Interview Styles And Trends

Employers say they still have trouble finding "good people." Just what do they mean by "good people?" In general terms, people who stay on the job long enough and are productive enough for the company to realize a profit from its investment in them.

It costs a lot of money to recruit, hire and train new employees today. When a new hire doesn't work out, the employer loses a substantial amount of money. As a result, employers are adopting or experimenting with new approaches to interviewing. It's important that you learn to recognize and adapt to the different interview philosophies in vogue today. You also should realize that despite the different interviewing tactics they may use, all employers are searching for the same qualities in perspective employees.

Although you'll still run into interviewers who rely on from-the-book questions, many employers consider them a waste of time. They say that when they ask those questions, all they get are pre-fab responses that don't provide any insights into the candidate's personality or ability.

What are employers asking today? The focus now is on behavioural interviewing.

The Behavioural Interview

"The behavioural interview is based on the premise that the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour. So, when you ask applicants questions, you ask for specific behavioural examples." Instead of asking "What are your biggest weaknesses," for instance, the behavioural interviewer might ask, "Tell me about the biggest mistakes you've made on the job and how you rectify those mistakes."

From the examples provided, employers determine whether a particular problem - or area of success - is a recurrent theme in your work history. Employers look for patterns of behaviour and common responses to problems and work situations, realizing that a candidate is not likely to change dramatically when they come to their company.

The Conversational Interview

Interviewers today also tend to prefer a more conversational style of interviewing. Instead of a question-and-answer volleyball game, the interview becomes more like a professional discussion, with each side contributing equal amounts.

The reason interviewers like the conversational style of interviewing is the same reason they're turning to behavioural interview questions. It allows them to get more candid information from the applicant. People are simply more likely to be honest and forthcoming during a relaxed discussion than they are during an interrogation.

The Team Approach

In an effort to get a better fix on job candidates, many companies ask a number of people to participate in the interview and evaluation process. Depending upon the level of job you're seeking, you may interview with a HR specialist, the hiring manager, the hiring manager's boss and even staff members who would be your peers. In small companies, a candidate may have to sell themselves to the entire staff.

This team approach to interviewing is referred to as consensus interviewing. It means that many different people interview you and then get together to debate whether they like you well enough to hire you. Sometimes, each person on the interview team asks a different slate of questions. Other times, they all ask the same thing. This can happen by design, if the company wants to see whether a candidate will change their answers along the way. Or it can happen by accident, when the interviewing team doesn't work together to plan out any particular interview strategy.

The Committee Interview

You may encounter the particularly stressful scenario known as the committee interview, in which a whole group of people interview you at the same time. Some employers use this approach to see how you perform under stress; others use it simply in the interest of saving time.

The Stress Interview

Some interviewers, evidently assuming that the standard interview situation isn't already difficult enough, use tactics to induce unnatural stress into the meeting. For instance, they may respond to one of your questions or statements with a prolonged silence, or they may make a highly controversial remark and then say, "Don't you agree?"

The Telephone Interview

Many employers screen potential job candidates by phone before bringing them in for a face-to-face interview. These telephone-screening interviews are tricky, because you and the interviewer both must work without visual cues.

The Non-interview

Nervous and inexperienced interviewers can be problematic; because they're uncomfortable with the interview process, these interviewers often take the route of least resistance. That is, they don't really interview you at all. They tell you all about the position and the company, but they don't ask any questions about you. Or they get side-tracked on an issue that's more comfortable for them to discuss - a hobby, a favourite sports team, or a day-care dilemma.