each interviewer scores applicant independently. A single score is given after group discussion

8. Situational Interview Process (cont.) Teamwork

9. Situational Interview (cont.) • A customer comes into the store to pick up a watch he had left for repair. The repair was supposed to have been completed a week ago, but the watch is not back yet from the repair shop. The customer is very angry. How would you handle the situation? • 1 (low) Tell the customer the watch is not back yet and ask him or her to check back with you later. • 3 (average) Apologize, tell the customer that you will check into the problem, and call him or her back later. • 5 (high) Put the customer at ease and call the repair shop while the customer waits • For the past week you have been consistently getting the jobs that are the most time consuming (e.g., poor handwriting, complex statistical work). You know it’s nobody’s fault because you have been taking the jobs in priority order. You have just picked your fourth job of the day and it’s another “loser.” What would you do? • 1 (low) Thumb through the pile and take another job. • 3 (average) Complain to the coordinator, but do the job. • 5 (high) Take the job without complaining and do it

10. Behavior Description Interviewing and Scoring • It is often necessary to work together in a group to accomplish a task. Can you tell me about the most recent experience you had working as part of a group? • (The following are probe questions.) • a. What was the task? • b. How many people were in the group? • c. What difficulties arose as a result of working as a group? • d. What role did you play in resolving these difficulties? • e. How successful was the group in completing its task?f. How often do you work as part of a group? • Tell me about a time when you aided an employee in understanding a difficult policy. • (The following are probe questions.) • a. What was the policy? • b. How did you know that the employee was having trouble understanding? • c. What did you do or say that helped? • d. How did you know that you had been successful? • e. What steps did you take to change the policy?

11. Behavior Description Interview

12. Race Discrimination • Whites interviewed black applicants • More distance • Less eye contact • Less open • Blacks viewed less well • Whites interviewers treated white applicants the same way as blacks • White applicants viewed less well

13. DiscriminationCases Regarding the Interview Key Factors • Demographic composition of the interviewers (e.g., all White, all male) • Unstructured format • No objective criteria for making decisions (e.g., pass/fail) * • Content of interview questions (e.g., different questions asked to males • vs. females, biased questions) • No guidelines for conducting and scoring the interview • No operational definitions of KSAs • Lack of similarity between interview questions and work environment • Vague instructions for rating applicant performance • No scoring standards or cutoff scores

14. Cases in Which DiscriminationWas Found Court Comments Stamps v. Detroit Edison (1973) All interviewers were white Interviewers made subjective judgments about applicant’s personalityNo structured or written interview formatNo objective criteria for employment decisions Weiner v. Country of Oakland All interviewers were male(1976) Interview questions suggested bias against females Selection decision rule not clearly specified King v. TWA (1984) Female applicant did not receive same questions as males History of interviewer’s gender bias Robbins v. White-Wilson No guidelines for conducting or scoring interviewMedical Clinic (1981) Interviewer’s evaluation seemed racially biased based on own comments Gilbert v. City of Little Rock, Ark. Content validity inappropriate defense for measurement of mental (1986) processes Failure to operationally define KSAsDissimilarity between exam questions and actual work situations Bailey et al. v. Southeastern Area Content of questions discriminatory toward womenJoint Apprenticeship (1983) Defense did not conform with EEOC Uniform GuidelinesUnclear instructions for rating applicant performance Jones v. Mississippi Department Little evidence of specific questions usedof Corrections (1985) No scoring standards No cutoff score for selection

15. Ways To Structure InterviewContent • Base questions on a job analysis (e.g., KSAs) • Ask the same questions of each candidate • Limit prompting, follow-up questions, and elaboration on questions • Ask better types of questions (e.g., hypothetical situations, ones indicative of past behavior, indicating relevant background of candidates, requiring specific demonstration of knowledge) • Sufficient interview length and number of questions • Withhold/control ancillary information • Do not allow questions from candidate until after the interview

16. Sample Interview Questions Based on KSAs • KSA 1: Ability to give verbal work instructions to laborers regarding construction and repair • What instructions would you give a work crew that was about to string a 220-volt electric cable in a laboratory building under construction? • KSA 2: Ability to schedule work crews for specific tasks • You are in charge of a work crew of twelve. Included in this are four experienced carpenters and two electricians. These six are also permitted to do other jobs. You are to finish a 100 200 area that will have five separate offices and a general meeting room. Tell me the first five tasks that you would assign your crew and how many people you would put on each task. How long should each task take? • KSA 3: Ability to direct multiple work crews and work projects simultaneously • Go back to the situation in the previous question. Tell me which tasks you would try to complete in the first two days. Which sequence of tasks would you schedule? How would your work crews know when to start a new task?

17. Interview Rating Scales for KSAs

18. Ways To Structure The Evaluation Process • Rate Each Answer or Use Multiple Scales • Use Detailed, Anchored Rating Scales • Take Detailed Notes • Use Multiple Interviewers • Use Same Interviewer(s) for All Candidates • Don’t Discuss Candidates or Answers Between Interviews • Provide Detailed Interviewer Training • Use Statistical Versus Clinical Prediction

19. Interviewer Training • Critical Interviewer Skills • Accurately receiving information • Hearing what the respondent said • Observing the applicant’s behavior • Remembering the information received • Avoiding errors in evaluating information received • The halo effect • Distributional rating errors of central tendency and leniency • The similar-to-me effect • The contrast effect • The first-impressions error

20. Interviewer Training (cont.) • Critical Interviewer Skills (cont’d) • Regulating behavior in delivering questions • Not talking excessively • Not interacting differently due to interviewer similarity to applicant • Maintaining control of the interview • Results of Interviewer Training • Reduces common rater errors • Enhances reliability of interviewer judgments • Fosters more sophisticated questioning strategies

21. Interviewer Training (cont.) • Components of an Interviewer Training Program • Identify specific behavioral objectives • Have interviewer trainees demonstrate and review their skills • Evaluate trainees and offer suggestions for change • Have interviewers attend training sessions on a regular basis to acquire, refresh, and maintain interviewer skills