Types of Interviews

Depending up the requirements, situations, locations and time, the interviews are broadly classified into ten different categories. Recruiters should be knowledgeable enough to understand which type of interview should be used when.

The ten different types of interviews are as follows ?

• Structured Interview ? In this type, the interview is designed and detailed in advance. A structured interview is pre-planned, accurate, and consistent in hiring the candidates.
• Unstructured Interview ? This type of interview is an unplanned one, where the interview questionnaire is not prepared. Here, the effectiveness of the interview is very less and there is a tremendous waste of time and effort of both the interviewer and the interviewee.
• Group Interview ? In this type of interview, all the candidates or a group of candidates are interviewed together. Group interviews are conducted to save time when there is a large number of applications for a few job vacancies. A topic will be given to discuss among the candidates and the interviewer judges the innovativeness and behavior of each candidate in the group.
• Depth Interview ? Depth interview is a semi-structured interview, where the candidates have to give a detailed information about their education background, work experience, special interests, etc. And the interviewer takes a depth interview and tries in finding the expertise of the candidate.
• Stress Interview ? Stress interviews are conducted to discover how a candidate behaves in stressful conditions. In this type of interview, the interviewer will come to know whether the candidate can handle the demands of a complex job. The candidate who maintains his composure during a stress interview is normally the right person to handle a stressful job.
• Individual Interview ? In an individual interview, the interview takes place one-on-one i.e., there will be a verbal and a visual interaction between two people, an interviewer and a candidate. This is a two-way communication interview, which helps in finding the right candidate for a vacant job position.
• Informal Interview ? Such interviews are conducted in an informal way, i.e., the interview will be fixed without any written communication and can be arranged at any place. There is no procedure of asking questions in this type of interview, hence it will be a friendly kind of interview.
• Formal Interview ? A formal interview held in a formal way, i.e., the candidate will be intimated about the interview well in advance and the interviewer plans and prepares questions for the interview. This is also called as a planned interview.
• Panel Interview ? Panel interview, as the name indicates, is being conducted by a group of people. In this type of interview, three to five members of the selection committee will be asking questions to the candidates on different aspects. The final decision will be taken by all the members of the panel collectively.
• Exit Interview ? Exit interviews are conducted for those employees who want to leave the organization. The importance of the exit interview is to discover why an employee wants to leave his job.

Example

Suppose there is a software company Global Systems, which has an executive requirement for the position CEO. This kind of position cannot be fulfilled in a short span. This kind of requirements need a keen observation and a lot of planning.

There are different types of interviews, which are explained in the above list. The best type of interview suitable for hiring a CEO would be a “Structured Interview”. Hiring a CEO for an organization is a big task and it can only be fulfilled with lots of planning. Hence the interview process needs to be well structured and it has to be executed in a perfect way.

What is Selection?

Selection is the process of picking or choosing the right candidate, who is most suitable for a vacant job position in an organization. In others words, selection can also be explained as the process of interviewing the candidates and evaluating their qualities, which are required for a specific job and then choosing the suitable candidate for the position.

The selection of a right applicant for a vacant position will be an asset to the organization, which will be helping the organization in reaching its objectives.

Different authors define Selection in different ways. Here is a list of some of the definitions ?

• Employee selection is a process of putting a right applicant on a right job.
• Selection of an employee is a process of choosing the applicants, who have the qualifications to fill the vacant job in an organization.
• Selection is a process of identifying and hiring the applicants for filling the vacancies in an organization.
• Employee selection is a process of matching organization’s requirements with the skills and the qualifications of individuals.

A good selection process will ensure that the organization gets the right set of employees with the right attitude.

Both recruitment and selection work hand in hand and both play a vital role in the overall growth of an organization.

Importance of Selection

Selection is an important process because hiring good resources can help increase the overall performance of the organization. In contrast, if there is bad hire with a bad selection process, then the work will be affected and the cost incurred for replacing that bad resource will be high.

The purpose of selection is to choose the most suitable candidate, who can meet the requirements of the jobs in an organization, who will be a successful applicant. For meeting the goals of the organization, it is important to evaluate various attributes of each candidate such as their qualifications, skills, experiences, overall attitude, etc. In this process, the most suitable candidate is picked after the elimination of the candidates, who are not suitable for the vacant job.

The organization has to follow a proper selection process or procedure, as a huge amount of money is spent for hiring a right candidate for a position. If a selection is wrong, then the cost incurred in induction and training the wrong candidate will be a huge loss to the employer in terms of money, effort, and also time. Hence, selection is very important and the process should be perfect for the betterment of the organization.

Advantages of Selection

A good selection process offers the following advantages?

• It is cost-effective and reduces a lot of time and effort.
• It helps avoid any biasing while recruiting the right candidate.
• It helps eliminate the candidates who are lacking in knowledge, ability, and proficiency.
• It provides a guideline to evaluate the candidates further through strict verification and reference-checking.
• It helps in comparing the different candidates in terms of their capabilities, knowledge, skills, experience, work attitude, etc.

A good selection process helps in selecting the best candidate for the requirement of a vacant position in an organization.

Selection Process and Steps

As we have discussed that Selection is very important for any organization for minimizing the losses and maximizing the profits. Hence the selection procedure should be perfect. A good selection process should comprise the following steps ?

• Employment Interview ? Employment interview is a process in which one-on-one session in conducted with the applicant to know a candidate better. It helps the interviewer to discover the inner qualities of the applicant and helps in taking a right decision.
• Checking References ? Reference checking is a process of verifying the applicant’s qualifications and experiences with the references provided by him. These reference checks help the interviewer understand the conduct, the attitude, and the behavior of the candidate as an individual and also as a professional.
• Medical Examination ? Medical examination is a process, in which the physical and the mental fitness of the applicants are checked to ensure that the candidates are capable of performing a job or not. This examination helps the organization in choosing the right candidates who are physically and mentally fit.
• Final Selection ? The final selection is the final process which proves that the applicant has qualified in all the rounds of the selection process and will be issued an appointment letter.

A selection process with the above steps will help any organization in choosing and selecting the right candidates for the right job.