Selection Interview Purposes
The interview is an examination - a face-to-face encounter via which each side seeks to make a decision about the other. The employer is in the domnant position. Even where the short-list is very short and the employer is desperate to fill the post - it is unlikely that an applicant perceived as being a rogue or maverick will be employed. The employer at all times will seek to protect their interests.
The face-to-face selection interview is the traditional method - yet it is fraught with problems of subjectivity, interpersonal judgment, interpretation and mis-interpretation.
The technical and social purposes of the interview are
- for interviewers
to gather further information about candidate competence and qualities. Make a judgment about the person in relation to the job and the job to person.If there is a weak candidate short-list and none fit the job's requirements - then interviewers need the confidence to start again. This of course involves costs. It is better to incur these that employ unsuitable, inexperienced people for whom there may be a high probability of them being under-performers in the job. The rule for interviewers is to avoid the "zombie theory of recruitment (if they breath, take 'em on)" .
- for applicants
to obtain further information about the job and the employer. Where there is a competitive labour market (lots of demanding jobs to be filled but few candidates ready to move with the right ability and experience), then the candidate may not be desperate for the job. Confident candidates will bide their time to find the right job and will come to the interview(s) seeking lots more information.
- is the company's performance, strategy, product, management style and organisational climate in line with their needs and expectations. How do they feel about joining an ailing company, one that faces turbulence.
- what are the ambiguities, potential conflicts and stresses in the job role? Does it offer the right conditions - stability, predictability, society, reward opportunities (material and non-material).
- Will the candidate be able to accommodate themselves to the peculiarities and pecadillos of those already working for the firm - their boss, the team etc.
- the candidate has a private life. How will the job affect this? Job move, good local schools for the kids, housing and other life-style issues.
- public relations
There is a public relations side to recruitment - certainly for household name and local employers - and that is to treat applicants with respect and courtesy. Even applicants who are rejected when reflecting need to be able to say they were treated well, given every opportunity to present themselves to good advantage. Every candidate needs to feel they have been treated fairly and equitably and that the interviewers made their judgments on the basis of objective criteria and with the fullest information to hand.
Rites and Rituals to Enter the Temple
The interview is a rite of passage and initiation. Applicants desire membership and will jump through hoops to be found acceptable - to be given admittance.
- they seek to join/enter or rise within, a social framework.
- deferential behaviours are required "upward mobility into desired circles involves ...proper performances and .... the maintenance of front"
- existing club members parade their superiority and position before supplicants who are dependent on their patronage
This perspective indicates why we still use interviews even though if they are so subjective and unreliable.
- The interview plays key part in differentiating between candidates for the same job
- the interview serves the employing organisation is a social entity. Owners/members want to determine who they are going to be working with. Selectors have positions of power within the organisation. In their decisions they want to appoint the most competent person technically but not someone who will not "fit into the culture". Will the candidate become a loyal contributor (according to their perception of what is important to the organisation. The person choice themselves may enhance the interviewer's own status within the organisation.
- the interview - for candidates who are short-listed - provides a setting in which documented information, test measurements and interpersonal, social value-judgments are made.
- Factual information is exchanged and clarified by both sides at an interview e.g. what did the applicant decide on a specific career move, what expertise do they have on a given area and what is the evidence for this?
- The interview brings together data from several sources - application forms or curriculum vitae, test results, job data. These can be assessed and intangibles - would this person fit into the team (given what we know of their expectations and behaviour!). A social meeting is necessary.
- Applicants want to present themselves rather than be judged mechanically e.g. on the basis of a clinical test or form
The interview brings together data from several sources - application forms or curriculum vitae, test results, job data. These can be assessed and intangibles - would this person fit into the team (given what we know of their expectations and behaviour!). A social meeting is necessary.
So even though the interview is known to be unreliable - it still dominates and is unlikely to be abandonned. It is however now the subject of increasing external inspection by the courts. The selection process emerges as a matter for human rights.
The managerial response is likely to be more defensive in terms of seeking to improve the processes which generate evidence that the selection decision was based upon job criteria and measurables.
BOLA is developed and maintained by Chris Jarvis