Before the formal selection interview, some organizations use preliminary interviews to 'screen out' unlikely candidates and achieve a briefer, more manageable shortlist. These interviews may be carried out by individual managers or personnel staff. Sometimes the screening-out interview is done by telephone. From the employer's point of view, a telephone discussion with a candidate saves time and is considerably cheaper than a face-to-face meeting.
Telephone interviews are not easy. The interviewer doesn't have much evidence on which to make his judgment. He cannot judge your suitability for a post by reading the many signals you would give him were you sitting across the table in the interview room. He cannot see how you present yourself and therefore his judgment is based purely on the sound of your voice, how you respond to questions, your tone, intonation and use of language. From your point of view, it can be difficult to impress an interviewer who cannot see you, so you need to work hard at sounding 'likeable'. If possible try to ensure that your telephone interview takes place in a location where you can be relaxed and undisturbed. If you are in an office ask someone to guard the door for you and divert calls away from other telephones on desks close by. If you are at home, ensure that children or other members of the family are warned not to interrupt you. In your discussion, even though you cannot be seen, try to smile. It can make you sound more assertive and friendly.
Having determined a shortlist, companies have a variety of interview options available to them. Broadly speaking, however, their approach will be based on a selection from three possibilities.
The simplest selection interview, often favored by small companies, will be the one-to-one meeting between you and the interviewer. He may be a manager, the owner of the company or a recruitment specialist acting on behalf of the employer. When they work out well these interviews are the closest thing to a natural conversation. They can be pleasant, relaxed affairs. They can go badly wrong, however, if the interviewer takes a dislike to you. Clearly, with only one person making the decision, one-to-one interviews can be biased in favor of a particular type of person. In such a interview, you may find yourself having to contend with one person's idiosyncratic views about what makes an ideal candidate. At such times, stay calm and friendly - don't be tempted to argue or flounce out of the room. Often interviewers belong to the same professional group or social club - don't give anyone an 'awful interview' anecdote they can tell against you. In a one-to-one interview you may have to accept that the best candidate for a job may be overlooked in favor of one who more closely mirrors the interviewer's bias.
'Panel' interviews, where you will be faced by a number of inter-viewers asking their questions in turn, are favored by some companies. The composition and size of an interview panel varies. Local authorities, for example, may include councilors on their interview panel. Some panels ask each candidate exactly the same questions, others prepare different questions for each candidate. Some organizations set up interviews as simple question and answer sessions but others may expect you to prepare a presentation.
Panel interviewing is popular because it reduces the possibility of personal idiosyncrasies clouding the decision. Supporters of the panel interview argue that it enables an organization to gain a broader insight into a candidate and take a more comprehensive view of his suitability for the post.
Arranging a panel interview involves the co-ordination of busy diaries, so it is customary for interview panels to see shortlisted candidates in turn, making the decision about who will be offered the job at the end of the session when the last candidate has been seen. Panel interviews can be fairer than one-to-one interviews but they can also be more stressful.
Many organizations use a 'sequence' of separate interviews to arrive at their final choice of candidate. Sequential interviewing enables an employer to expose you to a wide range of interviewers who may use each interview to concentrate on particular aspects of the job or particular qualities which will be required of the successful candidate. This enables companies to gain a great deal of knowledge about you and it ensures that the final decision is made in the light of a wide range of opinion.
When recruiting to sensitive or senior level posts, some organizations use sequential interviews as part of a much more sophisticated recruitment process known as an 'assessment centre'. It is a term which can be confusing in that it applies to a 'process' of testing rather than the geographical location where it takes place. Assessment centers were first used by the allied forces during the Second World War as a means of selecting the most appropriate personnel for specific military responsibilities.
All jobs require a range of skills and qualities. Sometimes these are referred to as 'competencies'. In an assessment centre, candidates are put through a series of tests, simulations, exercises and interviews specifically designed to test them against a checklist of competencies which are known to be relevant to this particular job. The basic idea of an assessment centre is to collect as much information as possible about a candidate using the widest range of evidence. Trained assessors then use that information to make judgments about each candidate's strengths and weaknesses in different areas relevant to the job.
An assessment centre can often take two days to complete and it may involve physical tests as well as group work, role-play exercises and psychological assessments. In an assessment centre candidates are observed at all times. Even when the formal tests are over and candidates are relaxing in the evening, company executives may be present to see who makes friends easily, who retreats behind a newspaper, and even who has one drink too many. Within an assessment centre, the interview is seen as part of a much wider selection process. Performance at interview is only one of a variety of measures used to enable a selection panel to make its decision.
