THE SELECTION INTERVIEW (I)

The second phase in the job hunting game, initiated after the evaluation of submitted
rsums, consists of a formal meeting that has a decisive impact on the professional evolution
of the individuals participating in the competition for the job on offer.
The selection interview, defined as a process used for screening, hiring, and placing
applicants, employees, and members of organizations remains a fundamental method aiming
at the identification of the suitable candidates, able to meet the requirements of the positions
made available.
Stages of the Process
The format of the communication situation has a single candidate meeting with one or
more persons representing the employer. A larger interview panel will often include a
specialized human resources worker.
The meeting could last somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes.
The interview consists mostly of questions being asked by the interviewers regarding
the history, personality, and the work style of the candidate. The applicant is also given a
chance to ask questions at the end of the interview. These questions allow the interviewee to
acquire more information about the company but more than that, they give him or her the
opportunity to demonstrate a convincing interest in the position and in the company.
The candidate should close the interview in a friendly, positive manner. Before
leaving, it is useful for the candidate to summarize the qualifications which were already
discussed during the meeting and to reiterate the desire to obtain the job.
After the interview, the candidate will send a thank you note or letter to each person
who took part in the interview in order to add a supplementary suggestion to the impression
he or she has already made on the panel.
Each interview is an occasion for the candidate to learn, to eliminate detected mistakes
and to improve his or her manner in view of other interviews to come. The candidate could
evaluate the success or failure by considering the following questions:
1. What points did I make that seemed to interest the employer?
2. Did I present my qualifications well? Did I overlook qualifications that were
important for the job?
3. Did I learn all I needed to know about the job?
4. Did I talk too much? Too little?
5. Was I too assertive? Not assertive enough?
6. Was I dressed appropriately?
7. Did I effectively close the interview?
The structure and the complexity of the interview is determined by the type of job and
the size of the company; a more sophisticated job in a large company will lead to a more
formal and more structured interview.
The organization of the proceedings could include more than one meeting when there
are many candidates or the position is particularly demanding; the first interview could be
conducted over the telephone, especially in the case of candidates living away from the
employer.

Types of Interview
The Behavioral Interview
In this context, the candidates have to react to questions describing situations that are
characteristic for the kind of job they are seeking.
Here are some typical behavioral interview questions:
1. Describe a time you had to work with someone you didn't like.
2. Tell me about a time when you had to stick by a decision you had made, even
though it made you very unpopular.
3. Give us an example of something particularly innovative that you have done
that made a difference in the workplace.
4. What was the last time you were late with a project?
The questions used refer either to hypothetical situations (how would you deal with
situation X?) or to examples pertaining to the experience of the candidates (when situation
X arose, how did you deal with it?).
The Stress Interview
The purpose of this type of interview is to find out how well the candidates can handle
stress. The activities meant to test the limits of the candidates could include creating a busy
environment, dealing with work overload, or handling conflict.
The organizers could choose among various formats: in one type a group of
interviewers (one at a time or all at the same time) try to intimidate the candidate and keep
him or her off-balance; another type of stress interview may involve only a single interviewer
who behaves in an uninterested or hostile manner.
The organizers of this format could use questions like these:
1. Sticky situation: If you caught a colleague cheating on his expenses, what
would you do?
2. Putting you on the spot: How do you feel this interview is going?
3. Popping the balloon: (deep sigh) Well, if that's the best answer you can give ...
(shakes head) Okay, what about this one ...?
4. Oddball question: What would you change about the design of the hockey
stick?
5. 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.
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.
The Technical Interview
This kind of interview focuses on problem solving skills and creativity. Sometimes
these interviews will be on a computer module with multiple choice questions.
The type of questions a candidate will have to deal with are well illustrated by those
included in the Microsoft Interview; the examples below are devised to determine a
candidate's problem solving, coding and design abilities:
1. Design a music system for a car. What are the features? Draw a picture.
2. Design a GPS navigation unit for a hiker.

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Design a communication device for Canadian park rangers.

Design a coffee maker that will be used by astronauts.
What are examples of poorly designed software?
I am your grandmother. Describe what MATLAB is to me.
Tell me about a time when you made a decision and later found out that it was
incorrect. What did you do to resolve the issue?
8. Suppose you are one week away from the product shipping date and discover a
bug in your software. What do you do?
9. How would you test a keyboard?
10. What method would you use to look up a word in a dictionary?
11. Imagine you have a closet full of shirts. Its very hard to find a shirt. So what
can you do to organize your shirts for easy retrieval?
Interview Questions
Most of the questions in an interview fall into certain standard categories and they are
meant to investigate subjects such as specific skills, abilities, experiences, education,
knowledge levels, personal characteristics, interpersonal relationships, major strengths and
major weaknesses.
The examples below include a sample of basic interview questions:
1. What are your long range career goals, when and why did you establish these
goals, and how are you preparing yourself to achieve them?
2. What specific goals, other than those related to your occupation, have you
established for yourself for the next 10 years?
3. Why are you interested in working for our organization?
4. What are the most important rewards you expect in your career?
5. What do you consider to be your greatest strengths?
6. How would you describe yourself?
7. How do you like to spend your free time?
8. What books magazines, newspapers, or journals do you read?
9. Why should I hire you?
10. What qualifications do you have that make you think you will be successful?
11. Why do you think you would like this particular job?
12. In what ways do you think that you can make a contribution to our company?
13. What do you think determines a persons progress in an organization?
14. Describe the relationship that should exist between a supervisor and
subordinates.
15. What two or three accomplishments have given you the most satisfaction and
why?
16. What have you learned from participation in extracurricular activities?
17. In what kind of work environment are you most comfortable?
18. May we contact your previous employers for reference information?
19. What characteristics do you think are necessary for success in this field?
20. Describe what you consider to be the ideal job.
While questions focusing on data presented in the CV may be easier to answer as the
candidate is prepared to deal with them, other questions force the candidates to make choices
and to disclose plans and opinions that involve a certain degree of risk taking.

In many countries, employment equity laws forbid discrimination based on a number

of criteria, such as race, gender, age, and marital status. The use of questions referring to these
issues in a job interview is generally considered discriminatory, and constitutes an illegal
hiring practice.
The candidates are expected to ask questions at the end of the meeting and all
specialists urge the applicants to prepare in advance something along these lines:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

What are the opportunities for personal growth in your organization?

How is an employee evaluated and promoted?
Describe the typical first year assignments.
What are the challenging facets of the job?
What are the organizations plans for future growth?
What industry trends will affect this company?
What are the toughest problems/decisions that the person in this position will have
to deal with?
8. Can you give me some idea of the timeline for your hiring decisions?
9. What are the organizations strengths and weaknesses?
10. How is this organization stronger than the competition?
11. What are your expectations for future hires?
12. How would you describe this organizations personality and management style?
13. Describe the work environment.
14. What are the characteristics of a successful person at your organization?
15. Why do you enjoy working for your firm?
The interview is not the only system of selection. There are intelligence tests and
ability tests, personality tests and computer tests that can produce a lot of data concerning the
profile of a candidate. More than that, the interview was submitted to severe criticism
determined by its deficiencies in predicting success and its susceptibility to bias and
distortion.
Despite all arguments, the interview is still in use and has reached the status of an
inevitable social ritual, accepted by both candidates and employers. Apart from the fact that it
is regarded as standard social practice, it is also flexible, relatively inexpensive and it seems to
be the best solution when certain characteristics of the candidates need to be assessed, such as
their interpersonal behavior, the likelihood of them adjusting to the social aspects of the job
situation and also the candidates motivation to work.