CHAPTER SIX

INTERVIEW

INTRODUCTION

Within business, professional and governmental organizations, you have many opportunities
for one-to-one communication. Much of that will be casual but a considerable amount of time
will focus on purposeful two-person (dyadic) communication. Your work might include
interviewing which is one of the dyadic (two-person) communications. The interview
completes a spectrum of type of dyadic communication from intimate interactions through
social communication to serious instrumental communication. All are settings of dyadic
communication but each is different from the other in terms of purpose and salient variables.
So, the interview can be viewed as a form of dyadic where persons meet with a preconceived
purpose and both of whom speak and listen to each other from time to time.

Dear learner, do not forger that interviewing is a form of communication and therefore an
understanding of the communication skills and barriers which are covered in the preceding
sections of this material are equally important for interviewing success.

6.1 DEFINITION OF INTERVIEW

The word ‘interview’ refers to all types of planned, face-to-face encounters in which at least
one of the participants has a specific objective in mind – Cheryl Hamilton and Cordell
Parker.

Interviewing, according to this definition, includes gathering information, appraising

employee performance, settling grievances and many other interactions which are or at least
going to be a part of your work life.

Interview is a two party communication in which at least one person has a specific, serious
purpose.—Ronald B. Adler & Jeanne Marquardt Elmhorst

This definition makes it clear that interviewing is a special kind of conversation, differing
from other types in several ways. Most importantly, interview is always purposeful. Unlike
other spontaneous conversations, an interview includes at least one participant who has a
serious, predetermined reason for being there. Interviews are also more structured than most
conversations. As you will soon learn, every good interview has several distinct phases and
always involves some sort of question- and –answer format.

6.2 MAJOR TYPES OF INTERVIEW

There are far too many types of interview situations for us to list them all. However, the basic
approach to each type is similar and they possess the same basic features as:

 Most interviews are face-to-face interactions involving a face-to-face

encounter between the interviewer and the interviewee.

 All effective interviews are organized into three basic steps or phases: the
opening phase, the question-response phase (body of the interview) and the
closing phase. ( these will be discussed under ‘ the guidelines to effective
interviews for the interviewer’)

Dear learner, as you were able to see, there could be various types of interview. For our
purpose, an understanding of the following basic types of interview can be easily transferred
to other types of interview situations.

In this chapter therefore, we will deal with the three major types of interview namely:
Employment interview, Employee appraisal interview, and Grievance interview.

6.2.1. EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEW

The employment interview is a face-to-face encounter between prospective employee and

prospective employer. When you finish all your courses and graduate, you will be having this
type of interview. This type of interview is one of the most important because in it some of
the most critical organizational and personal decisions are made.

The critical organizational decisions are those to be made by the organization regarding the
selection of the best candidate for the job and the critical personal decisions are those made by
you (the candidate) regarding the type of job and organization for a career decision.
The ultimate productivity of the organization depends on the ability of its management to
recruit and select the best personnel for the job. In addition, your career often depends on your
ability to select the right job with the right organization.

An employment interview is basically designed to explore how well a candidate might fit a
job. This exploration works both ways: the employer explores who the right person for the job
is and the candidate (you) explores the organizations’ and job’s fitness with his/ her
qualifications, skills and career choices.

Different types of employment interview can be used by organizations to discover as much as

possible about applicants.

Structured interview: - is generally used in the screening stage. The employer

controls the interview by asking a series of prepared questions in a set order.
Working from the checklist, the interviewer asks the candidates each question,
staying with in an allotted time period, for which all answers will be recorded
(noted). Although useful in gathering facts, the structured interview is
generally regarded as a poor measure of an applicant’s personal qualities.

Open ended interview: - in contrast, the open ended interview is a less formal
and unstructured interview with a relaxed format. The interviewer poses broad,
open-ended questions and encourages the applicant to talk freely. This type of
interview is good for bringing out an applicant’s personality and is used to test
professional judgment. Some candidates reveal too much about personal or
family problems that have nothing to do with their qualification for
employment. So, you should be careful to strike a balance between being
friendly and remembering that you are in a business situation.
 Group interview: - this is an interview set up where several candidates are
interviewed simultaneously to see how they interact. This type of interview is
useful for judging interpersonal skills.

Stress interview: - the stress interview is used by interviewers to see how well
a candidate handles stressful situations. During a stress interview, you may be
asked questions which are specifically designed to make you uncomfortable
and to unsettle you. You may also be subjected to long periods of silence,
criticism of your appearance, deliberate interruptions or even a hostile reaction
by the interviewer. This is a type of interview which is regarded by many
managers as inappropriate or unethical.

Dear learner, now you know the specific possible types of interview you might encounter
during an employment interview. So keep in mind these interview types so that you can get
the best out of you employment (job) interviews that you are going to have in the future. In
the next sections we will examine other types of interview like performance appraisal
interview and grievance interview. Let us discuss these one by one.

6.2.2. EMPLOYEE APPRAISAL INTERVIEW

Performance appraisal interviews are scheduled regularly between superior and subordinate to
discuss the quality of subordinates’ performance. More specifically, these interviews have
several functions, including the following:

 Letting the employee know where he/ she stands- this is achieved through the
feedback that employees get which includes praising good work, communicating
areas that need improvement and conveying to the employee his/ her chance for
development.
  Developing employee skill- such interview can be a chance for the employee to
learn new skills. If you were a supervisor, among other roles, you should be a
teacher to your subordinates. You can use such interviews to show an employee
how to do a better job.

 Improving employment relationship- through these interviews as a supervisor,

you will be able to improve your relationship with your subordinates and give the
subordinate a sense of participation in the job.

 Helping management learn the employees’ point of view- the performance

appraisal interview should incorporate a two way communication, that is, both
upward (from subordinate to superior) and downward (from superior to
subordinate). This can help the subordinates to express their perspectives to their
supervisors.

 Setting goals for the future- one of the results of every performance appraisal
interview should be a clear idea of how both the subordinate and supervisor will
behave in the future.

Dear learner, every performance appraisal interview will have the above functions and could
follow different styles which will be discussed in the following sections.

Styles of appraisal interviewing

There are three styles of appraisal interviewing which can be used in the appraisal interview
situations.

Tell and sell

Tell and listen (listen and tell)

Problem solving

Tell and sell: a tell and sell appraisal interview style can range from a friendly persuasive
style to an authoritarian approach. In any case, the manager who tells and sells believes that
his/her evaluation is correct and aims at passing along this evaluation to the subordinate. The
disadvantage of this style could be the fact that it can be unfair and unproductive if the
managers’ evaluation is incorrect. For instance, you as a supervisor might believe that your
subordinate is unproductive. But this could be due to some external factors whereas you
believe that it is because of the person’s laziness. In this case your evaluations are incorrect
and hence you can be unfairly judging your subordinate.

Despite these disadvantages, this style can work well in the following situations:

i. with inexperienced employees who are unable to evaluate themselves

ii. with employees who are very loyal to the organization

iii. with employees who are not willing to evaluate themselves and who appreciate
direction

Tell and listen (listen and tell): this approach adds a new element to the performance
appraisal interview, namely, the manager’s willingness to hear the employees’ point of view.
With this style, the manager offers his/her assessment and lets the subordinate react to it.
During the final parts of the interview, the manager again takes control in identifying future
goals for the employee.

Here, even though there is a two way communication, a pure tell and listen approach could be
basically persuasive. The managers’ motive to listening is to let the employee have a say but
there is no guarantee that the subordinates comment will change the managers’ ideas.

The listen and tell is a more employee oriented variation where the manager lets the
subordinate to begin the session by describing his/ her beliefs after which the manager will
have a turn. This approach has three advantages

i. It makes the subordinate’s contribution more than just a defensive reaction to

the manager’s evaluation.

ii. Let’s the manager adjust the evaluation and

 iii. It gives the manager an idea of how well the employee knows his/her own
strengths and weaknesses.

Problem solving: A problem solving performance appraisal interview style involves the
employee to a greater degree than the previous two approaches. In this interview style, the
manager and the employee work together to define areas of concern and to develop
appropriate solutions. Thus, the problem solving style makes the manager less of a judge and
more of a helper. Both the boss and employee realize that their best interests are served by
having the employee succeed and they have the attitude that it is possible to leave both parties
satisfied. While the interviewer still retains the power that comes with a managerial position,
boss and employee cooperate so that neither orders nor threats are necessary.

6.2.3. GRIEVANCE INTERVIEW

The grievance interview is any type of one-to-one encounter involving conflict and its
resolution. Examples of situations leading to grievance interviews include employee-
employer disputes over working hours or wages, customer-salesperson conflicts and even
teacher-student conflicts. The grievance interview is unique in that emotions often run at a
much higher level than in the other type of interviews. However, the basic structure of a
grievance interview includes most of the same factors that operate in other interview
situations. The grievance interview highly requires the interviewer to be a good listener and a
problem solver.

Dear learner, from our discussion in the previous chapters of this material, can you recall
some points about an active listener and the barriers to active listening? Well, if you can, it
greatly helps you to understand what is meant by the requirement of a grievance interview i.e.
the interviewer should be a good listener (refer to your discussions on active listening). The
various communication skills and barriers and the discussion we have made on them so far
will be applicable to the remaining discussions of this material.
When we first began this section, we stated with a discussion on the interviews that you are
likely to have. So, with the knowledge of it, you will be succeeding in those interviews that
you will have in the future. The most important and probably the first interview that you will
have is an employment or job interview. We have seen some points concerning such types of
interviews and in the following section; we will deal with the general guidelines to an
effective employment interview.

6.3. GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEW

The effectiveness of an employment interview shall be examined from two sides: from the
side of the interviewer and from the side of interviewee. If we assume that a certain
employment interview was successful, it would mean that the employer was able to select the
best candidate who fits the job and as well the candidate (may be you) was able to get the
right job with the right organization. To these ends, the following are some general guidelines
which should be followed by both the interviewer and the interviewee to make the interview
situation most successful.

It is better to see these guidelines from two sides:

 Guidelines for the interviewer

 Guidelines for the interviewee

6.3.1. GUIDELINES FOR THE INTERVIEWER

The basic organization of interviews is the same for all types. All types will have an opening
phase, the question-response phase (body of interview) and the closing phase. At this various
phases, the interviewer should follow the guidelines here under to make the interview as much
effective as possible. The interviewer will have more responsibility for the manner in which
the interview is conducted.

i. Prior to the interview, communicate with the interviewee regarding

the time and place of interview
 ii. Determine the environment - the nature of interview usually
determines the kind of environment that the interviewer should
establish. Example: - select an area that is free from phone calls and
other interruptions.

iii. Organize the interview carefully- an interviewer who conducts a

poorly planned interview learns very little information about the
candidate during the interview. Consequently, their decision will be
made based on “gut” reactions which often results in hiring ineffective
people. Therefore, interviewer must plan and organize each phase of
the interview carefully like in the following manner.

Plan the opening phase

Give the interviewee a brief orientation to the interview. Conclude the opening phase by
motivating the applicant to give an honest and carefully thought out answers.

Plan the question-response phase (body)

Asking whatever question comes to mind is an extremely ineffective way to learn and
remember information about the applicant. Areas that should be covered include the
following:

 Past work experience

 Leadership ability

 Personality characteristics and the like.

Based on these, specific questions for each area can be framed as follows:

 At what age did you commence work?

 How many jobs have you held since you left school?

Plan the closing phase

The closing of an employment interview is as equally important as the opening. This is to

make sure that the interviewee leaves with a positive feeling and an accurate understanding of
what will happen next. Give the Interviewee a chance to ask questions and thank the
interviewee for his/her time and cooperation.
iv. Ask only lawful questions: there are certain questions that interviewers
cannot ask of applicants during a pre-employment interview. This is based on
the belief that all persons regardless of their race, sex, national origin, religion,
age or etc. should be able to equally compete for a job and advance in the job
market based on their educational qualifications, experience, and specific
skills.

To assure this, the interview questions should be framed like in the following
manner:

 All questions should be job related

 The interviewer must be able to prove that the questions

asked are related to the specific job.

 The same basic questions must be asked of all applicants for

the same job position.

v. Listen carefully to the interviewee: some times, an employment

interviewer become so preoccupied with the tasks of the interview to the extent
that he/she forgets to listen. But listening to the interviewee is very essential as
we use the information we get through listening and this information is the
basis upon which the selection decisions will be made.

vi. Clarify and verify the interviewee responses: even though interviewers
listen carefully, they can make mistakes if they assume that they understand
exactly what the interviewee mean. Since the interviewer and interviewee have
different frames of reference or personal differences, it is easy for each to
misinterpret the other’s meanings. So, when a statement is unclear, the
interviewer should clarify the interviewee response by asking further
questions. The interviewer should ask questions if he/she does not understand
what the interviewee is talking about.
 1.3.2. GUIDELINES FOR THE INTERVIEWEE

If you are the interviewee in a certain employment interview, you should not take a passive
role in it. You must become actively involved if you hope to find a job that specifically fits
with your abilities and interests.

The following are ways to make you an active participant in your employment interviews and
be successful in getting the job you want to hold:

i. Plan the initial communication with your interviewer carefully: the

initial contact may take a form of a letter, resume, or a phone conversation.
However, before contacting this potential interviewer by way of these
methods, find out as much as you can about the organization to which you are
applying. Try to talk with someone who has been working with the
organization, ask for literature such as annual reports that explain the firm
(organization) and its policies.

ii. Be prepared for any type of question and interviewer: as an

interviewee, you cannot always predict what type of interviewer you will face.
Normally, you can expect one or combination of some types of interviewers
like the unstructured interviewer, and the structured interviewer.

The unstructured interviewer: expects you to take the initiative during the
interview by looking for detailed responses. He/she might ask you an open
ended question like “Tell me about yourself”

The structured interviewer: usually expects you to do the opposite of the

above situation. He/she plans everything in advance and gives you little chance
to be creative in your responses. This type of interviewer usually asks direct
and closed ended questions and wants specific to the point answers.
 iii. Exercise your responsibility during the interview: appearance is only
a part of the first impression the interviewer forms of you. It is your
responsibility to add to those impressions with your smile, a firm but gentle
handshake and a good and direct eye contact.

iv. Be prepared with the questions you want to ask the interviewer: most
interviewers will invite you to ask questions. Therefore you should be able to
ask a few questions like: ‘Would the company support me if I pursue

My education?’, ‘What is the typical career path of an individual entering you

organization at this level?’, ‘Would this position require travels?’

v. Be prepared to follow up the interview if necessary: most interviews

end with a plan for the future action on the part of one or both of the
participants. When the decision will be reached and how it will be
communicated is usually specified by the interviewer.

CHAPTER SUMMARY

o Interviewing is a face-to-face conversation in which at least one party has a

specific, serious purpose. As such it is perhaps the most common form of
planned communication. Interviewing differs from other types of conversations
in its purposeful nature and its degree of structure.

o Although there are many types of interviews, the same basic approach can be
used in all interviews. Therefore, you should find that the information covered
in this chapter can be applied to almost any other interview situations. All
effective interviews are organized into basically the same three phases:
opening phase, question response phase and the closing phase which all require
prior preparations.
o Interviewers are responsible for carefully planning and organizing the
interview ahead of time; asking necessary but lawful questions; and listening
carefully and respectfully to the interviewees’ responses. The interviewer
perhaps has the greatest responsibility for the success of the interview.
Interviews that are poorly planned poorly organized and poorly executed result
in neither participant learning anything valuable about the other.

o Interviewees are also responsible for contacting their interviewer prior to the
interview sessions, planning answers for possible questions, communicating
effectively during the interview, and following up the interview when
necessary.

o Dear learner the advice offered in this chapter should help you in making your
employment interviews the most productive.