Effective selection interviewing

Introductions Domestic arrangements and timing Ground rules Workshop content: Some definitions Types of interview Designing the interview Practice and feedback Evaluation Next steps What you want from the workshop

An interview is … A social encounter between two or more individuals with words as the main medium of exchange. It is a peculiar form of conversation in which the ritual of turn taking is more formalised than in the commoner and more informal encounters of everyday life. Farr (1984)

Selection techniques and reliability 1- perfect prediction.66- assessment centres (promotion).52- ability tests.45- assessment centres (performance) personality tests.33- structured interviews.18- typical interviews 0- chance; toss of a coin

These contrived situations are not even a reliable test of self confidence. I once interviewed a hopeful whose qualifications were exemplary. Much of what she said at our meeting was drowned by the nervous rattle of her coffee cup and saucer. The confident fellow we appointed proved to be self-infatuated rather than self- assured and was unable to get on with his Colleagues. And he couldn’t do the job. Richard Stanley The Times 24 August 1995

Reasons for poor reliability Insufficient training and/or practice Interviews too informal and lacking in structure Insufficient understanding of the role resulting in poor person specification and/or irrelevant competencies Rushing to judgements; poor listening skills Psychological distortions (horns/halo; stereotyping; recruiting in own image)

Types of interview Structured - information in response to specific questions to gather facts and test knowledge. Situational - assesses how candidates will behave in future situations or think themselves into a role. Oral examination - explores responses to a case study and how candidates will behave in given situations Criterion/competency-based - explores attributes and abilities in a tightly focused way Behavioural event - examines past performance to predict future behaviour

Improve reliability by … Making interviews structured to eliminate haphazard and standardise the process Making them competency-based to link them to successful performance Making them behaviourally focused as past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour

Designing the interview Define position requirements Prepare a person specification Construct an appropriate rating scale Design performance based questions

Position requirements Interview the previous job holder Observe people doing similar jobs Ask customers what they expect Ask the manager what a successful postholder will be doing in a year’s time Predict future situations which need to be handled

Person specification What skills, knowledge, abilities, behaviours, personal attributes, image does the postholder need to be able to perform and satisfy each task effectively? How would you recognise an above average performer if you saw one?

Rating scale Prepare a description of each competency and a statement describing performance a different ratings: 1 = cannot perform or doesn’t make the effort 2 = can perform with some difficulty and needs considerable supervision 3 = can perform without supervision and can be relied on to seek help if needed 4 = can supervise others

Questions Design questions which probe experience and seek evidence Use open questions and control hypotheticals Test the questions to ensure they are unambiguous and can be answered Train the interviewer(s) to pose the questions and rate the answers

Conducting the interview Briefing the candidate Creating appropriate interview space Allowing enough time Creating rapport Listening actively, questioning constructively Recording facts Reviewing after not during

Action plan What do you need to do: More of Less of Differently First Now …